After saving for a year, two of my friends finally had enough money to take one of those cheap flights to London and book a budget hotel. They were going to view all their favorite London spots, that they had seen only in movies. Of course they had the usual sights on their list: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Changing of the Guard, and so on. In all they had mapped out a pretty nice one-week vacation.
So I said my good-byes, and thought that I wouldn't hear from them until they came back...well....I was wrong. It's the middle of the night and I get a call from one of them. She is telling me--oh my goodness--you have got to help us! What's the matter---I ask, what's wrong? Everything! she says, the budget hotel that seemed like such a charming place, at a bargain price, is a horror!
I had to calm her down, what do you mean, I ask. Then, she proceeds to tell me that: first off--no elevators, they had to drag their luggage up 3 flights of stairs. Then when they got to their room--it was filthy. My friend told me that the sheets on the beds looked like they had never been changed, one of the windows faced a brick wall, and the other the street -- and the walls were so thin that every little noise from the other rooms could be heard.
They had not slept a wink--because -- on top of everything else -- they were on the third floor facing the street, and since they couldn't close the old window, they were afraid someone might sneak-in while they slept. So, I asked them--what do you want me to do?
Please get us out of this horrible hotel! Help us find better accommodation, we don't have a way to check the Internet, please do this as soon as possible, we can't spend another night here! They found out that the hotel was basically what we call a "hot-sheets". Meaning that it was rented out on an hourly basis to hookers (prostitutes). They could hear--through the very thin walls, everything that was going on in the other rooms, and it wasn't pleasant.
I told them not to panic, and after some searching--- got them a room at a hotel in a nearby neighborhood. They could not get out of that place fast enough. Needles to say, this put a damper on them--but being positive people they just laughed it off. Reminding themselves that if something sounds too good to be true, to trust their instincts, and not fall for the old traps of travel.
