If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I enjoy my trips to Los Angeles. I have favorite hotels, restaurants and people to see.

Sometimes the trips don’t go quite as planned though. Case in point: this most recent trip.

The weather was mostly terrible. The exception was Saturday. I flew out a day early to see a college friend and her family.

My favorite hotel, Andaz WeHo was priced above my daily limit for LA so I  stayed at a new-to-me hotel, a Kimpton property.

I checked into the Hotel Wilshire Sunday afternoon.

The location wasn’t what I had in my head–quite a desolate stretch of Wilshire Boulevard. Then I realized that the hotel didn’t have a gym. They offered a gym pass here, but I declined.

The staff was nice and while the room service menu was limited, it did offer a delicious grilled cheese with fig jam sandwich. Before The Incident, I had already come to the “not all Kimpton hotels are created equally” conclusion.

Things went terribly awry on my second morning at the hotel. While eating breakfast at the tiny desk, I noticed two small brown ants orbiting my room service tray.

“Gross,” I thought but also blamed myself thinking maybe I had left crumbs.

I’m not sure what made me look at the settee which was placed just to the side of the desk but…O-M-G. Its upholstery was alive with tiny ants.

I freaked. The General Manager came to my room in five minutes flat and was very kind. She offered a new room, but ultimately I decided I needed a fresh start at a new hotel.

The aftermath has left me washing, dry cleaning and even vacuuming everything that was in that hotel room. Oh, and itching and scratching for a day or two, fortunately out of paranoia and not physical effects from ants.

The whole experience has been eye-opening, not to mention expensive and frustrating.

I will be sure to whip out this story the next time someone comments on my ‘glamorous’ travels.

Related posts:

• Some LA celeb sightings
• I’m in love with a hotel