My husband and I rolled into Terlingua at about 6 PM a couple weeks ago, looking for a room to stay in before heading into Big Bend National Park the next morning for a 6 night camping trip. Our original plan was to tent camp that evening, but we were hot, hungry, and road-weary, so we decided to go for a motel room instead. The one or two nicer-looking options in town were a bit expensive when all we needed was a room for the night, and Big Bend Resort looked clean and simple, so we decided to go for it. The motel office on Hwy 118 was clean and pleasant, and seemed fairly new. There was a shop featuring gift items and a decent selection of camping goods. A line of people wanting rooms stretched almost out the door. The one man working the desk was reasonably efficient but rather grim and unsmiling. We paid about 60 bucks for the room -very reasonable for this remote area with limited options. We were placed in a different building than the one the office was in. It was across the highway and to the north a few blocks and called "Mission Lodge", I believe. The building was not as new and clean-looking as the "main" building. Our room smelled very musty and a bit moldy. It was carpeted with 70's looking sculpted carpeting. I'm guessing it was very old carpet, because of the smell and the fact that the sculpted look has been out of style for a long time! The room was hot and stuffy because the A/C window unit had been turned off; we turned it on and the room cooled down quickly. The temperature outside was close to 100 degrees. There were a vanity and sink in the main room and a separate tiny bathroom with toilet and tub/shower. The drain side of the bathtub was caked with a large amount of powdered cleanser, as if the cleaning person had forgotten to rinse it before leaving the room. The tub surround and the area where the tub meets the floor contained disgusting, black, mildewed and peeling caulk in many places. It was best to close your eyes when in the bathroom to avoid having to see it. We had been showering in state park shower rooms for the last couple weeks and most of them were nicer at a fraction of the cost. The room actually was pretty clean, but without getting rid of the carpet and putting in new bathroom tile and fixtures there would be no way to make the room really look or smell clean. I would not want to be on the cleaning staff that has to try and make these rooms look good. If we had not been so tired and eager to go out and eat, we may have driven back to the office and requested a new room - if one was even available that night. We watched the place fill up fast as we carried our bags into the room. If you stay at Big Bend Resort and Adventures, I recommend asking to see the room first. I hope the rooms in the main building are nicer than the ones in the "MIssion Lodge" annex!

We stayed here four nights on our first trip to Big Bend. We chose to stay here rather than at the lodge inside the park because the park lodge room rate was double the rate at this motel just outside the park. For us, this was a good choice. Our facility was more spartan than the park lodge, but they are both run by the same company, and the cleanliness and service levels (very good) are probably similar at both. In the off-season (mid-July) there aren't a lot of tourists around (which is great), and it was no hotter in most places in and outside the park than it was in our hometown of Dallas. Big Bend is a wonderful getaway--sometimes it seemed like we had travelled to the end of the earth in that vast landscape. This motel is a great place to stay for a multi-day visit to the park, being located just 3 miles from the park entrance, and a mile or two from Terlingua Ghost Town and a few miles more to Lajitas. Don't expect fancy, but do expect the basics.

"Resort" is not the word I would use to describe this roadside accommodation. There is no pool...but ice is free. No hairdryer...but there is a Sunbeam coffeemaker in the room. A decent cafe at the gas station next door offers a hearty breakfast option with many tables to accommodate groups. A ramada with picnic tables offers a shady spot for outdoor gatherings. It is close to the Park's entrance so it's quite convenient if you can't actually stay in the park at the campground or the lodge . It's a bare-bones kind of motel - perfect for people who only need a place to sleep before heading off to the Park for hiking adventures in the wild!

Our trip was during spring break, so a quick look revealed few other options for rooms. Next time I will plan farther in advance to ensure a more satisfactory experience. I gave a credit card number but asked to pay in cash when I arrived... they charged my credit card two weeks before I arrived! Check-in time was 4pm (which is common and not fair... we all need to demand a more reasonable check in time from hotels these days) and when we arrived at noon I was ill and nonetheless they would not allow us in to a room. Now, we all know most people leave a hotel at between 8 to 10am... and if a well managed hotel gets working at it they can have rooms available for check-in by noon. When we came back at 3:30pm they told us they could not guarantee us a room at 4. I argued and they let us into a room at 4:10pm. We only found one cockroach. The sleep was pretty good, pretty quiet. Pretty clean. Not a pretty or unique location... right on HWY. Paid $120. Much too much for an 18 hour stay with little personality.