We were bumped to EconoLodge when Howard Johnson's made a mistake and over-booked. HoJo's manager promised us an "equal or better" accomodation and took us to the EconoLodge on W. Tyler in Harlingen. We got the room closest to the office.

The air conditioner stopped working just as we were going to bed. The night clerk came to give it a try and couldn't get it to start. He told us there were no other rooms available so we tried to get through the night on just the fan. Have you ever tried to sleep in a hotel room with no cross ventilation in the middle of the summer in the Texas Valley? To make matters worse, there was an animal stuck in the wall behind our bed and it made a pitiful sound all night.

By 4am we could stand it no longer. We were drenched in sweat and I was feeling nauseated. I asked my husband to try to do something with the A/C one last time. He did and it miraculously kicked on. We finally fell asleep around 5am, when the animal... more