[Rachelsdad]

In reading recent threads regarding the 2025 Pontiac Nats and some of the <ahem> more interesting accommodation experiences, I got to thinking that my travel stays with my classic car (or going to classic car events) are considerably different - as a whole - from my normal business travel (fly in, rental or taxi to a 3 or 4 star hotel with almost guaranteed hot water, clean sheets, comfortable mattress, working broadband and TV, and high quality food).

I searched the LOBBY for threads with "motel" in the title and came up with just a handful, but no collections of experiences, so, feeling inspired by some of the previous mentions, I thought I'd start one.

I joined POCI in 1978, after a nasty broadside accident in my '63 (yes, the one in the pic in my avatar). The accident necessitated the replacement of the driver's side fender and door, along with some other badly bent parts, and locating replacement trim. While I'd been relatively successful dealing with people over the phone and by mail (kids: no public internet in 1978!), I really wanted to attend a convention. I'd just recently retired the Bonneville for show (1979), and was eager to enter the field.

A natural procrastinator, I ended up at one of the overflow motels, and could not get a room at the convention center in Gettysburg, PA. My parents came down the second day to meet me. We had rooms at the same motel, though not adjoining. I was by myself (yeah, I can just see having my girlfriend with me at a motel when we were 19 going on 20...and what her father would have said - let alone my mother...LOL).

Being quite worldly (not) at the aforementioned ripe old age of 19 1/2 (I'm a November baby), I'd never seen a motel room bed with a coin-operated vibrating gizmo attached to it. My dad, being a Navy man from WWII, took me aside to explain that previously-omitted chapter of the facts-of-life book to me. :-)

No hot water, loud and not-quite-effective AC, and a mattress which felt like several miles of bad road...what an experience. I had a blast.

(To boot, I managed to burn up a front wheel bearing on the PA Turnpike on my way there, and my dad and I had to replace both sides on Sunday before coming home... Somehow, we found a NAPA which was open and happened to have bearings on hand for a 1963 Pontiac. I still have that tub of bearing grease, too.)

I have a couple more (I stayed in a HoJo in 2023 on my way to the POCI convention which was straight out of the mid-1960's - orange and white mod circles wallpaper and all), but I'll leave it there for now in case anyone else has a coming of age tale or other weird and wonderful motel story.

[Keith Seymore]

I followed the complete NMCA schedule for 30 years so I know I've had a few, but the only one that comes to mind was a trip to Bakersfield CA (for a Super Chevy show).

We stayed in a little mom and pop motel owned by an asian couple.

When we tried to pay she said "no credie car - cash only!"

Between dad and I we had enough on hand to cover it. Not sure what that was all about but it made an impression.

Never had bed bugs or anything like that, but I have seen cockroaches and I've seen broken glass where a car used to be sitting.


K

[Keith Seymore]

Ah - couple more:

1 - We were visiting my daughter in Brooklyn and found a place. My wife went to take a shower before dinner and the water sprayed out of the wall and all the way across the bathroom.

Fortunately I had a couple tools in the center console of the truck, including a pair of channel locks, and I was able to give the pipe a few twists and get her back on her way.

2 - NMCA event somewhere - we got in the room and the bathroom carpet was wet. Upon further investigation I found the trap for the bathroom sink had come undone and the sink water was flowing right out onto the floor.

The pipes were barely long enough but I was able to put their sink back together and get the floor dried out before we left.

It's the curse of being mechanically inclined.

Any more I usually stay right at the track in the truck and/or trailer. I like being with my stuff and being able to get up and get started without the delay of driving back to the facility.

K

[Rachelsdad]

Those were great, Keith! Thanks for sharing.

Indeed, it is a curse (like the guy in the office who once had the misfortune to be the one to clear the paper jam in the fax machine...then always got to be "the guy" to "fix" the d-mn thing). As an IT engineer, I've had my share of debugging hotel and motel WiFi, too, but thankfully never on a trip with the car to a show or an event.

There was a time back in '86 when my first wife and I were on our way to the POCI convention in Greensboro, NC. We left late, as I'd just brought the Bonneville home from the shop. I literally bolted the last piece of trim on the car, we threw our bags in the trunk, and headed out of the driveway (two days earlier, the engine had been out of the car, then back in, a freeze plug started seeping and had to be replaced, and the accelerator and trans linkages reconnected...I'm not that brave anymore to start a long trip with no real shakedown). Anyway, we ended up at some little motel somewhere along the line because we left so late from Long Island. The desk clerk kept looking at us, from one to the other, apparently not believing we were Mr. & Mrs. My wife got really annoyed and started flashing her wedding band around (making a thing of adjusting it on her finger). Man, when we got back out to the car did I get an earful - and it wasn't even my fault...that time.

No credie car, indeed! Loved it!

[unruhjonny]

I used to fly by the seat of my pants in the pre-internet and pre-cell phone days (read: early 200p’s and prior);
had a couple sketchy motels, but nothing too bad;
I believe my grandfather told me to always check the room before booking it - which might have helped.
He also told me a tip which predated internet that I never used;
He said to check out motels, then call the one you want to stay at from a pay phone m, and almost every time you get a better deal than just walking in.

I’d happily do the seat-of-the-pants road trip these days, but I’ve become too practical, and always book ahead…
often i see motel 6 signs showing MUCH better deals than I could find online…

[Rachelsdad]

Pay phone call to get a better rate: Love it. I immediately thought about the Trivago commercials we have now. LOL

Not a trip with my Pontiac, but my wife and I ended up at a motel in northern Maryland back in '95 or '96. The mattress was so far gone in the middle, we each had to sleep with one leg hanging off our respective side of the bed as a counterbalance so we wouldn't roll into each other...

I think it should be required for all hotel or motel managers to spend one night per month in a different room.

[LastoftheThinkers]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

I followed the complete NMCA schedule for 30 years so I know I've had a few, but the only one that comes to mind was a trip to Bakersfield CA (for a Super Chevy show).

We stayed in a little mom and pop motel owned by an asian couple.

When we tried to pay she said "no credie car - cash only!"

Between dad and I we had enough on hand to cover it. Not sure what that was all about but it made an impression.

Never had bed bugs or anything like that, but I have seen cockroaches and I've seen broken glass where a car used to be sitting.


K

That is quite common with a lot of small mom and pops stores. I went to a restaurant named "The Onion" once and same thing, they required cash. I didn't realize that CC companies charged as much as they do. I am sure "higher product" companies get discounts too. Some of those smaller shops every penny counts.

My own story:

We have a 4 year old "double doodle" that is sweet as can be, so when we travel we look for pet friendly hotels. One hotel called us to the front desk to complain about our dog, saying she was annoying all the neighbors with her barking, which shocked us because she didn't bark once. We told them this, but there was a dog in a nearby room barking constantly. The manager came and threatened to remove us. I made him come to my room and listen. We weren't even halfway down the hall when we heard the barking. The manager turned white and profusely apologized. Out of spite I tried to listen for them to talk to the neighbor with the dog, and as far as I know they didn't. And the dog barked all hours of the night. Kind of makes me heated just thinking about it again. Needless to say we never have and never will go back.

[cdrookie]

I've been traveling for work going on 20 years. The company was pretty vague with the how this travel thing worked, so you just figured it out. I was hired with a couple other guys and we all were sent to this job in MI. We met up at a rest area along the way, and had to get rooms somewhere. It was a big job, plus near Notre Dame football territory, so finding rooms wasn't easy...Somehow we got 3 rooms at the Howard Johnson. We drove up there and drove all around looking for this Howard Johnson...Eventually, we discovered it USE to be a HJ but is now America's Best Value Inn. All the rooms faced outside and they were pretty much just as you'd imagine. I had a corner room, was dank, humid, and musty, but had a bed and shower so I was good with it. One guy was a few doors down and the other was the floor above. We got up the next morning and the other guys were like, we're checking out of here! And going where, I said! They didn't care, so we checked out. Eventually we begged our way into some handicapped rooms at a Baymont.

The last thing that happened was at the Hampton in Shreveport, LA. That's a big hotel for the area! The job was only a couple days long but I always pack a weeks worth of clothes in my bag. The first thing I do when I get to the room is hang the do not disturb sign on the door. I have a thing about people being in my room. So we finish the job in 2 days. I go back and book my flight home, I never really unpacked so it didn't take long to get my stuff ready. I showered and rooted through my bag for clean underwear and couldn't find any. There's always 7-8 socks and underwear in my bag at a minimum. When I got home I checked where my work bag stays and there wasn't any pile of underwear laying around. Someone went in my room and stole my underwear!!! For the most part, over the years, housekeeping has always been very friendly when passing them in the hall. I passed a couple women cleaning a room 2 doors down and they were real quick to turn their heads and shuffle back into the room as I passed.

I've run into all the usual stuff also:
Clogged bathtub and sink drains
People smoking in neighboring rooms
Bugs
Kids stomping above me all day when I'm on nightshift
Kids running up and down the halls
Dogs barking
People who need to talk on speaker phone all the time
A pimp or prostitute keeping a room booked beside me
No internet or TV doesn't work
Checking out early and them not wanting to refund me(ma and pop places are good for that)

[02Hawk]

Back in 08 Shawn (slgenge) and myself loaded up our cars in Edmonton and headed to Norwalk for the Pontiac nats. We had a real good friend come with us (Carlos wwho was from Chile) Now Carlos had a bit of a speech impediment and a heavy Spanish accent and we could get into issues very quickley. We arrived at the only hotel in Norwalk and it being late we all crashed. In the morning Carlos was already up and had picked iup coffee. I asked whats going on and he told me he already had breakfast with Jeeem. I asked who that was and he kept repeating until I said forget it....Shawn came out of his room and Carlos(AKA "the Mexican) started yapping on about Jeeem. Shawn was equally mistafied and we went downstairs and headed to the track. Later that day we were in the golf cart and we ran into Wangers down in the burn out area. He says "hey Carlos whats going on?" and Carlos is telling us thats Jeeem

[unruhjonny]

off topic, but related to that last post;
When I was at the nats, I was surprised at how personable Jim was.

Also - I was flying by the seat of my pants on that trip (I had actually booked a camping spot, but at last minute my dad tagged along, and wouldn’t hear of camping) - I think we stayed in the same motel as Jim;
He seemed to be everywhere!
I was repeatedly surprised at how nice everyone was…

[dataway]

In Buffalo NY last weekend the hotel had to take the entire lock off our hotel room door because the electronic lock didn't work.

[Rachelsdad]

Originally Posted by 02Hawk

Later that day we were in the golf cart and we ran into Wangers down in the burn out area. He says "hey Carlos whats going on?" and Carlos is telling us thats Jeeem

ROFLMAO!!

It also shows what a regular guy Jim Wangers was. We don't have enough people like that in the world.