Tuesday, February 05, 2008

I'm such a travel moron

This is my third Hilton of the night.

I'm in Chicago on my second business trip. My boss said he was staying at the Hilton Magnificent Mile. Okay, no sweat. Google [hilton magnificent mile], book a room.

Only he was in "Hilton Garden Inn Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile." I got a room in "Hilton Suites Chicago/Magnificent Mile."

It was the top Google hit.

But it gets better. Our hotels are only 14 blocks away from each other, just under a mile. When I left Ben's hotel, I told a taxi driver to "take me to the other Hilton." "The one on Michigan?" he asked. "Yes," I told him. I remembered that the taxi from the airport last night had asked if it was the one on Michigan. I called Rachel and she said it wasn't on Michigan but it was about a block away. Close enough, I figured.

Not close enough. This was another Hilton, several miles away. This time I went to the front desk to figure out exactly which damn Hilton I was in. Armed with that knowledge I took another taxi to, finally, the right hotel.

Now I'm left wondering how on earth my taxi from last night got me to the right one on the first try. Maybe he uses Google.

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