My wife and I along with our two young children stayed at this hotel recently for 5 nights.
We booked and came with an open mind and if you have this approach, you really will have a good stay. We got a fantastic rate and as such, bearing that in mind the hotel really is top notch for the price!
The location was perfect for us. It’s both apart of Atlantic City, being 5 minutes drive away down Black Horse Pike/ route 40 which is right outside the hotel and a part from Atlantic City, being on the outskirts and located in Pleasantville. The hotel is conveniently located for us as we had our own transport and did not want to be restricted to Atlantic City. We wanted to do things in the surrounding area like Cape May etc so the location was perfect. We considered staying in one of the hotel city resorts but the rates were well out of budget costing more in one night than in some cases then what we paid for 5 days here. You also have to pay parking charges on top. At the Travelodge there was plenty of parking and it was free!
Check-in was fast and effortless. The lobby was clean and typical for this kind of hotel. All the front of house staff were polite, friendly, helpful, knowledgeable about the area and welcoming at all times. Some of the staff had the patience of saints and really went out their way to make people happy. I can remember during our stay one staff member was getting grief from a guest who paid the lowest rate possible but was not happy with her room and was demanding extras and better views. The staff member was politely trying to explain that they were paying the cheapest rate and it was kind of hard for her to favour that guest over others who were going to be paying more. I do believe they upgraded her view in the end to keep her happy but it does annoy us sometimes when people should know exactly what they have booked but then moan like hell and demand 6 stars when they arrive. Ask in advance if having a better view from your room is a major factor in your stay. The staff will do their upmost to accommodate here I am sure, jut give them notice!
The northwest facing rooms will get you views of the highway and the southeast facing room gets you nice views out to Atlantic City and the inlet/ bay area. Our room rate included a bay side view and we were located towards the far-end of the property by the pool area which we were grateful for. Otherwise I believe the rooms are pretty much standard. (See our photographs for the fab views towards the east we got from our room and of the Rainbow as a storm came in). The hotel seems isolated but we certainly felt no concerns over security and safety.
The rooms were basic but what we expected. We certainly were not disappointed. Bar a fridge which would have gone down nicely the room had everything we needed. The shower was always hot and had good pressure and the beds, though a little lumpy and uncomfortable towards the end of the 5 nights were fine. There was a good selection of cable channels on the TV. They were a good size and the cleanliness was acceptable. The longer you stay here I think the more you end up noticing so towards the end we saw the room could do with a deep clean. The mattress partly came off the bed one night and there was a lot of dirt and build up of thick black hair lurking under it. I know it wasn’t ours as our blonde 3 year old was using the bed. Still this did not detract from our positive stay and the maids did their best to clean our room to a good standard every day – which is quite a task with a 1.5 year old and a 3 year old let loose in there with food etc.
The breakfast was fine. I was happy with a fresh apple juice and apple each day and the rest of the family with toast and mini muffins. This is the kind of hotel where guests show up to breakfast in their PJs so be warned for that! It didn’t bother us. Mind you if wouldn’t bother us if people turned up in the nude, each to their own and all that! We value diversity!
As a chain hotel and part of a wider family of hotels, you would have thought branding would be important but there was loads of traces all over the property reflecting it used to be another hotel at some stage. Perhaps this was recent? Simply plain poorly printed paper of the Travelodge logo over the previous hotel name was what all that tried to hide its previous host and things like the notices on the back of the door. The corridors and other public areas also looked a little worn and run down showing its age and history. Again no major issue just a point to make.
In conjunction with the Tropicana casino the hotel runs free shuttle busses down into Atlantic City throughout the day to the small hours of the morning – well I think the last return is about 0130hrs. This was a good service for those who want to visit the city and have a drink and not have to worry about parking or driving. Otherwise as the city is not that far a taxi should only be around $10.
The hotel offered free Wi-Fi internet. Sadly despite the hotel’s best efforts in keep resetting the router, the signal was not quite powerful to reach our room. At breakfast or just by walking down the hall we picked it up just fine and it worked well and suited us just fine as that. Again this is a massive bonus for a budget hotel. If this is important to you ensure you ask about getting a room towards the lobby or middle of the hotel. Rooms like ours towards the extremities may not work out for you if you wish to use the internet in your room.
The hotel has an ice, vending and self service laundry room, again something we were not expecting but utilised and was grateful for. One machine did break down and swallowed our money but reception issued a full refund and was really helpful and nice about it.
The pool was a good size. I could not decide whether it was heated or not but it was never too cold and it was clean and clear.
In summery we enjoyed our stay and highly recommend this hotel. You get everything you pay for and more!
x The Walsh Family x
-From England-
Room Tip: Best views are rooms facing southeast. Best internet signal rooms are in the middle/ nr lobby area.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
26 August 2011
Thank you for taking the time to write an extensive review about our hotel. We are extremly pleased that you and your family enjoyed your stay and our staff. Your pictures were great especially the Rainbow. We hope you get to come back and visit us real soon.
The Management and Staff at the
Travelodge
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
