Quality Inn in Merced, CA

I don't usually blog about hotels we stay at but this one is weird enough to mention. Here are the highlights, in the order that I discovered them:

• a dial telephone on the wall in the bathroom, 2 feet from the toilet
• the loudest bathroom light/fan combo I've ever heard; sounded like it was going to fly into pieces
• no trashcans anywhere in the room
• mismatched towels (OK, not extreme, but notable)
• the roughest sheets I've ever slept in; Rob didn't notice but I went to bed feeling like all my sins would be forgiven by the time I woke up. They were, of course, but for entirely different reasons.
• the cable box hanging out of the wall, having been ripped out and the cable cord going into the TV with it's end fully pulled off. I called the front desk on this one, so they didn't think it was us.
• no "Do Not Disturb" sign for the door
• 2 paintings next to each other on the wall that are not matching but identical

The whole place has the feel of an absentia owner who ordered everything by catalogs and hired strangers without references to set the place up for him.

In stark contrast with the Comfort Inn we stayed at in Lincoln City, OR on our way back from Coos Bay 2 weeks ago. It was about $20 cheaper and exponentially better maintained. Same chain, no consistency. Oh well ... we're getting 1 free night for every 2 stays with this chain so it'll all work out in the end.