Mike F.
Yelp
You ever search for a hotel on booking.com, and when you see all the high prices listed say "Wow!!!", but then buried in this list of costly hotels, you find a well-reviewed hotel that is significantly cheaper than the rest? You wonder, is it too good to be true? Then you notice in the fine print (or upon check-in) that it has a shared bathroom, has only one twin bed, or is a youth hostel. Well, our lodgings in Savannah were the exact opposite, a reasonably priced flower in the middle of an overpriced dessert.
* Thunderbird Inn: This place was 50% cheaper than almost any other hotel in the Savannah historic district, but yet gets a very respectable 8.6 on booking.com. I used the third protocol in The After Action Report: The Lodging Protocol to book this place. First, I made a fully cancellable reservation at the Best Western Savannah Historic District for $134/night (tax incl). Later, when 15 miles out from Savannah inbound, I checked booking.com and noticed the Thunderbird Inn at $104/night, I immediately booked it and then canceled the Best Western. Viola!
The Thunderbird Inn is a 1950s style two-story motel, with bright pastel colors, piped in 50s music, and a free Krispy Kreme donut each morning, that is located on the western edge of the Historic District. Its spacious rooms are super clean (with modest, but super clean bathrooms). It's across the street from the Savannah Bus Station, which fortunately deters some from booking it (winning!). Each room comes with two cans of RC Cola which were used to make Thunderbird Cuba Libras.
I had one very minor issue with my stay, which I only bring up so I could work in a European travel connection. The light switch on the inside of the Thunderbird Inn bathroom was motion-activated, which reminded me of Europe. Every bathroom in Europe has the light switch on the outside of the bathroom. Now think about it. If the light switch is on the outside and you are sleeping with someone, how can you turn on turn on the bathroom light without lighting up the entire bedroom? What happens is you close the bathroom door until your arm is just barely able to fit between the door and the jamb, then you flip the switch on, and attempt to pull your arm into the bathroom at the speed of light. When I mentioned the idea of putting the light switch on the inside of the bathroom to various European hoteliers, they all looked at me like I was loca, verrückt, fou, gek, őrült or lud.
www.afteractionreport.info