Vacationing woman admits to ‘crying’ after seeing view from hotel room

A woman has revealed how she ‘cried’ after seeing 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 handle wander_woman11 showcasing her adventures as a solo traveler.

“I started traveling alone several years ago and I love it. When I tell people I’m on a solo vacation, they usually tell me I’m brave, followed by, ‘I wish I could do that,’” Lyndsay said. Newsweek.

“So I wanted to start creating content with two goals: one, to empower others and give people the confidence to do it; and two, to show suppliers that solo travel is on the rise.”

Interest in solo travel is on the rise. Data compiled by travel booking platform Regiondo revealed that since 2009, the number of Google searches for the term “solo travel” has steadily increased year over year.

Lyndsay is a strong supporter of the measure and also wants to see the removal of “single supplements” – a term for the extra cost incurred when only one person occupies a hotel room.

Her latest video, shot at a hotel near Niagara Falls, may well inspire a few people to follow in her footsteps. Lyndsay was visiting New York, Toronto and Niagara as part of a planned trip to mark her birthday.

“I had been to New York before, but never to Canada, so I joined a Facebook group where people were giving advice on what to do in Niagara,” she said. “Everyone was literally talking about Hilton, Embassy Suites and Marriott, which are all big hotel chains and out of my budget.”

So Lyndsay decided to search TikTok for “hotels with a good view of Niagara Falls.” That’s when she came across The Tower Hotel. “The Trip Advisor reviews 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 take a chance and even went the extra mile to make her stay even more 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 anything they could do to make my stay even better,” she said.

The hotel staff were certainly professional, although Lyndsay didn’t really realize how much they had gone out of her way when she arrived. “When I checked in, the receptionist gave me room 2708, but she didn’t really give me any information,” she said.

Although she was “pleasantly surprised” by the room, having paid just £220 ($290), Lyndsay didn’t immediately realise what she had stumbled upon. “The curtains were closed at the time and I just stood there for a moment, silently wishing for a nice view,” she said. “Then I opened the curtains and literally burst into tears. It was way beyond my expectations and exactly what I had dreamed of.”

The video posted to her account @wander_woman11 captures the spectacular view that greeted her with Niagara Falls lighting up perfectly against the night sky.

Lyndsay captioned the video: “Why I cried when I saw my £220 hotel room”. As it is a social media site, the caption had many viewers fearing the worst. “How is this possible? I think it’s a beautiful view! Why were you crying?” one viewer commented, with Lyndsay saying they were “tears of joy”.

She added that she had no idea what to expect when she first walked in. “Because the curtains were closed and I lost my bearings when I found the room, I had no idea what the view would be,” Lyndsay said. “Of course I was hoping it would be nice, but it could have been a car park!”

The room was just one of many highlights of this whirlwind nighttime tour of the area. “I managed to see the falls fireworks, the Hornblower boat ride, which takes you up to the falls, and also the power station,” Lyndsay said.

As of this writing, Lyndsay’s video has been viewed over 445,000 times. She hopes the clip and the story behind it will inspire others to follow her lead, though she has one key piece of advice for anyone traveling: “Do a lot of research.”

“We live in the information age, where we have access to a multitude of things,” Lyndsay said. “Feel free to use social media to see what others are doing, join discussion groups, and of course, follow me for more tips.”

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