Gross, gross, gross..... room was hot, dirty, and there were people getting drunk in the parkinglot at all hours.

I'm not a picky traveler. I stay in inexpensive mom-and-pop motels when I travel--thanks to Tripadvisor.com, I usually choose well.

But...National 9 in CORTEZ is as junky as some of these reviews indicate. It's the one motel I stayed at (in 2 weeks of travel) that really grossed me out.

My first room was an ok size--not big, not small--with a queen bed. The furniture was old old old, the room smelled musty, the walls were dirty, the chair in the room was filthy, and I dreaded having to touch the bedspread to pull it down--to find some burn holes in the blanket (I slept in my silk sleep sack, which I travel with). The room looked like it was frozen in time from the 50s. The AC wall unit had controls that barely turned and were missing knobs to grab onto. Again, I'm not a fusty traveler, but this place was as YUCK as some of the reviews below mention.

When I walked up to my room, I noticed other customers kind of hanging out like it was their neighborhood--sitting in their rooms with their doors open and TVs blaring, sitting outside their rooms and smoking....odd. Felt like I'd stumbled into someone's neighborhood. The airconditioning didn't work in my room so I went and got the manager. THe manager was nice but a man of few words (I think he lives onsite). He fiddled with the unit with his screwdriver for a couple of minutes, then told me he'd put me in another room--a smaller room was all that was available.

The smaller room was not too small but was still very dirty-feeling and dingy, dirty-looking. While I slept OK on the very saggy mattress, I couldn't wait to be up and out the next day.

Continental breakfast was coffee, pre-packaged blueberry muffins and prepackaged honey buns, all served in the corner of the lobby. Don't think there was anywhere to sit down (and didn't want to linger anyway) so I grabbed a muffin and a cuppa and left.

Never again.....

This is one of the WORST hotels I have ever stayed in!!! The city of Cortez & the State of Colorado should be ashamed of even letting this place stay open. And National 9 should be embarrassed to endorse this place by allowing them to put there name on it. The only thing missing was a chalk outline of the body of the last victim that stayed there. When I saw this had an average rating I had to comment. Any positive number starting at .01 would be to generous a recommendation for this place. Advise to Tripadvisor, add negative descriptors like gross, sickening, pathetic, filthy, disgusting, etc.

It doesn't look like much from the outside but the rooms are surprisingly pleasant, spacious and clean. Unlike many motels in this category the walls here actually seemed to have some sound insulation as we got a quiet and restful night sleep. The management is very courteous and allowed us to check in early so we could venture up to the park. The continental breakfast is quite basic but with the money you save by not staying at one of the more expensive options in town you can go out for a nice breakfast and still come out ahead. We walked to the brewery restaurant down the street for a great dinner and some fine beer. Highly recommended!