I was on a consulting trip to Seattle's Eastside in 1990, during the Goodwill Games. I had to stay at the Bellevue Hyatt because of corporate partnerships.
Unfortunately, it turned out that my room happened to be on a floor where two countries who were not friendly with each other had happened to be assigned rooms on that same floor. There was a virtual riot in the hallway in the middle of the night -- I could see only bits and pieces through my peephole, I tried calling security and the front desj multiple times before I could get hold of anybody. Eventually, things were stable enough such that I could be walked out of the room and off the floor into an open room on another floor... at 5:30 in the morning.
Among other things, it meant I got no sleep that night. Fast forward to the next morning -- my first morning at the client site. While casually talking about my experience with the receptionist, she mentioned that there was a great little hotel right there in Bothell and that they got a great corporate right there. So, I transferred. Turns out that it was a great, modern, quiet property that was much closer to the client... at half the price.
Unfortunately, it turned out that my room happened to be on a floor where two countries who were not friendly with each other had happened to be assigned rooms on that same floor. There was a virtual riot in the hallway in the middle of the night -- I could see only bits and pieces through my peephole, I tried calling security and the front desj multiple times before I could get hold of anybody. Eventually, things were stable enough such that I could be walked out of the room and off the floor into an open room on another floor... at 5:30 in the morning.
Among other things, it meant I got no sleep that night. Fast forward to the next morning -- my first morning at the client site. While casually talking about my experience with the receptionist, she mentioned that there was a great little hotel right there in Bothell and that they got a great corporate right there. So, I transferred. Turns out that it was a great, modern, quiet property that was much closer to the client... at half the price.
But boy, that lack of security was scary.