Anniversary Aggravation

Top Five Reasons why you might think it is wise to cancel get-a-way plans:

1. You notice signs posted all over the downtown area – “National Volleyball Championship Playoffs this weekend”.

2. The playoffs are held at the St. Pete Times Forum – the arena directly across from the hotel you are staying.

3. There are sixty hotel attendants perched at the entrance and check-in point at the hotel with a line of cars in front of you.

4. It’s a weekend in December.

5. The hotel is not only filled with college kids, but there are two weddings going on as well.

We checked in early that afternoon, before heading to my parent’s house and experienced those five items on the list. We dismissed them for two reasons: 1. When Scott called to make reservations; he originally wanted to book the Venoy. The Marriot representative highly recommended for us not to stay there since a convention was booked at the same time. She wanted to make sure our experience was a quiet and pleasant one and suggested the Waterfront. 2. The hotel staff upgraded us to a suite. We checked it out and felt comfortable we would not have any issues. As we entered the hotel lobby that evening, it WAS quiet and pleasant. We spent a few minutes in the area enjoying the Christmas décor before heading up to our room for a special platter of wine and crackers courtesy of the hotel. At this point and time, I was minutes from passing out cold. I told Scott, “All I need is a good night’s rest and then I will be functioning for the rest of our weekend get-a-way.” Lights were promptly out by 10:30. An hour and a half later I woke up to the sounds of music, laughing and loud talking. The room right next to our bed was having a party, a very LOUD party. Then we started to realize we were also hearing a loud bass thumping sound, like someone above us was throwing a rave. Scott called down to the desk without any success. My poor hubby goes to the front desk to get help. We waited for an hour and got nothing. Oh, but we did get the explanation to why we were hearing the bass. There is a night club call Jackson’s situated directly below our room. They said that noise should stop by 3 AM. REALLY? So, after waiting, Scott goes down to the front desk yet again. This time he says the hotel lobby is bustling like it did in the afternoon. People were everywhere. Within thirty minutes, it got quiet. Now, we only had about an hour and half left before the club stopped… UNTIL our party freaks next door decided to move the CD player right by the connector door and blare the music while yelling to each other to talk over the commotion. After hearing the selection of music being played, we realized our neighbors were not college kids. The late 70’s and early 80’s songs clearly pointed in the direction of them being in our age bracket or older. My husband’s patience at this point was amazing. I thought for sure he would tear down the door and beat them all senselessly. I know that is what I wanted to do if I could gain the energy to get out of bed. Nope, instead by this point I was crying like a baby. All I wanted was to sleep!!! Scott went down for a third time – this time getting the manager and security to take care of the matter. By the time the losers next door settled down, it was 3 AM. Yeah, it means the club now will stop shaking the windows of our room!!!! So we thought… they didn’t stop until around 3:45 and believe it or not – started up again around 7:30. They were not playing full songs, but every 15 to 30 minutes would blast two to three minutes of bass. Unbelievable. Since we only had basically three hours of sleep and knew even if our neighbors checked out, we still had to deal with the club music again. We checked out immediately. Thankfully our points were returned (free night) plus free parking and breakfast. So for now… we will wait and find yet another time to celebrate our anniversary - hopefully before the next one!