Our Hotel Might Have Been on Fire… Hard to Tell

We drove my mother up to Minneapolis this last weekend so that she could care for my Grandfather.  He’s in hospice and doing poorly.

She stayed in his apartment, but they paid for my husband and I to stay in a nearby hotel as a ‘thank you’ and also possibly a ‘stay out of my hair’.

Anyway, we’re cuddled and talking, it’s just after one… and it sounds like someone’s bedside alarm goes off.  I shrug it off, but it doesn’t stop.

So I stick my head in the hallway… and there are white strobe lights and it’s a tiny bit louder there.

This is the fire alarm?

It smells like smoke, so okay.  I put on pants and shoes, pull on my coat, and my husband and I tromp out to the car and pull it back from the building.  We start it up, because it’s NEGATIVE THIRTEEN and we are in our PJs and coats.  He walks down to the lobby.

Per his account, a police woman came in right after him.  No one knew what was going on, but a ‘lady’ from the bar got into it swearing at the police woman.

This police woman isn’t paid NEARLY enough.

My husband comes back to the car, we pull out to the back of the parking lot, and we sit where we can see one of the interior strobe lights flashing.  There are huge clouds of condensation coming off the building… but there are huge clouds of condensation coming off ALL nearby buildings because it’s FREEZING SO HARD out.

After 30 minutes or so, it turns off.  We drive around and park by our room, and my husband walks up to the lobby.  Runs into same policewoman who tells him they didn’t find anything.

So, back to our rooms.  The hall smells like smoke still, but my husband says it’s more like Swisher Sweets so great.  Someone smoked in their room and set off the alarm.

That was our excitement for the night.

Have you had hotel drama?  What did you do?  What actually happened?  Inquiring minds want to know!  *smile*