We blew into the Fairwinds a week into a roadtrip from Seattle to Vegas. We didn't have a reservation anywhere in town so were delighted to find somewhere a 20 minute walk from downtown for c $80 per night.

Check in was fine - they were also accommodating about our wanting to stay an extra night which we announced when we should have checked out in the morning.

The room was old fashioned, reasonably clean and did the job. Shower was okay. No breakfast. We basically were sleeping here and spending the rest of our time in town, which was delightful. We'll be back to Arcata and we'd probably stay here again unless treating ourselves at the hotel on the town square.

Listen, if you're a Duke or a Duchess, then go someplace where they charge Duke and Duchess rates. Otherwise, if you're looking for a good location with reasonable prices, stay at the Fairwinds.

I booked online with a little apprehension, due to some of the unsatisfactory comments I'd read.

I enjoyed my stay there so much, I ended up staying for a third night.

If you're visiting Arcata or Humboldt State, the Fairwinds is right in the middle of everything. I can walk to Arcata Square in minutes, and I did so, many times. There's a walk-over that goes to campus over Highway 101- it's right at the Fairwinds parking lot! The 101 Northbound on-ramp is also directly in front of the Fairwinds parking lot.

Yes, the highway runs past the rear of the building. Don't want noise? There's a small bathroom window that opens onto the rear of the building. Just Shut the Window; then close the bathroom door. Sheesh- is that so hard?

My room was clean; there was a cheerful and efficient cleaning staff that made the rounds each day; the shower's got plenty of pressure; the proprietor is friendly; the heater works fine; my queen bed was comfortable; and I had all of Arcata and HSU within walking distance.

It's the only place I'll stay in Arcata from now on.

There was a 5% fee for using the online service to book reservations of which wasn't disclosed until we checked in. I was told by the manager that if I had called, I wouldn't have been charged the fee. I told him that his website does not indicate that detail, had I known there would be a fee I would have picked up the phone.......but in this day and age I book generally everything on the internet, welcome to the year 2008! He said he would take note of that bit of information but it would not help me and it didn't resolve my issue of that information not being disclosed to me. I was expecting the manager to reimburse me the 5% after bringing that information to his attention but I was offered nothing of the sort. I honestly felt ripped off, sick inside my gut, and almost uncomfortable afterwards. He tried to tell me that it wasn't a big difference only like 10 bucks extra a day.....but that's not the point. We work just as hard for that 10 bucks and in all fairness who is he thinking he is telling me that it’s basically not a big deal!
Everything was unplugged in our room, including the TV of which we had to move the very large credenza to plug in. The wall paper seemed to be bursting at the seams with what I can only imagine as mold hiding beneath it. My husband wore his sandals in the shower as it appeared to be stained and moldy and not updated since the 60's. I came home with spiders popping out of my luggage too, ugh!!! Granted the location to the University and downtown was great, but that would not supersede the other issues. They are trying to upgrade but I believe they have a long way to go. I would not recommend this motel, and the frustrating thing is I chose it because at the time it was rated #4 out of 9 on Trip Advisor. It needs to be downgraded to #9!

I had a lousy stay at the Fairwinds Motel, but let me emphasize that it was only because of the location and NOT really due to anything the management has any control over. The bed was clean and comfortable, and that's really all I ask of a motel room.

The problem was the noise. Highway 101, which was 50 feet from the back window, was not the problem; cars and trucks sailing along a freeway don't really bother me... and I could have shut them out pretty well by closing the bathroom door and window. No, the noise was coming from three main sources: (1) the motel is right next to a pedestrian overpass that crosses over 101 and leads to Humboldt State; college students, drunks, and angry homeless men formed a constant shouting and whooping parade up and down that ramp well into the wee hours (and this was a Thursday night, not a weekend), and the walls and windows of my room were far too thin to block them out. (2) G Street right in front of the motel doubles as a freeway entrance, so nearly every car departing from the stop sign was gunning their engine, whether they had a functioning muffler or not. (3) Loud guests of the motel kept shouting down to people in the parking lot from outside their second-floor rooms; the courtyard-like parking lot amplified their voices.

So I barely got any sleep, which is really not what you hope for when you're stopping over for the night on your way down the West Coast. I stayed at the Fairwinds because I wanted to support a local business rather than the chains out by the mall, but in retrospect I bet I'd have gotten a better night's sleep at the Super 8.

(One other note: there seemed to be a faint smell of marijuana all around the motel, but from walking around the neighborhood, it seemed to be more a feature of Arcata in general than the Fairwinds specifically.)