My Worst Hotel Room View, Ever

Worse view was a hotel in Allentown, Pennsylvania. No window. National brand.

2nd worse view. Hotel in London. Brick wall a few feet from the window, may 4 feet. Tiny view of the sky if looked up from the bottom of the window.

3rd worse view. Chicago. Brick wall but it was maybe 8 feet away.

It’s interesting to see how people have very different experiences with Diamond status. I consistently get suite upgrades in Europe, middle east and Asia. In North America I got a junior suite at the Hilton Toronto Airport and even some very nice upgrades at Waldorf’s and LXR’s in the US (although never suites).

Is it really worse than that hotel in Greece Ben?

Worst room view: In Venice. The room had a view of the Hotel Danieli. That was the blank side wall of the hotel, so close that I could touch the Danieli by leaning out my window. So close to luxury, yet so far away.

The title of the article is "My Worse Hotel Room View Ever." Surely the experience with the hotel management made the hotel experience worse in Mykonos, but the view was at least better even if a wire was edited out of the hotel's official photos.

Inotelli in Helsinki. Our room overlooked a loading dock where vegetables and fruits were piled up and loaded on or off trucks. When my wife started to take pictures of it to "document things", I knew I made the wrong choice when I booked it.......

I was very surprised to see this! The structure used to be one of the most iconic restaurants of the airport, or at least one of the one that had been there for 20+ years. The name of it was the Cucara Macara, and it used to serve very decent typical Mexican food, one of those places you always go before a long flight. Unfortunately it seems it closed about a year ago, which was quite sad. But pretty funny to see how it looks now, thanks for that Ben!

“As any frequent hotel guest can attest to, sometimes you win the room view lottery, and sometimes you lose the room view lottery…”

Winner! Winner! Macaroni (Grill) dinner! 😉

Looks like a shed for the terminally ill.

LOL. Should we commiserate about this? Probably should've stayed at that sumptuous Hyatt Regency Mexico City Airport, instead, where, as a Globalist --the best top elite status of any program -- you would've received a 'confirmed' suite upgrade with the best view of the runways, ever, and a free and full restaurant breakfast as the icing on the cake, even though you were there for, what, just a couple of hours? Oh, wait, my bad! There are only 4 Hyatt hotels in all of Mexico City and none at the airport 😉

At least you got a bad view in the basic room without any upgrade. The scenario that seriously annoys me is when you get "upgraded" from a room with a view, eg high floor, sea view or whatever, to a suite on the lower floors on the opposite side of the hotel overlooking an alleyway or a parking lot. Accor hotels seem to be particularly bad for this in my experiences

the Hyatts in Mexico City are definitely a step above the Hilton props. The way you write this - are you a Hilton influencer or something? You should be upfront about that.

the Hyatts in Mexico City are definitely a step above the Hilton props.

That is a dubious claim, especially given the paucity of Hyatt properties in Mexico City and Hilton's partnership with SLH, all of which just confirm the complaint in the post as nonsensical.

Eh, it's not *that* bad. I'd honestly rather have that view than a view of a parking lot or a view of a wall of an alley, which I've had my fair share of. I'm sure you as well.

Mexican food before a long flight doesn't sound like the best idea.

Mexican food before a long flight doesn't sound like the best idea.

Stadia Suites in Queretaro, MX. Our room overlooked a junk/wrecking yard. Nice view of cutting torches and a bunch of dogs running around the junk.

Yup, I've eaten there many times. Because you never know with Mexico City traffic you have to plan to arrive real early and that was a good place to spend time Shame to see it closed.

When you get a room with a view of the runway at the Hilton Mexico City airport, the windows have these white squares all over them. I guess to help keep some of the sunlight out?

This means that if you really want to see anything out the window, you have to stand with your nose almost pressed up against it to try to see between the squares.

So…you really didn’t miss much.

I’m guessing getting to terminal 2 was a production, huh? I always have the front desk arrange a private car to take me over. We go out a back door, into a garage, and like magic, I’m there in <10 minutes.

And the Aeromexico lounge blows.

This is a real issue. This (among other issues that can occur) are why we always have the hotel ask us first before upgrading a client.

@Kelv you must be new here.

Yup, just back from Hampton in Glasgow city. Room with no windows. Only glass in the hallway overlooking a dilapidated building and, of course, the ubiquitous air con vents!!! I’m Diamond !!

The Miami International Airport Hotel really gives this a run for its money. "King" sided bed that absolutely isn't, run down rooms, TV service have been broken for years, view was of HVAC ventilation lines, extremely extremely dated and worn out. Miserable experience.

So once you saw the view was not to your liking, you could have paid the $40 for the view you wanted as you were aware that was an option. This situation does not remotely qualify as the worst anything at a hotel.

You have an interesting sense of humor.

You might have come across as being a little pushy to the agent - even though you were trying to be nice. Most people would not "hint" at the upgrade like you did. In a foreign country - you are likely best to be humble.

I agree, the post sounds a bit overdramatic.
Can't even start to count how many times I got close-up views of air conditioners, walls across narrow dirty alley - or in less urban areas semi parking lot with some of them idling or running generator/AC through the night.

You struggle with reading comprehension?

What you saw through the window of your room was a Mexican food restaurant, which has already closed and for now the airport has not been able to rent that space, so they only covered it with partition wall.

I think you would have been better off staying at the NH hotel in Terminal 2. The rooms are more modern and that hotel, being right in the middle of Terminal 2, has better views. Redeeming points would have been the tricky part, as NH is a niche chain, but the hotel itself is not very expensive in cash rates by American or European standards.

DCS continues to display a complete inability to be objective.

The value of the post is not in how it compares to Hyatts in the area, but how it compares to the hundreds of other hotels Ben has stayed at.

When a prominent and experienced travel blogger has the worst view they've ever had, it is worth "commiserating about".

Nevermind the repeated strawman regarding Hyatt suite upgrades.

I know the hotel well; well, not that well as I have only eaten there, but never stayed overnight. If I am not mistaken that view overlooks a Mexican restaurant that either recently moved or closed down. You can also see it from the Admirals Club. Gotta luv that view! Next time check out the Camino Real that is connected the airport via a pedestrian bridge. They offer club rooms with a lounge and some have runway views, but that is as exciting as it gets. Also there is a Courtyard by Marriott that is also connected to the airport via a pedestrian bridge. Either of these hotels are convenient. If you want a wonderful experience with no complaints, splurge for the InterContinental Presidente Mexico City, Polanco, which about 15-20 min by taxi - their views are spectacular and their Club Room is over the top!

@Ben, if that's the worst view that you've had, you've been lucky (no pun intended). As a lifetime Diamond I've had several views of walls within a few feet of my room. But my absolute worst was probably the below ground level room with a view if an emergency exit stair in the hotel courtyard as a Marriott Ambassador in London (Kensington, I won't say which hotel). It must have been the worst room in the hotel and I hadn't even booked a base room. I asked for another room that had light and was told there were none available. In all fairness, I had a long conversation about it with the front desk manager and they threw me points as did my ambassador, but like you Ben, I'm solar powered and I just wanted some light!

You can be a Diamond for Life for net free every year just by getting the CC. Aka, next to worthless. This is the result of that.

@JoePro: "Commiserating" with a self-anointed "travel guru" you incomprehensibly continue to place on a pedestal and worship was made difficult by his declaring himself a prima donna who can do much better elsewhere than staying at a hotel where is exalted status is not properly recognized, as it would be...elsewhere:

I don’t expect much as a Hilton Honors Diamond member when it comes to upgrades. However, as a Diamond member, you are are supposed to get a space available upgrade, at least in theory.

The proper response?

Probably should've stayed at that sumptuous Hyatt Regency Mexico City Airport, instead, where, as a Globalist --the best top elite status of any program -- you would've received a 'confirmed' suite upgrade with the best view of the runways, ever, and a free and full restaurant breakfast as the icing on the cake, even though you were there for, what, just a couple of hours? Oh, wait, my bad! There are only 4 Hyatt hotels in all of Mexico City and none at the airport 😉

Goodbye.

You can be a Diamond for Life for net free every year just by getting the CC. Aka, next to worthless. This is the result of that.

LOL. The troll is still confused. A Diamond for Life is not the same thing as a Lifetime Diamond. There is a Big Difference, et vive la différence!

Reading comprehension would do DCS favors. Nobody is talking about Lifetime Diamond STATUS but him.

What are you, stooopid? Do you even know the difference between being a Diamond for life and being a lifetime Diamond?
And, yes, I am talking about the Lifetime Diamond STATUS because that is my STATUS.

Please do me a favor and stop following me around with your asinine comments! Wherever I go and there you are with a stupid comment. Genug!

It's a room at an airport.
A place to sleep between destinations.
I'd choose a different location to complain about the view.

Welcome to the Anti View, our newest feature, introduced at the request of our adoring guests!

We stayed in the same hotel in May. The front desk was so rude. We are Lifetime Diamond members. I had gone back to the front desk to ask for 2 additional bottles of water, since...it is Mexico. They said no....I lost it. I showed them my lifetime Diamond card, told them how many years and how much money it took to get here, and to give me the 2$ worth of water. they did and I shoved off. Really? We found them the rudest staff of nearly all the hilton brands.

That's what you get for staying in big-box American hotels in foreign countries. I will never understand why so many people employ this inane strategy.

I generally won't pay extra for a view, if I'm at a hotel on with a waterfront location, I assume I'm going to have ample opportinity to see the ocean/river/lake during my stay and won't be spending too much time in the room. I do like to watch the planes at airport hotels, but often the "airport view" is so distant or obscured you need binoculars to see anything. I did pay extra for the ocean view at the Top of The World hotel in Barrow, Alaska, which also had the added entertainment benefit of watching the seagulls eating at the hotel dumpster.

What are you on about? As though local hotels can't have terrible views, or as though this is a norm among American hotels.

Please, kid.

we were Starwood platinum and got in about 8pm to the Park lane in London. Our room was "downstairs", had 2 twin beds and tile falling off the wall. I think this is where hotel people (or the ladies maids) would sleep. The window looked out to the bottom of the airshaft, which was 4 feet higher than the floor or the room. Upon returning the following week, we had a room with living room with fireplace, dining room and huge marble tub!

I guess Ben is quite spoiled if this is the worst he had.

Try traveling to some more exotic places and book a few nights in some local hotels. It'll give your eyes (and nose, and ears, and sometimes even some of your other senses!) some new impulses to think about. 🙂

I stayed in a downtown New Orleans hotel once that had a view of a brick wall. The wall was about 18 inches outside of my window.

Just bricks. That's all you could see. Not really sure what purpose was served by having a window at all.

If you're looking for the worst views any hotel can offer, might I suggest checking out the LHR T4 Crown Plaza (again)? The rooms looking into the capped courtyard are now quite bad with signs of deferred maintenance and unclean interior roofs everywhere.

Embassy Suites LAX El Segundo. The views looking over the south runway at LAX are no doubt superb...but if you're on the other side of the bldg, you get...NOTHING. The city of El Segundo has decided that the windows must be covered in order to protect the "privacy" of the residential area. There is no view. You can't even open the window. Truly the worst at LAX.

That use to be a restraunt down there before covid

This is a perfect example of why hotel "view lotteries" shouldn't exist these days.

Even as a Diamond member, you had no way to see what you were getting until you
pulled back those curtains - and by then it's too late to make an informed decision
about whether to pay extra for the runway view.

I built viewfromtheroom.com specifically to solve this problem. Travelers should
be able to see actual photos from specific hotel rooms BEFORE booking, not gamble
on vague descriptions like "standard room" or "city view."

Reading through these comments, so many people have similar stories - brick walls
18 inches away, windowless rooms, loading docks, HVAC ducts. This is a widespread
industry problem that technology can actually fix.

Would love to add Mexico City Airport properties to the site. Thanks for sharing
this, Ben - it's a great reminder that even frequent travelers with elite status
can't predict what they're getting!