CALIFORNIA HOTEL DOWNTOWN

I was at the California very early, just after 6AM because I needed to leave my luggage and then return the rental car to the airport. 

The valet parking guy let me just park near the entrance for the ten minutes I would take to settle things before going out again to return the car.

The woman would have given me a room, and that needs to be noted. I could have gotten in a room that early with no hint of an early check in fee that I would certainly pay in any CET or Mlife property.

However, I have been searching for something quiet, and I talked that over with her. She said I should lock up a room facing the back street, that it would have only the street noise in the afternoon, which is the time I need the quiet.

The clerk locked up a particular room so that when I returned, all I had to do was pick up the key, tip the bellman where I left my luggage, and head up to the room.

So, with the car returned I waited for the WAX and had an easy ride to downtown. 
I got a pretty fine shot of this building when the bus paused long enough.

I actually had too many hundred dollar bills in my wallet at that time, and so I stopped at the Bank of America and deposited money. What a rigamarole they put me through simply because I wanted to be served by a living person rather than a machine. They also sent me to Starbucks for a bathroom, but that bathroom was only for customers, so it was an uncomfortable wait. 

No other Bank of America has ever asked me to do anything when withdrawing money. It is strange I need a detailed deposit slip to give them my money.

My room was not ready at the California until after eleven. I kept checking and playing video poker on the 10/7 coin droppers.

I checked for bed bugs, for a working television, for a toliet that flushed. It was a fine room, and the promise of quiet was kept. I could hear Fremont Street Experience if I went to bed before midnight, but I could easily fall asleep to it as well. The sleep apnea machine adds a bit of white noise and that helped.   This is the first actually quiet room I've found downtown.

I started to unpack and found these small black dots gathered in the ridge of some plastic cups I had brought. I took out the cups and the black dots jumped here and there.

So, I thought that I had brought in bedbugs from Harrah's Laughlin where I had found dead bugs in the mattress, left most likely when all bugs were killed but housekeeping neglected their part of the cleanup. 

My luggage had not entered that Harrah's room. However, I had walked in wearing my hiking boots and then packed the boots in the large suitcase, so it was possible for me to have carried in the buggers.

I called security and had them come up to check. The first fellow was unsure, but his boss took a long time and finally said that he did not think these were bugs.

He thought it was spilled coffee from my small traveling coffee pot. The hopping was due to static electricity, and he showed me how he could make the coffee from the coffee bag hop.

I was still unsure and confused. But I took their assessment, and it proved right. Three days and nothing like a bug was in my bed, and once the loose coffee was cleaned up, no more "bugs" appeared.

I go downtown primarily to play poker at the Golden Nugget.  The walk to the Nugget is just a couple blocks from the California hotel.  So, while it seems like a hotel that is off the beaten track, for me it is perfect.