BadView_big

SILVER SPRING, MD. – We’ve all had disappointing views from our hotel rooms, but a view of a rooftop air conditioning unit might take the cake.

A frequent guest at the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Silver Spring (a trusted source – my father) took this shot because he couldn’t believe what he saw when he opened the curtains in his room.

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He stays in this hotel every time he visits from New York for one reason – and one reason only: it’s attached to a great gym that guests can use. He doesn’t care about Marriott Rewards loyalty points; for him, it’s all about the gym. So, given that he’s a pretty good customer, he assumed that the hotel might recognize him and protect him from the worst rooms.

He checked in on Friday, but it wasn’t until Saturday morning that he opened the curtains in his room to check the weather.

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“I looked out and said, ‘Are they kidding?’ That view was so bad that I forgot to see if the sun was shining!” he told me, mistakenly thinking that we were “off the record.” As a guy who understands building design and good hotels, he said they would have been better off putting up a wall instead of bothering with a window.

So, dear readers…. What about you? Where you have you stayed lately where you had either a truly ugly view or one that was terribly disappointing? (Due to the popularity of this post, I’m now accepting ugly hotel-room-view photos for future posts. Please email yours to me along with the name/location of the property: barbdelollis@gmail.com!)