The hotel itself was clean enough, though it carried that stale smell no cleaning product on Earth has ever conquered. The next morning, we went down to the “continental breakfast,” where the desk clerk practically made us show ID to prove we were tenants before granting us access to the powdered eggs, fried potatoes, and soggy sausage patties, apparently reserved for the truly deserving. I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels with continental breakfast, but that was the first time I had to be vetted to access it.