My friends and I spent last weekend shopping in Missoula. We stayed the night at the Double Tree and I got thirsty. There was no way I’d drink from the pretty glasses by the sink (saw a show once on housekeepers who used glasscleaner to wash the glasses, which scared me for life) and I wasn’t about to drink the tap water directly – oh, dilemma.
So, I grabbed my wallet and heading down the hall to look for a vending machine. Saw that Bottled Water costs 85 cents – not bad. I shoved in my five dollar bill, only to have it spit back out at me. I turned it left, right, and flipped it over — still rejected. My one dollar bill must’ve made the machine happy because it kept it – yay! I hit the button for my H20: “Out of Stock”. Um, isn’t there a light that can flash BEFORE I spend ten minutes trying to pay for it? Sheesh. I pressed the silver “refund” button and the machine dropped four quarters in the slot for me. Then, I went downstairs in search of another vending machine.
Found vending machine #2 on the first floor–oh yeah!–and Bottled Water was, once again, 85 cents (such a deal for a hotel!). Tried my five dollar bill again (don’t ask me why), only to have it thrown back at me (shocker). So, I stuck a quarter in the slot, but…it didn’t go down all the way. It seemed to be stuck with several other quarters – ugh. Parched and annoyed, I trodded back upstairs and knocked on my hotel door (the key card is a whole other story).
My friends had ordered pizza, so I picked up the hotel phone and called Pizza Hut to order some water with our pizza. Got disconnected and called again. They didn’t sell water. Just soda. Uh, could I get some cups of tap water (must be cleaner than hotel tap water, right?) delivered? No, they only provide water if you are dining in…okaaaay.
I called the front desk and told them of my H20 and vending machine issues. She asked if I’d tried the vending machine behind the front desk (separate building). Nope. I grabbed a hotel key card (hopefully a working one), slipped into my flip flops, and headed downstairs toward the lobby. Told my sad story to the gal at the front desk who sympathized and refunded me my eaten quarter (ha!) and who gave me five ones for my sadly unwanted five dollar bill. Then, I found the vending machine behind the front desk where Bottled Water was a buck fifty per bottle. Whatever. I bought four bottles.
I ask you, should it be this difficult to get a drink of water? I don’t think so. When traveling, I suggest bringing several bottles of water with you. It’s just easier. On a side note, I got charges 75 cents for each of my local phone calls to Pizza Hut. Next time, I will use my cell.
What about you? Ever have issues away from home?
Wow! Such an event to get some water. I would have given up and had a few disgusting gulps of tap water! I can’t think of any issues as big and annoying as that away from home!
LOL. I remember having to walk miles in the blazing sun to get some water in SLC. And the whole time there was that little shop across the street where we bought that candy…
My biggest issue when travelling is trying to figure out how to stuff the books and other things that I buy into my already overcrowded luggage…….
That just goes to underscore our planet’s lack of water issues. You think that’s bad, just wait. That is why I drink only beer or Crown Royal (especially with pizza). I consider myself very environmentally sensitive.