Things began to go badly when I opened the door. The perfume smell was strong enough to gag a Parisian skunk. I told the clerk that I wanted another room, and he replied that there were no other rooms available. Fortunately I had checked in early, so I opened the windows and left for several hours. On my way out, the neon sign said 'vacancy'.
When I got back, it was breathable, but cold. So I closed the windows and turned on the heater, only to find that the drapes were too long and they covered the vents of the heater, and they flopped around in the airflow. I finally found a way to get the drapes tied up out of the way of the heater but so that they covered most of the window, and settled down to sleep. Within ten minutes I was sweating, for the sheets were cheap polyester.
During the night I was awakened regularly by traffic noises: that part of Lombard is one of the main routes through the city and has trucks driving on it all night. Every time I was awakened, I could see - through the gap in the drapes that I could not close - the glaring red 'vacancy' sign.
In the morning, I found that the allegedly 'continental' breakfast was little more than a pot of coffee, a bottle of orange juice, and a box of dry donuts.
