Roughing It

When my mom and dad were alive and able to travel, they used to do a southern tour. They stopped to visit my sister in Atlanta, my dad's cousin in Mississippi, my mom's uncle in Louisiana, my brother in Houston and me. My mom just raved about Motel 6. They were clean and cheap. Reliable. They'll leave the light on for you.

So one time (probably sometime in the 80s) my then husband and I decided to go to the horse races in Shreveport. We thought we'd check out the Motel 6 since my mom spoke so highly of it. After a day at the races we decided to clean up and head out to the Louisiana Hayride Kitchen. (Can't imagine why that place closed!) The rooms only had a shower, no tub. This no longer bothers me, but at that time in my life it was a big deal. I liked to have a good soak in the tub. (Now I've come to the conclusion that life is too short to sit around in a tub of bubbles. Get in. Get clean. Get out. Get on!) Anyway, grudgingly, I took a shower and because the towels in the room were so small (just a bit bigger than a hand towel), I used all of them. There were no towels left for my husband.

No problem! I would just have to call housekeeping and have someone send over some towels. That's when I discovered that there were no phones in the room. Since this was prior to the days of cell phones, I had no choice but to get dressed and go to the office to round up some towels.

The office was on the far side of the property from where we were. This particular Motel 6 was a large property and we were on the opposite end from the office. It was not a short walk - keep in mind that I was only in my 30s and fairly fit - so it really was a good distance.) I hiked over there and explained to the young lady that we needed more towels. She flat out refused to give me any until I returned the others. (EXCUSE ME??? Did she truly think anybody wanted to steal those whimpy, little towels?) I had to traipse back to our room, gather up the wet towels and take them back and exchange them for clean ones. But I was annoyed. Seriously. Annoyed.

So the fact that the tiny little bed felt like I was sleeping on a block of concrete was just the icing on the cake. I couldn't imagine what mom might have been thinking when recommending this place. But after reflecting on it, they were spending one night and getting up and leaving the next morning. That makes a difference.

Anyway, that was my first and last stay at a Motel 6. As rough as I care to get, although I understand the rooms have phones now. Maybe the change in ownership (back when I was there, they were not owned by Accor.) I think they even have free wi-fi now. (But that doesn't mean I want to stay there.)