God bless Mike and Fawn Read, angels of Sugar Creek. Late at night, when no other lodgings were available, they opened their home Tuesday night.
Truly, vacant hotel rooms IN Houston are about as plentiful as dry property on Galveston Island.
Having a certain knowledge of conditions in Houston, having spoken with people there, and feeling somewhat skeptical about the room reservations we had made on Saturday, I tried calling Howard Johnson’s on South Main a couple times. Busy / not working. So Monday, I called the “Mother ship” … Wyndham Hotels.
They couldn’t get through to the hotel property either, but they assured me my confirmed reservation was bankable (Merrill Lynch, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Behr Sterns?) and the room would be ready for us when we arrived Tuesday night.
I think some Midwest editor once said, “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.”
We noticed on the flight into Houston that there were a lot of dark spots around town. Southwest Airlines got us to Hobby Airport on time. We grabbed our bags and caught a cab. Didn’t take long to get to the hotel — which was dark. Scented candles placed at strategic locations throughout the lobby might have spawned sixties-era flashbacks, and the long-haired, thinly-built night clerk introducing himself and extending his hand did not disabuse me of the impression. I was SURE he was barefoot, and San Francisco was having a heat wave.
Wait a minute. This was Houston. Our cabbie, with meter running, took us to one hotel after another. I telephoned two for which I had numbers. The story was always the same — no rooms, nothing open until October.
Enter Mike and Fawn. They had offered us their spare bedroom. It was after 9 p.m. when I called Mike and asked if their offer stood. “Come on out,” Mike said, and gave directions.
After some discussion, we decided to go back to the airport — the only place likely to have rental car agencies open — and to rent a car. Our cabbie, an angel (as Cil calls them) from Ethiopia, was ending his shift. His home was off the Southwest Freeway (which goes to Sugar Land), so he offered to lead us through the downtown traffic and get us going in the right direction.
Mike waited up for us, talked us through the final turns to his home, and conducted us to their spare bedroom. We talked about our appointment time in the morning, and he suggested the best strategy for getting through the traffic on time.
Nancy and I knew of a public parking lot, paid the six dollars, and looked forward to the first meal we had had in about 20 hous. She suggested we check with the Best Western, which had no electricity when we left and had about a foot of water in their below-street garage. We asked if they had a room. They did, but they had no elevators.
We took the room. After our day at MD Anderson (next post) and a tour of the hotel, we decided to stay at the Best Western for the duration. We are in room 322 at Best Western Plaza Hotel and Suites at Medical Center, 6700 Main Street, HoustonTX 77030. Phone 713-522-2811.