The Carlisle Howard Johnson is clean and friendly. I have stayed here a couple of times when I have had to spend the night in Carlisle, and it is far better than the Rodeway Inn, which is next door. My daughter goes to school in Carlisle and she was pleased with the condition of the room when we had to stay overnight before school opened. It is not fancy or new, but the sheets are fresh.

We were traveling from New England to North Carolina so we just needed a place to lay our heads and a shower to use before heading on the rest of our way to NC. The following morning waking up NO HOT WATER! the one main purpose why we stayed at a hotel, otherwise we would have stayed in the car.. Went down to the lobby and they told us it'd be ready in a couple of hours.. after explaining we didn't have a coupld of hours they didnt' want to do anything until we insisted on getting a discount..

We stayed here about 2 months ago and the wait staff was pretty nice so we decided to try it again. Unfortunately, the building is deteriorating and nothing is being done. No AC in restaurant or lobby. The humidity is so high, everything is damp. Shower curtain won't close. Prices in the restaurant went up. Not worth the price.

After a weekend in Pittsburgh, I started my trip back to Maine with the intent of crashing for the night on the way back after an afternoon Pirates game. I decided to drive the Penna. Turnpike on the way back and took my chances at the junction of I-81 in Carlisle. Wanting to go easy on the budget I pulled into the Howard Johnson, which also had an attached restaurant/bar, which was perfect since I wanted to watch the Sunday night game on ESPN and have a couple of drinks. From the moment you walk into the lobby, you realize this is a place that has seen better days. The front desk clerk was very blase to my presence. He handed me a registration card to fill out, and then processed it with the zeal of a Registry of Motor Vehicles employee. Nonplussed, I went to my room which was quite spacious, king bed, sofa, and decent-sized bathroom, though the decor was very 1981. It was reasonably clean (except the in-room coffee pot, don't go there). I went into the bar for a bit to check the game and have a couple of drinks, and it looked very rough and run down (though the bartender, a very nice woman who was the only staffer other than the cook working that night, said that it was going to be re-done/renovated "sometime soon"). There are a couple of diners next door including a Waffle House (exciting for this Northern New Englander). I've stayed in worse places for the price, but you truly get what you pay for here. An inexpensive room in a truck-stop town, nothing more, nothing less.