Q&A WITH KIMBERLY INLANDER, EDITOR IN CHIEF

New year, new places to travel. Where are you headed this year? Let us know your 2024 travel plans!

Tell us. Email us at letters@globaltravelerusa.com

Q&A TIME

In our December 2023 issue we asked: Tell us about a time you discovered a new favorite destination because you were there for an event. One reader wrote in:

While London is an amazing city in itself, last year I went to a Beyonce concert at the iconic Wembley Stadium. Coming to London for this concert opened my eyes to a new side of the city I had never seen before.

We explored more restaurants, shops and pubs closer to Wembley Stadium as opposed to within city center, which made me fall in love with the city all over again. Because Wembley is a bit of a Tube ride outside the city center, it doesn’t receive the same number of tourists as the city center does. If it weren’t for the Beyonce concert, I would never have discovered this lovely area.

JULIETTE MORALES, VIA EMAIL

WORST HOTEL STAY EVER?

One reader recently shared what she described as the worst hotel stay she has ever experienced:

We always read about great hotel stays because it’s something most people are happy to share. Most hotel stays are okay, some are bad due to dirty rooms or lousy service, and many are just forgettable. But I recently had my worst hotel stay ever, not because the room was lousy (it was actually nice, spacious and well-equipped, more like an apartment) or the service intolerable. I can’t fault the staff; everyone I came across was really nice and helpful.

The location was all right, although the neighborhood had a dingy feel to it. Overall, it showed potential for an okay stay, if not one of the forgettable ones.

We checked in late on a Friday night. I was with my elderly parents, but the only room available was on the third floor. We left our luggage at the front desk because we were warned it was unsafe to leave it in the car. The check-in staff was super nice and promised they’d try to get us a lower room floor the next morning for our second night’s stay. As they gave us our key cards, they told us about the hotel’s quiet time policy after 10:30 p.m., which I thought was good. They said to call the front desk to complain of loud noises after 10:30 p.m. This should have been a red flag.

We got to the room, and the hotel staff sent someone to help make up the sofa bed. We washed up and settled for bed. We heard loud cheering noises coming from the room next door every time their door opened, but we figured they would be quiet soon as we approached 11 p.m. How wrong we were. The noises progressively got louder throughout the night. At 11:30 p.m. I called the front desk and was told they had already called the police to help with the situation. It seemed other hotel guests had called before I did. Over the next few hours I must have called reception at least four more times. Each time they were apologetic and helpless. I felt bad for them.

All they could do was to call the police to help with the rowdy guests. Since we were right next door, I even heard the police talking to them at least three times during the night.

We didn’t sleep a wink. In fact, I spent the night communicating with Agoda about the horrific stay we were having (as I had booked through them), and they assured me they would highlight our situation to the hotel management and help us get a refund. Agoda also told me to talk to management in the morning to ask for a full refund. Meanwhile, I made a booking at another hotel in Livermore for the next night.

The noise from the room next door continued until at least 4:30 a.m. At that time, someone banged on our room door, and my poor mom was so freaked out. Seemed additional guests coming to the party got the rooms mixed up. The next morning I spoke to the manager; she was apologetic and agreed to refund me for the entire stay even though it was a nonrefundable booking. We have yet to get the refund though it’s been two weeks, but Agoda confirmed they communicated with them a refund was processed. I also emailed the hotel to ask when I can expect the refund.

Seeing decent enough reviews of the property, we decided to try it. However, during that sleepless night, I had time to pore over the reviews more carefully and saw other complaints about rowdy parties. This seems to be a normal occurrence, which is a pity because the staff we encountered were nice and helpful. There should be a policy in place to kick people out as soon as quiet time begins at 10:30 p.m. (maybe after a couple of warnings) and not let the party go on the whole night.

At the next hotel we checked into, they were surprised when I told them about our night of horror. They said they have a no-noise tolerance policy and kick people out right after the cut-off time. They were also surprised police were called to handle the situation. My conclusion on the original hotel is it’s a nice enough hotel in this part of town with good staff, spacious rooms and an okay breakfast spread, but don’t stay here on the weekends (though some reviews mention instances of midweek parties). I will avoid this hotel forever!

SUSAN KEE THULIN, VIA EMAIL

Our family would like to see more flights or bigger planes added to Jacksonville, Florida.

JANET WHITMAN, VIA EMAIL