When I called to make phone reservations, I spoke to an extremely rude woman who continually coughed directly into the phone. The same woman checked us into the hotel and continued to be quite curt upon our meeting in person. She did give us the agreed upon price.

The rooms themselves are pleasantly large and the tv appeared nice and new. The furnishings were old and tattered, and the walls had many stains.

Our main problem with the room was that we could hear the television next door loudly and clearly in our own room-- as if we were playing the tv in our room at full volume. We had wanted an affordable place to sleep while we were traveling, but could get no sleep with the noise. When we called down to the front desk, the man working there was polite and promised to take care of the problem. Unfortunately after we made 2 more calls to the front desk, the noise only seemed to get louder. Because it was around midnight at this point and we needed to get some sleep before a day of driving, we decided to go to the front desk and talk to the attendant in person. He told us that he did not want to disturb his guests by knocking on their door and that we had the option of calling the police if we had a problem with the noise. Obviously this was not an appropriate response and we were not going to call the police. When we said that we wanted to leave, he offered to transfer us to another hotel in the region, but not to another room in the same hotel. He did not offer an apology, ear plugs, or anything to mitigate the irritation. We asked for a discount and he flatly refused. We went across the street to another hotel named the Larkspur and had a very pleasant, comfortable stay there.

I made a reservation here, and was almost frightened into canceling after reading several of the negative reviews on this site. I wound up staying here anyway, am glad I did, and am writing this review to share my impressions.

I arrived at about 8:30 p.m., fearing I'd be met by a surly ogre who would try to charge me far more than my reservation amount. Instead I met a young staffer who bent over backward to be helpful. I've stayed in cheap hotels and expensive ones, and wouldn't expect a nicer staff person if the room had cost $500 a night.

As for the accommodations: I'll echo what rollingstone99 wrote before me. The room was quite clean, larger than I expected, equipped with a microwave and fridge that I didn't expect ... but, at the same time, there are signs of aging. The heater looked quite elderly, and I'm glad I visited in a season in which I didn't have to depend on it. (To be fair, it might work just fine.)

Like rollingstone99, I also suggest staying on the second floor. You're going to be dealing with traffic noise no matter what in this location, but there should be less of it if upstairs.

I wore ear plugs, and slept fine.

Worth mentioning: this hotel is a whopping five minute walk from the Manzanita stop of the Marin Airporter, which departs SFO every half hour. I got off my flight, got on the bus, got off at Manzanita, crossed the street and checked in. That's pretty easy.

If you're willing to spend much more money, of course, you undoubtedly can find a ritzier place to stay in Marin.

This is the reincarnation of an rickety old two-story motor lodge. The fountain out front is apparently defunct but the weary Fountain Motel sign remains, alongside the shiny new Americas Best Value sign. The building was cheaply made (all wood), and looks shabby on the outside - not much work has been done to the exterior.

But surprise, the owners have invested in some high-quality fix ups inside, and the place is definitely worth the price for this area. I will certainly stay here again unless cost was no object.

If you're looking for new luxury, you would disappointed as some reviewers were. Otherwise, enjoy the very-spacious apartment-style rooms with good beds and thoroughly renovated bathrooms. My room was spotlessly clean except for the separate kitchen (which wasn't part of the deal and was closed off, but the pocket door lock was broken). The room smelled fresh except for the puzzlingly-large walk-in closet (a bit stale); entrance doors open at each end of the apartment probably make it easy to air out vacant rooms.

The new minifridge in the main room worked great but the large refrigerator in the kitchen was unplugged (and thus ruined inside). Microwave and flatscreen TV were fine, WiFi fast and reliable. The bed was extremely comfortable and although Route 1 zooms past the front of the motel I slept soundly. If you're sensitive, bring earplugs. My room had lots of furniture (small dining table with 4 chairs, breakfast bar with 3 stools, sofa, coffee table, large new built-in credenza/dresser). Some of the furniture might have been mix-and-match from another hotel's upgrade or liquidation, but it was all in good enough condition.

There is ample parking (try around back - no one seems to park there). Access to 101 is very fast - you're basically on the entrance ramp. Even at morning rush hour it's about five minutes to the Golden Gate Bridge (once you find a gap in the steady stream of cars on Route 1).

I would request an upstairs room (so long as you don't mind lugging your bags up the outside stairs), because the old wooden floors might be a bit noisy from below.

The coffee machine in the lobby brews a good cup to order, anytime. "Breakfast" is not much: little packaged muffins and a bit of fruit.

Bottom line: I loved the interior spaciousness, the fix-ups, and the price. So long as the old building remains standing (not a certainty) I'd continue to stay here.

Read the other reviews and was hesitant, but stayed anyway and am sure glad we did. We stayed 4 nights to be able to see the sights in and around San Francisco. The room was large, clean and reasonably appointed. The bed was good, the shower was great. Some have stated some negatives and I guess it depends on how you look at them. To us, it was a cheap price ($75.00 per night - cheap for the area!)and a nice room. The breakfast is very small, but we ate out and if you consider the cost, the place is still cheap! I had no problem understanding the desk folks. All in all, this is in my opinion, al very nice place to stay!