Ok so I’m in Rochester, MN for a juggling festival until Sunday. (I’m actually here to promote my bid for the magazine contract, but that’s irrelevant.)
I turned on the lights and two bright ceiling fixtures came on, lighting up the room like it was daylight. Ok, that’s good. Dark hotel rooms are a little creepy. I went to turn on the lamp on the table between the two beds and surprise! It’s unplugged. So I plug it in. I also plug in my laptop there. Then I turn on the table lamp and go to turn off the light switch for the overhead lights.
And the room goes black. The switch controls the outlet. So yes, I can turn the bedside lamp on and off from bed, but the OVERHEAD FRIGGIN LIGHTS will stay on until I turn them off at the switch, on the other side of the room. Whose brilliant idea was this? How am I supposed to read myself to the edge of sleep?
Are you positive that’s the only switch and the only outlet in the room? Not questioning your observation skills; it’s just that everyone who ever stayed in your hotel room must have encountered the same problem.
the TV is on the dresser which is massively heavy and it’s plugged in behind there. It’s also way on the other side of the room so it wouldn’t really help much.
Already tried both plugs in the outlet (that was the first thing I tried) --they’re both hooked up to the switch. It’s so LAME.
You’re thinking of Rochester, New York. Different Rochester. Optics, film, abandoned subway, deaf people, the Lilac Festival, and juggling. Everybody knows about Balls n’ Bowling Pins over Brighton and the annual Kodak Chainsaw and Flaming Torch Invitational. C’mon! I’ll bet there’s a lot of confused jugglers at the Rochester, New York airport thinking “Juggling in Rochester, Minnesota? What the fuck? That’s like having the National Chicken Wing Festival in Buffalo, Wyoming!”
Also, FWIW, this rant is full of weak sauce. Odd hotel room electrics are a given. Not enough outlets, switch-controlled outlets, and, occasionally in the US, the keycard holder inside the door to turn everything on and off. And don’t forget the wi-fi slowdown at sunset, so you can’t stream Netflix. In even the cheapest European hotels, you’re given 600 count sheets, fluffy Egyptian towels, free porn, a dedicated T1 line, a mini-bar with inexpensive absinthe and heroin, free health care, a free public transportation pass, and discounts on local prostitutes. Everything in Europe is better than anything in the US; you know that! They should have had the juggling convention there instead.
Hey! OpalCat is ~60 miles from me.
I’ve only stayed at the Days Inn (downtown), because they have fairly cheap rooms. Not that it helps, but I don’t remember that electrical issue.
Could you remove the bulbs / tubes from the ceiling lights?
I don’t think there is anything they can do about it at the desk, I mean it’s the way it’s wired.
Even standing on the bed I can’t reach the ceiling fixtures. Plus, starting tomorrow night, I’ll have a roommate, so probably disabling the primary lighting wouldn’t be a good idea.
