American Motels: The Romance of a Road Trip
For two weeks we traveled by car across the USA - from Seattle through Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Managed to live during this time in mega-chic hotels. But ordinary roadside motels left no less impressions - similar to each other, like mushrooms, and having a fantastic, incomparable aura for a car traveler!
The first city in which we spent the night during the trip was Portland. When the GPS navigator announced in a mechanical voice: “After 200 meters we arrive at the Palms Motor Hotel, ” we saw a large multi-colored signboard glowing brightly in the dark. This is how I always imagined American motels...
The motel is one of the symbols of America, along with the Statue of Liberty, skyscrapers, jeans and Coca-Cola. Motels are an indispensable part of the entourage surrounding countless highways and highways. This is an American phenomenon that has not been repeated anywhere in the world.
What is a typical American motel, today even those who have never been to the States are in general terms. Thank you Hollywood for that. The motel is the favorite scenery of a real road movie. Romance of distant wanderings and chance meetings; a place where the paths of strangers unpredictably intertwine and incredible adventures begin.
One-story or two-story rows of standard number cubes, usually arranged in the form of the Russian letter "P". The entrance to each room is individual, from the patio. Often in the middle of the courtyard (this is especially common in the southern states) is a pool lit at night. If the motel is a two-story motel, there is a long parapet running along the second floor, which can be reached by stairs. On the asphalt platform in front of the motel building there are markings marking parking spaces. Parking for visitors is always free. But in some motels, you need to put a special permit under the windshield, issued at the reception when you check in. About the prohibition of parking for "anyone" often warn menacing signs: "Cars parked without permission will be evacuated. "
An American motel is not designed for guests to be stuck in it for a long time. Another characteristic feature of American motels is that no formalities are required to spend the night in them. Here you just lay out the cash, get the key, and no one is interested in either you or your companions waiting in the car...
If before the trip to America I had doubts about overnight stays - it seemed that motels are not everywhere, that there are probably days when there are no free places, then after the trip there was not even a trace of doubt left. There are always a large number of motels near large cities and hub towns. Small towns have smaller motels, but the main thing is that they are sure to be there. And, of course, there are motels all over the track. It is impossible to drive for at least an hour without your eyes resting on another advertisement for a roadside motel! And if you resort to the help of a GPS navigator, then for sure the nearest motel will be found within 10-20 kilometers, even if you are driving, it would seem, in absolute wilderness. It is for these reasons that our tent, mattresses, sleeping bags and other camping equipment, which we needlessly dragged along with us, turned out to be intact during the trip. A cheap motel in the US is easier to find than a camping site that doesn't say "ayyyyy" to the police, doesn't have a protected national park area, and doesn't run the risk of encountering unfriendly bipeds or quadrupeds!
Decor in a standard motel room tends to be quite spartan. But at the same time, regardless of the price category of the motel, the beds will always be comfortable, and the room will have all the useful little things for a tired traveler. As a rule, in a motel room there are: a bathroom with a shower, a TV, air conditioning, a microwave, a coffee maker (with two types of coffee briquettes), an iron, a refrigerator. In some places, something from this list may be missing, but more often a complete set is present.
Nearly all motels fit into the price range of $40 to $75 for a family room (with two large double beds). Motels outside of big cities are cheaper, in big cities you will have to pay from 60 to 100 dollars per night. Almost regardless of price, all motels differ only in small things: the presence of an on-site swimming pool, free wireless Internet, a hairdryer or microwave, and a continental breakfast included in the price. If you just need to spend the night and continue your journey in the morning, feel free to choose the cheapest motel! You will save money by getting almost the same thing!
The process of settling is the same everywhere. You explain what room you need (for two - for three, for smokers - for non-smokers), fill out a guest card, pay money (by card or in cash), in case of payment by card, show documents (passport or driver's license) and receive a key or plastic room key card. At the same time, as a rule, we always asked the following questions:
1. What is the check-out time (i. e. check-out from the room) - if you oversleep this time, you will have to pay a little extra upon check-out. As a rule, in all motels this time is between 10.00 and 12.00.
2. Does the motel have free wifi. If so, is a password required to access it.
3. Is a "continental breakfast" available in the morning? A continental breakfast is, most often, just a set of tea and coffee and a bun-cake.
The process of eviction from the room is even simpler - you take the keys to the room to the reception, say "thank you" and leave. Everything!
