The Only Time I Was Genuinely Worried
“I travel a lot and have gone to plenty of 3rd world countries etc. But, my worst hotel story, by far, came in Sullivan County, NY less than 2 months ago.
We got hit with 2 storms that decimated that area and knocked out power for 10 days. I was there doing emergency work, and the entire area was a mess. So they put me up in a “hotel”, I’m like “sure whatever”, don’t really check it out because our logistics person takes care of it and I’m swamped doing 18 hour days.
So I arrive at this hotel around 1 am, exhausted, and I show up and it’s locked. There is a handwritten note in crayon on the door that says “Not here, call xxx-xxxx”. I notice at this time that the hotel is legitimately crawling with sketchy folks. Not just weird people, but people screaming, running through the halls, slamming doors, crying etc.
Finally, the guy comes and lets me in. The place smells like a sour mix of poo, death, and mothballs. I really don’t have a need for the finer things in life, but this was a little much. So I get to my room and have to walk through these dingy, filthy halls.
It was a motel, so my room was exposed to the outside, with a little walkway. I show up and immediately see a huge brownish stain on the floor. The lampshade was riddled with burns and the room itself was filthy. Someone obliterated the bathroom in what I can only assume was a messed up Jackson Pollack imitation.
I was so tired and had to be back at work in like 4 hours that I tried to just say whatever and pass out (in my clothes, with my boots still on). The door didn’t close though so the wind was whipping on me through a large crack, and the heat didn’t work. I wrapped myself in the duvet like a human taco, to no avail.
About an hour in, people started scampering around outside, screaming and yelling. I got up and jammed a chair under the door handle because, of course, the door didn’t lock. I seriously considered sleeping in my car but it was cold and I felt like I had a better chance of being attacked in a parking lot than a room.
Some guy crashed into my little bay window thing shortly after and I sat straight up, grabbed my leatherman, and prepared myself for having to deal with someone that night.
When I got back to my station in the morning and told the guys where I stayed, they didn’t even believe me. Two of the cops there said they investigated suspicious deaths there…not together, two different ones. The Red Cross rep said they used to send their homeless population there…but now they don’t because it’s too dangerous.
It’s a big running joke now, but at the time it sucked and was the only time in my life I was genuinely worried about where I have slept.”
Story credit: Reddit / Armadillo19