We see travel articles and advertisements about “Rooms With a View” and are aware of “Room with a View” by E.M. Foster and the 1985 film.

ansssa-room-with-a-viewOfn room with a fiew film 1985

These views often are too exciteing for us. We’re starting a page on our website and Facebook group “Rooms without Views.”

Actually, the rooms have views we like —  dull views:

View Denver parking lot from Crowne PlazaParking lot on Glenarm Street, Denver — viewed from Crowne Plaza Hotel

View RAC roof
Rooftop and windows at Royal Automobile Club, London

View Highway 99 Turlock
Highway 99 going by Turlock, California — viewed from Holiday Inn Express

We’ve had new page in mind for a while and were reminded of it when reading a New York Times article “The downside of the ‘upssell'”  in Joe Sharkey’s On The Road column. The article ends with comments about hotels “upselling” for rooms with a view:

“We are long past the discussion about whether fees should exist or not,” said Michael W. McCormick, the executive director of the Global Business Travel Association. But travel managers continue to insist that suppliers provide better transparency on price. “That’s still an ongoing debate with all sectors of business travel — not just airlines,” he said.

I’m glad he makes that distinction, because hotels are also busy devising extra fees, especially convention-style hotels. For example, when I checked into the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel on Sunday, the desk clerk offered me a “room with a better view” for an extra $20 above the basic room.

I declined to pay up. Which explains why this is being written from the 19th floor of the Hilton Bayfront, in a room by the elevators, with a sweeping view of the industrial dock where Dole Food transfers fruit from ships onto trucks. I’m watching workers unload a big banana boat right now.

 Dole_Honduras_in_San_Diego