Best Western

This has been an interesting afternoon. It actually started out fairly well, if you don't count me trying to boil my top lip. I left Lebanon, MO, after filling my car up at $2.79 a gallon. I hit Illinois ($3.05 gal), and things started going downhill. Three different vehicles came close to creaming me, the last being a GIGANTIC semi. It's a good thing there was a clear shoulder next to me, otherwise, I might be wrapped around a big tire right now. I'm not that hard to see, even for a semi driver. I started feeling nauseous, so I thought I'd better stop for the evening, around 5. I head to a favorite hotel only to find it's been closed. There was another one next to that location, so I thought I'd check it out since it looked pretty decent from the outside. I go into the lobby, and it was nothing spectacular, but nice enough. I asked if they had internet access, the nice young fella named Kevin told me, yes, wireless....free. Good enough! I check it, no problem. I unload my stuff from the car, head to my room, open the door... uh huh..well, it wasn't fancy, but it wasn't exactly yucky and I really wasn't feeling well, so, what the heck. I sit for a few minutes trying to calm my tummy. I take out my computer and looked for a place to plug it in. I had to do some searching, but I finally found a hidden plug. I called the front desk and to ask if I needed a user name and password to access. He said, "No, just turn on the computer, and you're on." Good enough, I can handle that. Well, I should have known it was too simple. I get a "no available network" or whatever it said. You get the idea. I call the front desk again, and the nice young fella who had told me I had access and didn't need a password tells me...."Oh, sorry, that room doesn't have access, and I don't have any rooms available that do." grrrrrrrr I was not in a good mood to begin with, but that really chapped my hide. I asked him why he told me there was access, when in reality, there wasn't. He apologized, and repeated there were no rooms available in that wing of the hotel. Now, considering there were only 4 cars in the parking lot, I find that hard to believe. I checked out, after 20 minutes. He tried to charge me half the cost of the room, since "I can't rent it out after you were in there." My comment, politely.... "I don't think so!" Well, we finally came to an understanding, and I will not be charged for my brief stay. Advice: Do NOT stay at the Best Western University Inn on 51 in Normal, IL. Yes, the clerk was very friendly, and all, but not terribly informed about his job duties. The room was pretty drab, although clean. There's a sign outside that says "20 years of excellence". Well, I beg to differ.