Being in Reno for a week on a business trip, my wife, my son and I purchased a week at a hotel through Priceline, and we made the mistake of settling for a one-star facility. We ended up at the Econo Lodge on Wells Ave.

The bad vibes began before we even checked in; we entered the lobby and tried to check in, but were told very curtly to come back after 3:00 (it was about noon at the time). The woman at the desk didn't even bother to see whether any rooms were available yet. Later, after we had settled into our room, someone called the office and asked to be connected to our room, and the receptionist was very rude, saying "you can dial the room directly. What part of that don't you understand?"

After we had spent four days at this place, a man came by our room and pounded on the door, demanding to know what we were going to do about housekeeping. (Our "Do Not Disturb" sign was out.) We told him we didn't need any services at the moment, and he snarled, "You have to-- it's the law. And I can evict you, too." He then barged into our room uninvited, without identifying himself by either name or position, and began "inspecting" the room, even searching under the bed. He was smoking a cigarette in our nonsmoking room, and refused to put it out. Finally, he ordered us to vacate our room, without giving a reason. He said that if we were out in 30 minutes, he would give us a refund, but otherwise he would keep our money. We did move out in 30 minutes, but he still refused to give us a refund.

Later, we filed a complaint about this place with the Better Business Bureau, and a different person connected with the facility (someone we'd never met or conducted business with) responded by calling me a liar and claiming that I damaged the carpet and the towel rack--which were already in poor condition before we ever entered the room.

As professional touring entertainers, we've been on the road pretty steadily for some 15 years, and have stayed in hundreds of hotels. This was the worst ever, and quite possibly the worst business of ANY kind we've ever encountered!