Do yourself a favour and camp under a bridge before you even consider staying here. In the middle of the night I had to call the police after hearing shouting and a door kicked in. Then I had to leave the motel as the police told me that this was not a safe place to stay. Of course I paid again to stay the rest of the night somewhere else, but the "Value" lodge would not give me a refund.

My friend and I were forced to stay here while on business in Nanaimo because it was the only place we found that had any rooms available.

We booked a double room and while the price was lower than most places, it wasn't too significant. The room itself was absolutely terrible though. The floor was dirty, the furniture and bedding was old and poorly maintained, the bathroom fan didn't work (which is why I think the wooden doorframe was partly rotted away), the toilet ran the entire night, the bathroom floor had come apart and worst of all - the sheets weren't even clean. There were burn marks, as well as blood and other stains on the sheets, and there was hair and dirt in the sheets as well.

That the TV didn't work was an after-thought by this point.

We had to pay all the fees up front and there were no refunds, so we had to make do with what he had. I would not recommend this motel to anyone - keep driving around and try to find something available somewhere else.

I am writing to give you some feedback on my experience at the Value Lodge Economy Motel.

I traveled to Vancouver Island on the September 1, 2006 with my significant other for holiday. As I had no reservation anywhere on a long weekend I stopped at the first hotel I saw off of the Duke Point ferry.

I did find the rooms a little rough; i.e. burn marks on the carpet and worn bedding but thought fair enough, the hotel is being renovated. The night clerk that checked us in was very friendly and helpful. Once settled in our room he recommended the best place to order food from and gave me directions to the gas station to get ice. He did apologize about the renovations and generally made us feel welcome as guests.

The next day at 11:04am a young woman appeared at the open door. She was dressed like she had been at a night club and had not changed. I was waiting for my significant other to finish in the bathroom as we were about to check out. She curtly asked “are you staying for two days”? I found it odd that she did not greet me or identify herself to be a hotel employee. I replied that we were not. Her response was again delivered in a very rude tone” Check out was ten minutes ago! You either have to come to the office and pay for another day or check out. I need this room ready for the cleaning lady!” I wasn’t aware that check out was 10:54 am and that our patronage was such a big problem as implied by her vehement rudeness. I told her we were about to leave.

Personally I would never treat my clients this way, and don’t appreciate such poor customer service. I know at this point I would not recommend the Value Lodge to my friends or colleagues.

I checked out at about 11:16 am with questions posed in my mind;

•Does the Value Lodge Economy Motel have competent management and minimum employee training?

•Is staff morale extremely low because the hotel is a centre for drugs, criminal activity and prostitution?

•Should guest safety be a concern?

I rented a room, thinking that all motels had at least a bare minimum standard. i turned the key and entered the worst motel room I have seen in my life there was a blood stain on the bed cover, the furniture and fittings were absolutely old and damaged and gross. it looked more like a cell than a room.

i was in there for 30 seconds and went to cancel. the desk guy wouldn't give me my money back. said he'd have to contact the head office to okay it. they would only offer me another room.

it was worth 55 bucks not to stay there.