My complaint:
Ugh, where to begin? If you are looking for a hotel and this is on your list, cross it off immediately. This place is a s||tshow and a dumpster fire and a train wreck all rolled into one. We felt creeped out and scared.
The front desk staff (check in, assistance and check out) were very nice. They allow dogs up to 85 lbs at $10 per night, which is the only reason we stayed here. We asked what time they served breakfast (another reason we like Choice Hotels) and were told there was no breakfast. He said it’s because corporate is still freaked out about covid. We have stayed at other Choice Hotels since the covid ramp-down and they all had breakfast, so, not a corporate thing. It’s in the seedy part of town, Central Ave, well known as the old Route 66 but also famous for homeless, hookers and drugs.
We saw a lady smoking a cigarette in her open doorway, complete with fishnet stockings and a bustier but I don’t want to judge, probably her regular work clothes. We also experienced regular tap-tap horns in the parking lot all through the night. A security-minded person would suspect signals for drug deals but of course that’s just me, it was probably some guy picking up his buddy for work, over and over.
There are a few security cameras visible but judging from the condition of the rest of the hotel, I would doubt they are working. After check-in, everything seemed fine until we got to the room. The layout is very outdated with doors that open directly to the parking lot. The inside had carpeting that was thread bear and stained. The walls were peeling paint and plaster, the fixtures were broken or hanging loose from the walls. There was a lamp on one end table and not on the other. We moved a lamp from the credenza to the end table and found there was no outlet to plug it in unless we moved the bed a foot to the right.
We checked for bed bugs and found none; good news. I did however have a showdown with a roach who stayed out of reach on the top of the wall and the ceiling for a while. The shower worked and the water was hot but the fixtures are damaged and leak. The towels were small and they felt like a wire brush on your skin. The LED bulb in the bathroom flashed on and off like a disco strobe but calmed down and stayed steady after about 5 minutes.
They advertise a hair dryer and an iron, both of which were missing from their present mounting brackets. The bedding was nothing short of disgusting. We examined the sheets carefully and determined that they had been laundered but had holes in them. The blanket had several stains and what appeared to be dried diced peaches stuck to it. The bedspread had numerous round cigarette Burns and other odd shaped holes. The carpeting was so suspect that I did not dare walk on it with bare feet. The heaterac worked okay but seemed to be partially dismantled and missing parts.
The refrigerator was a small dormitory size with the interior fixtures damaged. It had a small freezer compartment but did not freeze our ice packs and water bottles. It was plugged into an outlet with no cover plate and exposed wires. This place is in a bad part of town with much suspicious activity in the area. I’m not sure if Choice Hotels is aware of the conditions or even the existence of this hotel but I can’t believe they would want their sign out in front.
I have not spent any time in the worst parts of major American cities but I was in the military for 23 years and spent time in a lot of third-world countries that had better hotels than this. Food drinks: I noticed a soda machine in the lobby but nothing more. No ice machines and no free breakfast.
Suggested solution:
Refund points used for the stay and repair the facility so no one else has to suffer a stay there.
