RV vs. Hotel

[RustyJC]

Folks, let's not let this thread devolve into another pro-pets versus anti-pets quagmire. Let's stay on topic.

Thanks,

Rusty

[dsbike]

Ok, so here I am, I own a 35' class A & it is in West Palm Beach, FL. Last Monday I fly to West Palm to spend a few days with my wife. Sleep in the MH Monday. Tuesday we drive her car to the FL Keys and stay in a state park campground in our 2 man tent. $41 CG fee, we sleep well except for the stray cat that wakes me up in the middle of the night. We are camped 100' away from the ocean. Fall asleep listening to the surf. Of coarse it is an artifical surf caused by the wind. There is no natural surf in the keys due to the reef that spans the entire length of the keys. The next day we pack up & drive to Key West spend the day & drive back to Key Largo to spend the night at the Timeshare Resort we own a week at. $95. Sleep well most of this night until I wake up from the A/C unit not turning off all night. Shut it off & go back to sleep. Wake up early in the morning because my back hurts so bad from the worn out matress. Fly back home & sleep in my stick house..... Best nights sleep, either the House , the RV, or the tent. All my own beds & I know who slept in them last. But for some strange reason I do enjoy staying at some hotel/motels or resorts.

[denochs]

Lots of posts on this subject. However, not many comments on the quality of people you meet in the cg, the safe environment to take an evening walk, the home cooked meal you can enjoy, and I carry my own favorite wine to enjoy with the wife and cat.

I too traveled many years staying in hotels/motels. It would have to be a have to trip before choosing that life style again.

Dave

[WilleyB]

Well the last motel we stayed at was here Click-->
Slept in our own beds too, room service was kind of lacking so we had to do for ourselves. Price was right though
We bought the little mh so we could leave the house once in awhile, it's the only way DW can travel now. We used to travel by car staying at Comfort Inns mostly and we found them OK but that was in the 1980's and early 90's. 1995 was the last trip we were able to make and that was with a lot of problems. We got the RV in 2006 so DW could visit the few left in her family, her only sister died the following year and three of her brothers a couple of years previous to the visit so that's why we have an RV.
Travel by car was certainly cheaper in some ways, but now we don't have to depend on anyone for lodging or meals. The trip last summer lasted 2 months, now there's no way we could afford that trip by car. We don't do the campground scene either, preferring overnight locations close to the traveled highways between destinations.
I kind of like having our own food and pad to sleep, and I believe our fur kid likes it too because as soon as the door is opened she wants in, maybe so we can't leave without her. Click-->
It's a lot different than traveling with our miniature poodle in the past. I guess each of us has our reasons for what we do and as long as we enjoy it it's the thing to do.
I kind of liked that post about ending up in a porno video from peepholes in motel rooms, because at 75 the urge night be pleasant experience Nah! guess I'd better stick to the RV before I embarrass myself

Cheers
Willey

[georgetown350]

Now put those same people in a motel/hotel room. They let the dog pee in the room. They let the dog poop in the room (yes they do!).

Most pet owners are responsible and have every right to stay in hotel/motel rooms with their pets however a clean up fee is fair. Being that our dog weighs in at 95 lbs I dont like the small dog policy at most hotels, but on the other hand I dont care because I prefer my Rv to any motel/hotel.

[Lorna]

I definitely agree, MOST pet owners are responsible. But it's that few that make things difficult for the rest of us. I've worked in hotels, My daughter has worked in hotels. We have seen things that you would not believe.

BTW, I used to be a pet owner. We always traveled with our pets... They didn't like to be left out. RV's are more pet friendly than any hotel, even the pet friendly ones.

[georgetown350]

We have seen things that you would not believe.

When you think about all the people and pets that have used that room and bed that have done things that we could not believe or imagine, makes me happy to be an Rver

[beaverjim]

we've been doing the motorhome thing for over 10 yrs. in those ten yrs we spent 18 days in a hotel. that was due to our 2 week old allison tranny going into early retirement those 18 days we're the worst 18 days in that 10 yr. period. as far as the comparison of costs we just returned from a 2 mo. trip south, in that 2 mo. we stayed at 19 different campgrounds in 17 towns. our total cost was not much more than paying an average of 100 bucks a nite for a decent hotel room, and that included everything including hats and t shirts! jimsue

[kenvs]

Financially when fuel prices go up it is cheaper to stay in a hotel / motel. No one ever said that the cost of a coach, insurance, fuel, campground, etc, etc was cheap. Whether it is worth it is a state of mind and at times state of the pocket book.

I'm in hotels 250 to 260 nights per year. In the end they all look the same. Whether I'm in the stick house or the rolling one I'm at home and enjoying what I've worked hard for.

Yes Virginia bed bugs are making a come back, recluse spiders under beds down south will keep your imagination alive after you've seen the results and finding condoms in strange places are not prizes they give away with the room.

I'll stick with the coach choice no matter what it costs.

[Koodog]

After spending quite a bit of time in hotels, motels, and suites it finally dawned on me that I was merely "renting" my bed for the night. I made an investment in an RV and now have an asset. For me it was about dollars and sense.

[Clonetrooper]

Yucky or even clean appearing but expensive ($180+) motel or hotel rooms are one reason we invested in a decent class A. (2000 Discovery) We like going places with our young kids, 4 and 12, who are messy ( not dirty) as are we. During the day on a trip there are toys and books and clean clothes and cameras and games etc. scattered from one end to the other. But the germs we are around are our germs as Chris said in early post. I did not let my kids play on motel floor or swim in pool. Many members here are retired and probably very organized and neat, I too am envious. Not us. After reading Waynes post probably never sleep in a motel again, and I used to enjoy staying in one. No offense to motel workers (retired AF CMSgt brother and sis in law worked nice resorts in Key West before giving away all their shoes and sailing off to Virgin Islands for years in 46' sail boat and they had good and bad stories brother was security chief and had to take out a few deceased people) Yeah even the good ones always had something going on. And we clean and pick up at the end of the day and sleep in our own beds or cots inside or out and build campfires and do pretty much as we wish. And we can wash clothes in our own laundry. We travel very heavy as we have many intrests, this is hard to do in big SUV and motels especially with kids and pets. Lots of packing and unpacking Suburban. Most stuff is already packed. MH is parked at house so we just throw a few things in and go if we want. We can park on the beach 20' from the surf (got stuck last trip but was able to ease MH out with shovel/carpet pieces/wood, part of the adventure) in a nice county park on Central Texas coast for $12 a night plus dump and fill (elect is $5 more but that is not available at restricted access beach front site)and our neighbors have always been very well behaved as in other CGs. We do lock our doors but this is just habit and we do carry various forms of defense but are careful because of kids . I can get up early and have my own pot of strong Community brand coffee and watch the sun come up sitting in my own campsite in my shorts and tshirt with my feet in the sand. The kids can play on the beach and we can get the recharge time from shelling or sitting and watching the water or fishing and not have to worry about 1100 checkout. Then after a shower watch movies or beach comb some more. And we can MOVE the whole show to were we want. Not like a motel or a vacation home. We had a lake house for years nobody wanted to go to so we sold it and got MH. Yeah the price of diesel is completely uncalled for but that too is part of the price ya pay. Older and even newer RV's can be a headache or even a nightmare but this too is part of the price. I consider myself very fortunate to have a nice comfy, but durable thank God, MH and be a part of a friendly and helpful group. I'm a pretty good fixer but this site has been very helpful to me because I have/want to do the maint and fixing myself, and most systems are familiar to me but sure is nice to have other peoples knowledge and experiences to fall back on.
Planning on big trip (2 weeks or more)SA Tex to Boston and back soon. We don't care to fly so the cost of diesel (I happily get 12 mpg w/gen on all day at 70-75 on fairly easy terrain)is about even with airfare or gas and motels in SUV. And my kids will get to see a lot. As will we.
Kinda went on but there are a lot of posts and I had a lot to say. Won't be offended if not read. There are some beautiful hotel/motels I would love to stay in and maybe I will someday, I'll just bring one of my cans of lysol and Hazmat suits.
KC and Family

[mythplaced]

Dead bodies get stashed in the box spring or the bed's pedestal more often than you'd want to believe. What's more, a fair number of them are only discovered days later ... after the new tenant complains about a persistent and disagreeable odor.

In each of the following cases not only were bodies discovered under hotel beds, but it was investigations of the smell of decomposition that led to their discoveries.

On 10 July 2003, a man checked into the Capri Motel, just east of downtown Kansas City, and began complaining about a foul odor in his room. Management told him nothing could be done about the problem, and he spent three nights in his room before checking out because he could no longer stand the smell. When the cleaning staff came in to make up the room on 13 July, they lifted the mattress and underneath found a man's body in an advanced stage of decomposition.

On 10 June 1999 the rapidly decomposing remains of 64-year-old Saul Hernandez were discovered inside the bed in Room 112 at the Burgundy Motor Inn in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A German couple had spent the night sleeping over Hernandez's remains, and it was their complaint to the manager about the smell in their room which led to the discovery of the corpse.

In July 1996 a woman's body was found under a mattress in the Colorado Boulevard Travelodge in Pasadena, CA. Apparently the motel's staff discovered her ten days after her demise and only after guests had complained for several days of a foul odor coming from that room.

There were two stashed-and-smelly body cases in Florida in 1994. (Further adding to the confusability of these stories' taking place in the same year and the same state, in both instances the next tenants those rooms had were German tourists.) In August 1994 in Fort Lauderdale, hotel staff discovered the body of 47-year-old Bryan Gregory tucked under a platform bed. Though the staff had themselves noticed the strange smell for days, they only set about looking for its source after a German couple spent the night in that room and afterwards complained about the odor.

In March 1994 the body of 24-year-old Josefina Martinez was found underneath a bed at the Traveler's Hotel near Miami International Airport. Again, the discovery was prompted by an aggrieved German tourist upset about a foul odor in his room.

In Virginia in 1989, Jerry Lee Dunbar disposed of the remains of two victims this way: 27-year-old Deirdre Smith, who was discovered in May under the floor of a motel room on Route 1, and 29-year-old Marilyn Graham, who turned up in June under a bed in the Alexandria Econo Lodge. In Smith's case, the killer first kept her body partially hidden under his bed for two days, then subsequently placed it in the crawl space under the carpeted floor. Her presence seemingly didn't bother him, because he didn't move out of that room until three or four weeks later. Both girls' bodies were eventually found after other guests complained about the stink.

In Mineola, New York, motel in 1988, a body turned up in a box spring. The remains of 29-year-old Mary Jean DeOliviera were found at the Oceanside Motel. Again, the body was discovered days later and only after other patrons complained about the smell. At least two other guests unknowingly cohabited with the body before

it was found, and at least one guest refused to stay in that room because of the smell.

Here's a change of pace — not a murder, but a death by misadventure. In Rosedale, Maryland in 1987, an unidentified man died of a drug overdose after one of the thirty-four balloons of heroin he'd swallowed burst. His partner stashed the corpse under their motel bed, then split. Three days later, the family the room was next rented to complained about the odor, and this led to the body's discovery.

One of the oldest "smelly body left under the bed" sightings comes from 1982. Richard Kuklinski, Daniel Deppner, and Gary Smith often teamed together to run auto theft scams. Kuklinski and Deppner decided to kill Smith, and they accomplished this by feeding him a cyanide-laced hamburger in a North Bergen, New Jersey, motel room. Kuklinkski finished off Smith by strangling him when watching Smith die of poisoning proved tiresome. Smith's body was stuffed under the bed and left there. It was found four days later, on 27 December 1982. During the intervening four days, the room had been rented to others each night. Guests had wrinkled their noses at the smell, but none thought to look under the bed.

That case has seemingly been topped by one in which Sony Millbrook of Memphis, Tennessee, was reported missing on 27 January 2010 after she failed to pick up her children from school. Forty-seven days later, on 15 March 2010, homicide investigators were called to the room of a Budget Inn motel where Millbrook had been living just prior to her disappearance, her body having just been discovered inside the frame of the bed there — even though the room had reportedly been cleaned and rented several times since her disappearance almost seven weeks earlier.

There are, of course, numerous other cases of dead bodies being left under hotel beds, but I've chosen not to report on these because one of the key elements of the legend is complaints about the presence of a horrific smell leading to the corpse's discovery. What gives this urban legend its chills-down-the-spine gruesomeness is the body's being found only after an unsuspecting traveler spends the night sleeping above it. That clearly happened in at least some of the cases mentioned here (and perhaps in others where the news reports stated only that hotel guests had complained without specifying which guests).

[historyljc]

Originally Posted by georgetown350

Lack of privacy can be an issue at motels ie peepholes and cameras. You may become a star in a web porn and never know it.

Now there's a movie you're not going to want to watch.

I prefer the RV, but I can see where on some trips the toad and motel make sense, cost and time wise. They do not have to be mutually exclusive. I also would rather take the RV than fly. But, should the occasion arise that I find it necessary and more convenient, I'll fly. I don't mind the flying, just all the related hassle of the crowds and security, the dirty airplanes, the unkept looking flight attendants (what happened the slim, attractive, well groomed stewardess'?), cancelled flights, rude uncaring airline personnel, etc ad nausium.

Somehow, I don't see one good experience with Price Line and Marriott Hotels equals a major lifestyle change and sold RV. Let's grab all the positives in life we can. We have enough negatives sitting in Congress to keep us busy.

[JohnLori]

Mythplaced, (love your user name!)...your posts often have a funny or unique twist on the given topic but this takes the cake! Geez, I REALLY love our coach now! I think I'll take our inflatable mattress on our next trip that requires a hotel stay!

About 12 years ago DH and I needed a place to stay. It was about midnight and we planned an early morning departure so didn't want to spend much $$ for 6 hours of sleep. The room we ended up with had a mirrored, dropped ceiling over the bed...I refused to take off my clothes. We slept very lightly and were gone by 6am.