Mike Morin

“He shoots, he scores!” If you’ve ever wanted to see a hockey game from the comfort of your hotel room, you should book where we’ve been staying since late December and open your room door.

For those who may find themselves in an extended stay hotel someday, let me offer a few helpful tips so that there are no surprises. Here’s why we are here.

Following a stressful month of boxing up and packing our lives for a new home, we found ourselves selling our Nashua house in about four seconds, putting us on a mission to locate a place to stay for close to two months. The new home would not be ready until February.

Luckily, there are a number of area suite hotels that cater to people like us. And it ain’t a bad way to go. After the moving truck took our 13,000 pounds of stuff away for storage, we exhaled and hunkered down in what felt like a much-needed vacation. Our extended hotel choice was great, but I’ve learned a few things that nobody tells you.

Yes, there were hockey games in the hallway outside our room. A group of little kid hockey teams stayed on our floor and decided to hold practice in the carpeted hall. They even brought their own street hockey nets, sticks and tennis balls. We were amused and despite the joyful racket, we just smiled and cranked the TV volume to 59.

The previous weekend, the Palm Beach Typhoon, a premier junior hockey program of young men, invaded the hotel. Why New Hampshire? Did the Florida team take a wrong turn somewhere in North Carolina? Actually, they are affiliated with Hudson’s Northern Cyclones and were here for games and practices, I presume, none of which were in our hallways. The guys were polite, generally quiet and definitely like junk food as evidenced by the trash bags filled with take out and frozen food discards.

As a former traveling minor league hockey announcer myself back in the “Slap Shot” days (Paul Newman 1970s movie reference), I knew that I’d better get to the breakfast buffet before the Typhoon if I wanted to get any bacon.

The night we checked in, we were greeted by a 3-year old driving his motorized car up and down the 4th floor hallway. Again, we were not annoyed but did not expected this. I pulled out Lady Baba’s hair dryer and set up a fake speed trap outside of room 409.

Wi-Fi was just barely OK. With many business people staying here, I can tell you they log in to work around 9:45. That’s when the Wi-Fi gets weak. You learn the Wi-Fi pattern just like the hot water availability. I take my shower at 5:45 before rush hour.

We had an in-room kitchen. You get minimal pots, pans, dishes and silverware. I stealthily smuggled silverware from the breakfast bar and will return it when we check out, which could be this afternoon after they read this expose.

Contact Mike Morin at mike morinmedia@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @MikeMorinMedia. His column runs the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month.