I chose the Red Roof primarily because I needed an inexpensive place to crash for the night after a Blue Jackets game. The hotels downtown were more than I was prepared to spend, so at a "hot deals" rate of $58 I figured I'd give the Red Roof a shot.
Though this is one of the newly renovated properties, I have more bad than good to report about this particular hotel.
Check-in and out went smoothly enough, although the desk staff seemed rather scattered and confused (at least one was a trainee).
The room was a bit small and seemed fairly clean at first, but our non-smoking room smelled strongly of fragrance which usually (and indeed it did) means the room will smell smoky after the fragrance wears off. Upon closer inspection, both chairs in the room were filthy (something had spilled on the leather desk chair) - as though the housekeeper had overlooked them. There was also a patch of plaster missing from the bathroom wall and toothpaste splatters on the wall around the sink. The alarm clock had been unplugged, so I had to plug it in and set it; I also had to plug in the phone and hold the cord into the handset while I talked (the cord fell out otherwise). The shower head was also mounted off-center, so you had to stand against the wall of the shower to be in the stream of water.
This hotel does offer a very basic free breakfast (most Red Roofs don't offer any) - pre-wrapped pastries and bagels, juice and coffee. The "new" Red Roofs have a 6-in-1 coffee machine that makes coffee and gas station-style cappuccinos, which is a neat idea, but for our stay it wouldn't dispense coffee! (No in-room coffee either so no coffee for the whole hotel that day.) The breakfast area only has three tables - a little inconvenient, but since everything is pre-wrapped, it's easy to haul it back to your room.
There were some good things though. Though small, the rooms seemed modern and well thought-out. Their beds are very comfortable and I slept great! Interstate noise was minimal enough that it wasn't bothersome, and I couldn't hear the neighbors at all. This hotel also offers free wireless internet (you just have to call the desk for the password), which is better than most Red Roofs which are T-Mobile hotspots only. The room also offered a fridge and microwave, plenty of open outlets, and the light switches were easy to find. This hotel is also in a GREAT location - convenient to I-71/I-270 and lots of restaurants and shopping. The property itself seemed clean and safe. And even though I arrived before the 3:00pm check-in (a mis-calculation on my part), they were able to get me in.
For $60 I don't ask for a lot, but I have to give it 2 stars because of a smoky non-smoking room, filthy chairs, no coffee, and the unplugged clock/phone. I won't go out of my way to avoid this place, but there are other hotels nearby that I'll try first before I go back. As I said, it's newly renovated, but with some better housekeeping I think the place could be really nice.
- Red Roof Inn Grove City
- Grove City Red Roof Inn
