I stayed here for 2 nights on what turned out to be a blazing-hot weekend in late July. Had booked in advance over Expedia, with price being a consideration, but also on the strength of the Super 8 brand. On that basis this place was a real disappointment. It appears the employees are trying hard to keep it up, but fighting twin tides of maintenance-budget neglect (the "duct-tape syndrome), and being in a "transitional" neighborhood and with too many of the types of customers that cause the rooms to age much faster. The houses aren't boarded up and there's no Church's Fried Chicken across the street (yet), but you get an uneasy vibe, and it's at roughly the decay stage where a national franchise (other than Church's) would close up shop and decamp. No doubt it wasn't that way when the motel was built, but in sprawler cities like Charlotte and several others the older, closer-in suburbs sometimes slowly change for the worse.

The air conditioners are wall units, which reminded me of places I've stayed at in the Philippines. Maintenance unfortunately reminded me of that as well. In the first room the air-con was better at wetting about a third of the carpet than it was in cooling, so after putting down some towels I decided it wasn't getting better and asked for a different room. To their credit there was no hassle and I moved to another, this time with a newer unit and a grille held on with duct tape (see photo). It was too noisy but at least it worked. The box springs might've benefited from a sham to hide the unappealing-looking yellow stains. Everything felt a bit too lived-in, even when it worked OK. The sink passed the "plunger test" (that's often an early thing to not work in a badly maintained motel), but the bath/shower didn't pass the "bath test" (i.e. would you want to take a bath in it?). At least the curtain didn't smell. Give the bathroom a B- and the TV selection an A-. There's a small outdoor pool in a corner of the parking lot, but with the crowd walking around or driving around the area, it didn't feel totally safe for adults and certainly not for kids. The motel is in a cluster along the side road and next to the interstate; there's a Cookout barbecue place (mostly drive-thru, a bit like Checkers) in front, and the motel's parking lot might get some thru traffic because of the confusing (to the uninitiated) road layout.

There's visible nighttime security (uniformed guard, making rounds). But it's also too easy to see why they need it. Like I said, they do try. But the area's declining, customers aren't the cream of the crop, and Super 8 and Wyndham either need to fish or cut bait. Usually when the location's trending against you the outcome is a sale to non-chain owners, and that's what I'd predict here.

Is it the worst place I've ever stayed? Not even close (Trip Advisor reviewers sometimes get carried away with the superlatives). Then again, in the $50 price range and with the brand name I'd really hoped for better. Within those parameters it's substandard enough to tarnish the brand.