The view from the guesthouse where we stayed. Before you book a stay here be sure to talk to me. It is a steal at $109/ night , but as they say, there is no free lunch ( just yummy breakfasts!)and so you sacrifice some typical luxuries at a traditional B&B but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
Jeanette Irwin, the Inn keeper of Honey House was a jewel in the desert. I absolutely fell in love with her. She very much reminded me of my Grandma Puckett even though she is only 12 yrs. older than me. "Sweet" is the best adjective I can come up with to describe her.
After having checked out from the Honey House on Saturday morning we were on our way to South Mountain Park to do some hiking because our flight wasn't due out until 7pm. Just a block away we ran across these folks. They had a box of grapefruit labeled "free" & so we took two. We ate them after several hours of hiking while sitting in the shade on a green at a golf course right by where we had parked the car. Perfect!
A word to the wise. By far, the most expensive part of this trip was the car rental. I am so grateful that we didn't know the total cost until we returned the car because it truly would have ruined a wonderful week. The quoted estimated price for the car was just over $400. The daily cost was $31.00 a day. So we assumed the taxes were embedded in that estimate. Wrong. When we returned the car the total was nearly double at $773!!!
I was LIVID!!!! Fortunately we had enough time before our flight & all of the paperwork in hand and so I got into a long line of folks waiting to pick up their car to wait my turn to release my outrage. I wonder how many people don't have that luxury of time and just say "fuck it" and get on their plane & fly off.
I was very glad to see that the young woman who had rattled down the list of add- on options when we picked up the car including a lame sales pitch "well sir, you are a big man & perhaps could use more leg room. Would you like an upgrade in cars?" etc...
By the time it was my turn, my heart rate & flushed face had subsided, but barely. The biggest add on that we were contesting was an extra 29$ / day for additional insurance. Dan had told her when we picked up the car that we did not need it & even offered to show her our insurance card. Thank goodness she had remembered that.
They pulled her off the line at the counter at that point because I was getting a little loud I guess & there were many people waiting. She went in the back to get a manager. Of course he came out pointing to Dan's initals that had signified an agreement to the additional insurance. I ( and Dan... he suddenly appeared) explained that we did not know what we had agreed to especially since we explained that we intended to use our own insurance as coverage. Reluctantly the manager "met us half way" and reimbursed us about $100. Big whoop.
Before I was finished, I held up the paper and pointed to where it was quoted at an estimated cost of $400 with a daily fee of $31 & said, Sir, at the very least this is dishonest business practice and .... at which point Dan said, "Mary, it's settled. Let's go."
THAT was a bummer. But as I said, until the very last moment our trip was perfect & after an hour or so of simmering I got over it & Dan & I joked about it the whole way home.
F
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