I have never been in such a poorly run, filthy hotel. I was responsible for 21 high school students attending a nearby conference while staying at the Days Inn. Our rooms were not ready as promised, and when returned to the hotel that evening, we were still short 16 bath towels. With four students per room, I could hardly believe the nighttime clerk told me that she was instructed to only put two bathtowels per room.

The rooms themselves were beyond filthy – stained sheets, pubic hairs found in the creases of folded towels, fake fingernails found tucked in the corners of the sheets, toilets that wouldn’t flush, blood stains on the box springs, cigarette burns in the blankets. Used condoms and condom wrappers were found under the bed. My students are good, wholesome kids, and many of them were shocked to say the least. To top it off, the indoor pool wasn’t working – not that any of us would have dared to swim in it anyway.

The hotel owner who apparently lives there allows his entire family – and the family dog- to make themselves at home in the lobby. His kids ran around barefoot and they watched TV all day. Perhaps they could have used their time to clean the hotel. I only saw one woman – the mom? – cleaning the entire time, if you call making beds and replacing a few towels cleaning. The hotel certainly was rarely even vacuumed.