I have traveled around the world and never felt strongly enough about a hotel experience to write a review until now. I want to share with anyone who will listen - do not spend your money on this hotel. The one basic thing I expect from a hotel room, even if no amenities are promised, is an acceptable level of cleanliness. Our room was not just dirty, but filthy. My feet were dirty from walking on the floors and there was debris on the floor that made it obvious the room had not even been vacuumed before they gave us the room. In addition, the furniture was shabby, the counters stained, the beds were uncomfortable with pillows that were almost non-existent, the sheets were stained and pilled and many of the amenities promised in the ad were not in the room, just to name a few things. We did have an iron, but it was black with dirt. I have stayed in the most simple of accommodations in third world countries and experienced cleaner and nicer rooms. This hotel is very close to the main office of my company, but I will not only never stay there again, but also actively encourage anyone I can to stay somewhere else as well. There are plenty of hotels in this same area, so don't settle for this.

I stayed here for two nights in anticipation of perhaps staying here for a few months while working. I noticed the other reviews, but also noticed they were old. Thus, since things change, I decided to find out first hand what this place was like.

The Good:
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THE SURROUNDING AREA
The hotel is in a nice area. Plenty places to eat around it. Olive garden, golden corrale, Panera, subway, etc.


MISCELLANEOUS
For a basic rate of 35.99 a night the room will do. It is plain, but what do you expect for 35.99 a night? The room was clean (except for the carpet which I will get into with the UGLY section.)

RESPONSIVENESS:
When I checked in, the heat was not working. (I know what does a girl need with heat in August, but I was doig my hair and it was cold in the room) So I had to switch rooms becuase the heater was broken. It was a little pain to switch, but the staff did respond to the problem.

FURNITURE
The furniture was old. But you had two tables, one on which you could eat, adn one on which you could do work. then there was a recliner., it was comfy, I fell asleep in it.

FRIDGE WAS BIG, coffee maker was cool toaster was cool. gave you stuff like paltes etc. cookare is cheap though so bring your own if your gonna cook

The Bad:
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TV:
poor channel offerings. No HBO.
The TV is small, like 19 inches or something.
The TV has no AV ports so you cannot hook up an XBOX or VCR, OR DVD to it. If you are going to stay for a while, these would help pass the time.

SMOKING
I had a non-smoking room. BUt a smoker was near-by I smelled it when I slept. They should probably have smokers on the third floor so the smoke rises to the roof or something.

PRIVACY
When I checked in, someone with a key came bouncing in to my room. I was more than angry. She did not know I had checked in, and was inspecting the rooms. inspection is a good thing, but the staff should always get in the habit of KNOCKING before they enter any room.


CHARGIN' PRACTICE
They actually charged my card when I checked in. I know the practice is to authorize the charge and obtain a signature, but I never had anyone charge the whole amount at check in. When I asked about it , the receptionist said...you night leave or something and then we are stuck with the bill. This is bogus and EXACTLY the reason why you swipe it, get an authorization, and if someone does leave, then you have your money.

INTERNET FEE
You have to pay a one-time fee of 4.99. I dont think that people who are there for one or two nights should have to pay. If you are there for a month or more, you should pay the one time fee, because you are using it more. This sucks.

EXERCISE ROOM
No exercise room.

NO SOCIALIZATION AMONG GUESTS
The hotel does not host any happy hours or anything to allow guests to get to know one another. If I were here for a month that would be nice.

FLAT PILLOWS
pillows were dern flat. I slept on two and still was uncomfortable. If you gonna stay here long term, get a "husband pillow" to rest in bed on and bring your own pillows.

BED:
Bed was not comfortable at all. If I was gonna stay here long term I get a foam cushion so that I could sleep.

The Ugly:
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THE CARPET: Ugh! I know they are pet friendly, but they should designate which rooms are for people with pets. that way they understand when they see big brown and black spots on the floor. That was damn nasty. IT is great to be pet friendly, but for those who don't have pets, they should not have to wonder what the big spot is on the floor. The carpeting in the room and in the halls needs to be replaced.

Our room reeked of cigarette smell! There was a small "No smoking" sign on the dresser, right next to an empty ashtray. There was also an ashtray in the bathroom along with cigarette burns all over the bathroom sink area. There was a cigarette burn on the bedding and on the carpeting. I went down to the front desk and since they were otherwise booked and couldn't give us another room, they provided me with a bottle of room deodorizer. That helped a little, but not much. The front desk clerk indicated the manager would give us $15.00 off, which brought our $88.00 charge down to $73.00 for the night. We asked for more of a discount, but the clerk said that is all the manager would offer. The front desk clerk told us that there had been another customer in that room for 2-3 months who was a smoker. It baffles me how they can turn around and rent the room out as non-smoking when it clearly wasn't.

Like the other posts said there was no hair dryer in the room, no shampoo, etc. and the place was not very clean. The cooktop vent in the kitchenette was very greasy and smelled of grease when I turned on the vent to try to clear out the smoky smell.

I will never stay at this hotel or any in this chain again.

We reserved two rooms for two nights. On checkin we went to our non-smoking room, and couldn't enter the room bacuase of the overpowering smell of fresh smoke. Second room had hair on the bathroom floor. Third room was smokey and unclean. We asked for a refund and checked out, went to a fabulous, new Hampton inn two blocks away. For nine dollars more we got a great room, complimentary upgrade to a suite, and a hot breakfast every morning.