Best Western, movin’ on up

With our Airstream still in Eugene, Oregon, we still had about 400 miles to enjoy a couple of guilt-free motel nights. Seattle was en route, so we thought it would be fun to try out a mini-break, downtown instead of in the outskirts.

I remembered my parents mentioning www.hotwire.com as a cheap way of finding hotels – the rates are advertised, but not the hotel names. This way, hotels can offer cheaper rates on the sly.
Stopping at the public library in the first town over the US border in Washington state, we went on to the site and selected the cheapest option - $57 plus tax for a two star hotel in downtown Seattle.

Once we booked, we found out that we’d be staying at the Best Western Loyal Inn on Eighth Avenue.

We were really excited, and sped down to Seattle as fast as we could.
Feeling like royalty, we glided into the hotel, took the lift (a lift, not stairs!) up to the second floor and admired room 212. Big beds! Fancy sheets! Bolsters! An armchair! A bathtub!
We sat down across the two beds, turned on the TV and decided to make coffee. Only the coffee machine didn’t work.

An hour later, thanks to the efforts of both receptionists, the repair guy and a housekeeper, we had a new coffee machine. The housekeeper, Amina, who had delivered and unveiled the machine, then stayed for another half hour or so, playing with Sophia and Lulu. She left only to bring us a baby cot, complete with a selection of clean, ironed blankets. And then refused a tip.

We later wished we had asked her to babysit.