Sperlonga

So we have this free weekend coming up. Danilo is going home to visit his dad and lay flowers at his mother's grave. Most of the students are staying on campus for some much needed R&R. I am thinking about doing the same. We have a trip to Venice coming up and then I am off to Sicily for the next free weekend. Danilo says why stay and relax at Gandolfo. He says the sea is only an hour by train away from Rome, and I can relax by the water. Danilo knows I love the water. So I make plans to visit Sperlonga, a little seaside town which is popular among Romans during the summer heat. I pick up my train tickets on Thursday. Print out the train schedule online, seems to run almost every hour just like the Albano train we take every day, and look up hotels online. We picked out a good hotel on the water and try to call them, but all we get is the answering machine. I left my number on the machine for them to call me back.
Friday morning I get up take the 7:05 into Termini and catch the 8:45 to Sperlonga. I will arrive there around 10A. As I am arriving and exiting the train the hotel calls me back. The answering machine is on because the hotel is still closed for the season. They don't open until Easter. So I'm standing on a strange train platform, 12 miles from the city of Sperlonga, and the hotel I want to stay at is closed. I have to use the restroom and it is locked. I am beginning to regret my decision.
I am approached my a gentleman who offers to be of assistance. After five weeks in Rome, I have learned not to talk with strangers especially those offering to help me! But this situation calls for a different strategy. He is a driver, even has a business card, he is wearing a clean suit and tie, and I really have to use the restroom. He explains how to get the key to the restroom from the rail station office and offers to drive me to Sperlonga, and help me find a hotel.
I decided to take him up on his offer because I have no other option at the moment. And he was right about the restroom key.
The first hotel we stop at wants 90 euros per night. The driver tells me this is too much money and I am being ripped off, and the hotel is too far from the center of town. We get back into his car and drive another mile into town. We park the car and the driver says there are a number of hotels in the area and he will check to see if they are open. All the hotels on the water are still closed. There is a hotel across the street that is open. We decide to go and check. They have a room available for 55 euros including breakfast, has two balconies because it is a corner room. If you hang over the balcony and stretch into an awkward position you can see a patch of the sea. A picture is attached of my view. I take the room, pay the driver (he only wants 15 euros), and start checking out the beach.