I did not stay the night here. A strange bug near the bed and dozens of insect parts under the mattress convinced me to leave and ask for my money back.

This motel had a coupon in the discount book I picked up at the Tennessee Welcome Station on I-65 S. I felt like a Choice Hotels property could be trusted. I ignored the first warning signs but soon realized I'd made a big mistake stopping here.

When I first walked in, I smelled a little bit of an odor. It cleared out after I'd run the air for a few minutes, and I thought it might have been a cleaning solution. Several of the towels had lint or hair trapped in the fibers. I found a couple that seemed okay to use. When I turned on the water to take a shower, I realized that the lever that adjusts the drain plug wasn't working. I reached down to pull out the plug, and that's when I noticed a lot of dirt floating around in the water. So, I turned it off and skipped the shower.

I walked to a nearby fast food place and brought dinner back to my room, then used the TV and wi-fi for a couple of hours. Both worked well. The chair at the desk was stained, so I placed one of the clean towels over it before I sat down.

As I was getting ready for bed, I noticed something on the wall over the night stand. On a closer look, it was some sort of critter. I turned my computer back on and looked up "bed bugs" online, but it doesn't look like the pictures; I still don't know what it is. I used a piece of paper to move it off the wall and it started running around and fell on the floor, and after that, I lost it. I peeled back the blankets and sheets and saw no other evidence of insects on the bed. Then I lifted the mattress and the box was covered with insect parts. I couldn't hold up the mattress and take a photo at the same time. That's when I packed up and left.

The night clerk was new there and he was polite and apologetic. He asked if I wanted to move to another room, and I said no. He called a manager to find out how to handle a refund and rang it up.

A couple of weeks later, I contacted Choice Hotels headquarters with my experience. They said they would check it out but offered no incentive to try a different property at another time. I also filed a complaint through the company's main website, and as I expected, that went straight to management for that motel. He assured me that pest control had been called and could find no evidence of bugs in the room. I responded by sending the same photos that I have attached here.

I cannot recommend this property to anyone.