A Cheap Motel Tip

[iblistenin]

A lot of the cheaper motels, especially Motel 6, that have the individual lights over each side of the bed have access plates for the next rooms lights in the adjoining room.
I bet some of you have noticed these round metal plates on the wall next to your lights.
You can take those off and be inside the light fixture over your target "soundmakers" bed.

Talk about close to the action.
I have never recorded through them but have had some delightful listening sessions with my ear literally in the room with the couple.
You are only 3 feet or so away from the action and the sound is perfect...much better than trying to listen through sheetrock.

At a different Motel 6 in Dallas, that I have spent a lot of nights in, they have this arrangement.
I always try and get the same room and usually can.
Immediately on getting in the room I go ahead and remove the plates if my neighbors haven't arrived, it takes a phillips head screwdriver which I always pack.
If they are already there I do it very slowly and quietly, usually having to pry it loose from the wall because of sealant used to keep sound from coming through (imagine that).

I was strolling the walks late one afternoon when I saw a young couple just arriving.
Both looked late teens to very early twenties.
Girl was kind of cute, a little chunky but not bad at all, wearing cut-off jeans and a t-shirt. She had some really nice looking breasts.
I was following along behind them when they came to the room next to mine.
I walked on past and made another lap to give them time to get in so they wouldn't see me then quietly went in my room.
I locked the door and "got ready" to listen.
Wasn't much except general conversation for a while then he asked her about going somewhere and she replied "I just want to stay here and make love"
I knew I had hit the jackpot.
It was later that night but they went at it for what seemed like hours and I got to listen in to every squeal, moan and smack and could hear it about as good as they could and got nearly as much pleasure as he did.
Wish I would have known about recording then, just never thought of saving this for future enjoyment...guess I really like it live.

I have listened to several couples through that same access hole, probably at least a dozen or so over a 5 to 6 year period.

I have found at some other cheap hotels that adjoining room doors are excellent for listening.
Once the couple is going at it it is fairly safe to ease the door open and the sound improves drastically.
I always set this up early by getting the door open in case it is sticky or loud sometimes going so far as to lubricate a squeaky hinge in case I need to open it quietly later.
In some I have even been able to see a little bit of the action through ill fitted doors, there is quite often a small gap at the top or you can look under some through the gap at the bottom with a small mirror.
I guess that just doubles the fun for me although in some instances what my mind sees from the sounds is way better than what they actually look like.

Another thing I've done is to remove my headboard and using a knife or my trusty screwdriver make a hole in the wall to better hear through.
This is kind of hit and miss but I've heard some good sounds that way that I was having trouble hearing the other way.
In some buildings there is insulation between the walls to help make them quiter.
By fishing around with my tools I can usually make a "sound passage" through the insulation that makes sounds clearer to me.

Anybody else have any tactics they can share ?

I'm always looking for a way to better my listening enjoyment.

[mjj9994]

Great tips IB! (dang, and I thought I was a Mcgyver-type..haha).

Dont know if I am that motivated too remove headboards and whatnot.... but the lamp cover is a good idea. Think the best situation I was an early check-in at a hotel, had an adjoining room with a farily decent-sized gap at the bottom (maybe 1/2"-1")... which was empty at the time I checked in. Went to sleep early and was woken up by screams coming from next door...haha. Unfortunately... either I was really tired or it was just a quick session....by the time I was coherent enough to enjoy it, they were finished... ah well.

Also... from my experience, normally the upper floors are better for hearing building-wide sounds than lower floors (meaning you are more likely to hear sounds from 2 floors down than 2 floors above you), plus some of the ground-level rooms sometimes tend to be 'handicap accessible', reducing the amount of possible 'target rooms'. As a rule, I try to get a room on the 2nd floor of 2-story hotel/motels or the 3rd-4th floor of 5-7 story hotels, and not a corner room... but one with rooms on both sides and above/below (think 3-D square, with your room in the middle).

[iblistenin]

I've been woken up before too.
I had an adjoining room at a Motel 6 one night.
Saw a youngish black guy come in alone.

I could hear him talking on the phone good through the adjoining doors even with mine closed but nothing ever happened, he was by himself until I was asleep.

Around 1:00 am I was brought from a deep sleep by a woman making some loud music, even screaming some.
I jumped out of bed and had the adjoining door open in a flash but they didn't quit.
He pounded that girl for what had to be close to an hour with her hollering the whole time.
I expect he was hung like a horse from the way she was digging it.
I also expect she had to be hoarse the next day.
Man, she was hving a GOOD time.
and so was I .

[Rograd]

i

[shung421]

Great tip about the light fixture plates at Motel 6! Just if you're staying multiple nights in the room to put it back each morning so the cleaning lady doesn't see it!