I booked this hotel for our stay from March 31st to April 3rd based on the great reviews posted on Trip Adviser. There were so many positive reviews, I was sure we would have a great stay.
Upon our arrival, we realized right away that the hotel was situated in an area that has began the descent into decline. When we arrived at the front desk, there was nobody on duty. Just a sign that stated that someone would be back soon. The parking lot was empty although the manager had called me earlier that day to tell me that we may not be able to get the room we reserved because the hotel was booked solid. He was able to switch out my room with another party since we needed room for 2 teenagers.
Things started to go downhill when we entered the premises to our section of the hotel. The card reader on the back door wasn't in the best condition, the hallways to the elevators were dingy looking. There was nothing inviting about the property. When we got to the elevator, its safety was questionable at best. The doors will close on you, if you are in the way. There was no sensors to keep the door open. I realized this when I placed our suitcase in elevator doorway to allow my wife to get on the elevator. The door only reopened after slamming our suitcase against the wall of the elevator! Very scary! That could have been her!
Our room was on the second floor. The first thing we noticed when we arrived in the room was the bathroom floor was dirty and needed to be moped. We called the front desk and went out for dinner. When we returned, we realized how dark the parking lot was. There was only one lamp post that had operating lights. Considering the hotel parking is secluded in the back of the hotel and it is dark back there, lighting is essential. I also noticed that there were NO cameras mounted anywhere. If the property can't afford cameras, they could at least put up some fake cameras to give the consumer some sense of security. At bedtime, we noticed that the sheets on one of the beds was stained and had to be changed. We called the front desk. The manager responded and changed out the sheets for us and informed us he moped the bathroom floor himself! I don't know what happened to housekeeping. Usually, housekeeping does those jobs.
The bathroom in the lobby needed some attention.
This was the men's bathroom in the lobby. The bathroom in our room wasn't much better.
This was the condition of the bathroom. It was less than clean. Notice the stains on the floor and as well as the ceiling. Notice the grit around the pipes. These were the exposed pipes running under the countertop. These weren't pipes hidden inside cabinets under the sink. You are looking at these pipes when you sit on the commode. Notice the water line running from the outlet to the commode (bottom left). The bathroom needs a good scrubbing as well as some repair work.
The towels we were provided were dingy. We had to request more towels from the front desk. Once again, the manager provided the towels.
Notice the white sweater sitting on top of the towels. That color is white. As you can see, the towels were more of a light beige. Some Clorox might do the trick, nevertheless, the towels were not white. I didn't get a photo of one of our towels that appeared to have lipstick stains on it, but one of the towels left in our room had a visitor on it.
Yes, it was a live bug. Based on a google search, it doesn't look like a bed bug. We removed this towel from our room right away and inspected the rest of room for it's cousins.Due to the condition of the towels, we opted to use paper towels to dry off and makeup remover wipes to clean our faces.
The next day, when we returned to our room, we noticed that the room was never refreshed. Nothing was done. I didn't bother to mention that housekeeping never came by that day. However, we noticed that the 'new' sheets that were put on the bed the previous day were so worn there were spots you could see through the sheets. These sheets have exceeded their lifetime.
The following morning my wife requested housekeeping come by to freshen up our room. When we returned that afternoon, we were greeted with this sight.
It appears they took the sheets off the bed and left them under the ironing board and never bothered to finish making up the second bed. Didn't even tuck the sheets on the far side bed. Once again, we called the front desk. This time, the manager had housekeeping to come by and finish their work.
We did take this picture of the ottoman because we didn't want to get charged for the artistic work someone else had already done. (see bottom center, not quite sure what was drawn)
As for the breakfast, the food was not that great. We attempted to eat breakfast there our first morning, but ended up eating breakfast away from the hotel the 3 mornings we were there. One of the main draws to the hotel was the free breakfast, but it just wasn't desirable.
I have stayed at Best Western's before, but I've never experienced a Best Western like this one. I also cannot understand how this hotel ranks so high on Trip Adviser. I talked to another guest who was staying there. She also had to get replacement sheets for her bed and was shocked by the condition of the hotel. I don't know what review site she used, but she said the hotel had good reviews, but our experience wasn't indicative of that.
This hotel is damaging the Best Western brand. I cannot recommend this hotel to anyone.
