Shall We Send Room Service to Collect Your Body?

Tchaikovsky Sounds Funny

I will never forget my second visit to Los Angeles. I had studied a travel guide and found an inexpensive hotel that claimed was a quality hotel. Upon registering at the hotel, I noticed the registration form asked for my “next of kin”. I had never seen that before on a hotel registration, yet, I thought perhaps someone had decided that was a good operating procedure, so I filled it out.

As I entered my room, I observed junkies in the hallway. I quickly realized this hotel was occupied primarily by addicts. The front desk was very understandable when I checked out. I realized why they were confused as to why I had luggage. It seems many guests don’t have luggage.

Moral of story: beware of hotels that ask for your next of kin.

Incidentally, I write the Los Angeles tourist agency that printed the brochure that had recommended this hotel. They wrote back that they do not have the staff to independently evaluate the information provided to them by the hotels. I wrote back and advised that someone just stroll into that hotel sometime and see for themselves whether they wish to continue recommending tourists to book rooms there. The next year, I noticed the hotel had been deleted from their guide.

No sense in scaring the addicts with tourists.