This motel was one of my only options as it was right off of the highway and allowed dogs. This was the week of the monster Nov rain storm that hit the east coast and I was exhausted from driving slow in the rain. It was late and not being a NC native, I had no idea that I wasn't in the most favorable part of town. Check in was smooth, though the front desk guys were not very friendly, but just doing their job. I noticed the security guard watching tv....and was alarmed just to see a guy in an orange vest that said "security".
Oddly, the room was nicer than I was expecting and the bed was decent too. I wasn't expecting this as I was jaded by my earlier experience at a filthy Quality Inn in TN. After seeing some of the interesting people hanging around the neighboring rooms and driving in and out, I decided to empty my car completely. I know, I sound like a snob don't I....well I checked out the crime blotter for the area on my phone and read that there had been a robbery in the neighboring parking lot which resulted in a shooting, a few days earlier. So I made sure the door was locked. Luckily it was pouring, and I think this disabled some of the regular activity that happens at this motel at night. The TV kept timing out every hour, but other than that the room was decent for a motel.
In the morning as I was leaving, I was trying to pack up my car while holding my dog's leash. I put him in the front seat with the door cracked, and proceeded to try and shove my guitar back in my trunk. I was having some issues fitting it back in despite it fitting fine the day before. In my frustration, I didn't notice the 2 meth-head looking guys walking towards me, babbling fastly about what kind of guitar I had, did I need help, "Let me see it", and about ready to grab it, as my new rescued swamp dog knocked the front door open with his nose and barked like a crazy dog at them. They walked off pretty fast as their toothless hobo friends looked down from the balcony. If it had not been for my dog, I would have knocked the guy in the mouth with the guitar case.
I had also read that a few weeks earlier, up the street, a pregnant teenager was shot while sitting at a bus stop and died. I didn't realize that Charlotte was scarier than where I'm from...D.C.....and I'll never go back.
If you ever get off at the Sugar Creek Exit, it better be just to go through the "Cook Out" drive through, and nothing more.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC