The story of our stay:

1. We find the place online. $62? Great. And it looks like it's right by Silverlake and the freeway. Perfect.

2. We arrive. Turns out it's not quite in Silverlake. A little closer to Shadesville. Coming inside, we're greeted by the lovely and inviting Plexiglas window to protect the desk clerk. Good for him. Where's ours?

3. We begin to sense a vague creepiness that we just can't pinpoint. I'm not normally picky about hotels. When I'm on vacation I come to the hotel to sleep and shower; all I ask is that it be quiet and clean. And it seemed to be ok. The room looked fine at first - decent size, clean-ish bathroom, functioning internet, normal motel amenities. But something just felt "off" here.

4. We notice that there is something alive in the wall. Some kind of insect or rodent noise coming from *inside* the wall between the main room and the bathroom. It didn't sound like a cricket or cicada but it wasn't a pipe or heater noise either. My girlfriend begins to freak out.

5. The brown thing. We find an approx. 1 inch roundish clump of a brown unidentified substance on the floor next to the bed. It looks somewhere between a dessicated poo and a clump of coffee grounds. There is no coffee maker in the room. I can't prove that it was poo, but it sure wasn't pleasant.

6. We decide we're leaving. It's 11:30 the same night we arrived and we abandon ship for a normal motel in actual Silverlake. This is the first time in my life I've ever done this. As if to confirm we made the right choice, we notice a sign in the stairwell stating that "products used or sold on these premises contain chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer." I don't know if this is a common thing, but it was the first time I'd noticed that sign anywhere.

7. On a positive note, the night clerk was very pleasant when we checked out.

8. My girlfriend's cell phone - in her purse - mysteriously called mine as we were driving away. I wonder what Ghost Hunters would turn up at this place.

Not recommended.

We got to the inn at 9 am when check-in was at 3 pm. The hotel staff was extremely friendly. Although we couldn't check in early (b/c the room was still occupied), the receptionist offered to keep our bags meanwhile so we could go travel. They were extremely nice and always offered to help us meet our needs.

The room itself was pretty decent. Comfortable and clean bed. The only drawback was a nasty sewage smell that greated us when we opened the door. However, we turned on the air conditioning and the smell was pretty much gone in 2 hours. The room was pretty quiet.

Internet was free and stable. There were numerous television channels. Overall, a very positive experience. Especially considering such good value for the near downtown location.

Pros - Cheap for LA, free parking and wireless, clean room friendly staff. Cons - Frightning area, especially on local transport, extremely noisy. We lasted 15 minutes in the room, my wife was in tears, we bit the bullet and went to a safer sound proofed room in the Universal area.

Pros: Good staff and very good location, near downtown (3 min) and Hollywood (2 min). Rooms have fridge, desk, free WIFI and free parking.
Cons: little room, would need a renovation, noisy road near. Just ok for the night, but don't spend much time here, better go outside. no pool.