One woman said she “cried” when she saw the view from her hotel window – but not for the reason many might have assumed.
Lyndsay, an aspiring travel vlogger from Nottingham, UK, regularly posts videos on TikTok under the name wander_woman11 showcasing her adventures as a solo traveller.
“I started travelling alone a few years ago and I really enjoy it. When I tell people I’m on holiday alone, they usually tell me I’m brave, followed by ‘I wish I could do that,'” said Lyndsay Newsweek.
“So I wanted to start creating content that had two goals: first, to encourage others and give them the confidence to do it; and second, to show operators that solo travel is on the rise.”
Interest in solo travel is growing. Data compiled by travel booking platform Regiondo shows that the number of Google searches for the term “solo travel” has been steadily increasing year on year since 2009.
Lyndsay is a passionate advocate of this policy and is calling for the abolition of the single room supplement, which refers to the additional costs incurred when a hotel room is occupied by only one person.
Her latest video from a trip to a hotel near Niagara Falls might inspire some people to follow in her footsteps. Lyndsay visited New York City, Toronto and Niagara as part of a trip to celebrate her birthday.
“I’d been to New York before, but never to Canada, so I joined a Facebook group where people were giving tips and advice on what to do in Niagara,” she said. “Literally everyone was talking about Hilton, Embassy Suites and Marriott, all major hotel chains and all out of my price range.”
So Lyndsay decided to search TikTok for “hotels with good views of Niagara Falls” and came across the Tower Hotel. “The reviews on Trip Advisor were good and the room rate was reasonable, but I was still worried because no one was talking about this place,” she said.
Still, Lyndsay decided to give it a try and even went the extra mile to make her visit extra special. “I booked and emailed them in advance to let them know that the trip was part of my birthday present and so I would appreciate it if they could make my stay even more enjoyable,” she said.
The hotel staff definitely delivered in that regard, although Lyndsay wasn’t entirely clear on how much they had done when she arrived. “When I arrived, the receptionist assigned me room 2708 but didn’t tell me much,” she said.
Although she was “pleasantly surprised” by the room, given that she had only paid £220 ($290), Lyndsay wasn’t immediately aware of what she was getting into. “The curtains were drawn and I stood there for a minute wishing for a nice view,” she said. “Then I opened the curtains and literally burst into tears. It far exceeded my expectations and was exactly what I had dreamed of.”
wander_woman11/TikTok
The video posted on her account @wander_woman11 captures the spectacular view that greeted her with Niagara Falls glowing perfectly against the night sky.
Lyndsay captioned the video, “Why I cried when I saw my £220 hotel room.” Given that this is social media, it was a caption that left many viewers assuming the worst. “How is that bad? I think that’s an amazing view! Why were you crying?” one viewer commented, with Lyndsay saying they were “happy tears.”
She added that she had no idea what to expect when she entered the room. “Because the curtains were drawn and I was disoriented looking for the room, I had no idea what the view would be like,” Lyndsay said. “Of course I hoped it would be nice, but it could have been a parking lot!”
The room was just one of the many highlights of this whirlwind day-long visit to the area. “I managed to see the fireworks at the falls, the Hornblower boat ride that takes you right to the falls, and also the power station,” Lyndsay said.
At the time of writing, Lyndsay’s video has been viewed over 445,000 times. She hopes the clip and the story behind it inspires others to follow suit, but has one important piece of advice for all travelers: “Do your research.”
“We live in the information age where so much is at our fingertips,” Lyndsay said. “Be sure to use social media to see what other people have been doing, join chat groups and of course follow me for more tips.”
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