One of the first things that impressed me about the Econolodge here in Dallas is how dedicated the establishment appears to be in celebrating the economic and ethnic diversity of our great country. Secondly, one can hardly complain about the location, nestled as it is against the John Carpenter Freeway, rendering an ease of freeway access that other hostelries can only hope to emulate.

I will admit that I have stayed in better and nicer places, but it was still ok. I was here for only one night, as my other hotel did not have a room for me.

The hotel is old. That much is apparent as soon as you get out to check in. There is a "gentlemans club" right across the street and a convience store and Whatburger with in walking distance.

My room was clean but it is needing updating and repairs. The bathroom was very large. The bed was kinda hard, but I am used to a much softer mattress. The breakfast was minal at best. There is WiFi and a pc with computer access in the lobby. I did not venture out of my room past night fall, and I kept the door firmly locked. My room was not working properly at check in but they fixed it right away. There was a mini fridge and microwave in the room. When I opened the fridge to put some water in, the smell about knocked me over. I quickly shut it and left it that way. There was some damage to the bathroom that I noted.

The area around the hotel itself appeared to be a bit seedy -- the establishment across the street looked like a strip club.

This hotel lacks elevators, so luggage has to be carried to the second floor up very narrow stairs.

This hotel is the type where each hotel room opens to the outside, and the "hallway" is located outdoors as well. There does not appear to be much in terms of security besides a deadbolt on your hotel room door, and the rooms towards the back of the hotel definitely didn't feel very secure. This problem was exacerbated by the fact that the door did not seal properly for our room.

There was a broken fan just lying in the middle of the walkway to our hotel room, forcing us to hoist all our luggage over the fan (and from the dirt on it,it looked like it'd been there for quite a few days) just to get by.

The room itself was decent sized, but smelled strongly of cleaning agents and mildew. The air conditioner took several tries to start as the knob was loose.

We basically walked in our room, saw the condition, felt completely uncomfortable, and unsafe, so we walked back out and asked for a refund. While the staff was willing to help us, the manager was incredibly rude. He flat out said "I don't believe you" when we told him we hadn't touched anything in the room outside of the door and the air conditioning unit. We told him we could wait for him to inspect the room if he liked, but our check-in to check-out time elapsed was under 30 min -- which would have been faster if we hadn't spent 10 minutes lugging our stuff to our room and then another 10 to come back out.

This was a thoroughly unpleasant experience. We managed to find a really nice Marriott hotel located just minutes from Downtown Dallas for just $30 more per night.

The mattress was so lumpy that I had trouble sleeping and woke up sore -- the worst I've ever slept in, including camping trips. The floors and towels were noticeably dirty, and the room interior was a bit run-down. The hotel staff wasn't very helpful (we asked for extra pillows, and got them, but without any pillowcases) or knowledgeable (they couldn't recommend any place to eat other than the Grandy's next door).

I prefer to stay in budget accommodations and have had good experiences at several other EconoLodges, so don't think that this review is from some uptight prude afraid of roughing it. But for $70, I expect basic cleanliness and a mattress that is at least as comfortable as a sleeping bag spread on the ground.