Stay & Play - Central Family Friendly

I wouldn’t stay at the Olympia Hotel, even as a last resort. The place is dirty and run down, and some rooms allegedly have mold. There’s no staff late at night or early in the morning. I locked myself out, entirely my own fault, after going out for a snack. With the lobby locked and nobody on duty, I was stuck outside in -12 degree weather for two hours until other guests helped me get back in. Then at about 3:30 AM, the power in my room went out. The electric heater had been kicked in, and I woke up shivering. It took another two and a half hours to get the power fixed. I also saw Jay and his staff, who I guess included his wife, deliberately escalate interactions with guests until he kicked them out, sometimes keeping the deposit. The motel guests aren’t always innocent, I admit, but he showed no compassion or fairness and seemed to enjoy it. Jay, who I presume is the owner, got out of an $80,000 BMW in old True Religion Jeans and came across as arrogant, like someone who’d gained his position by ripping off people in financial hardship. He and his family seem to think everyone’s out to screw them, though most people aren’t. You get what you give, Jay.

We were ready to check out and leave, but there was nobody around to check us out or return our $100 deposit. Two other rooms were waiting with us for the receptionist to come back, and we waited an hour.

The room was filthy and needed serious repairs, and they don’t seem to care. The front desk blamed housekeeping when I asked whether they got many complaints, but this was much more than a cleaning problem. We booked two nights in an emergency, then didn’t even want to stay one. Booking required a nonrefundable $200 deposit because of “scammers.” The hallway had holes and smelled odd. The door had no real room number, just a piece of paper taped on it, and the supposedly nonsmoking room reeked of cigarette smoke. The walls were stained with who knows what, and there were holes in the door stuffed with toilet paper. The bathroom was dirty, with what looked like mud on the shower walls, hair in the tub, and toothpaste in the sink. The lamp didn’t work because the air conditioner was plugged in and there wasn’t another outlet, and its shade was stained too. Insulation and paint covered the baseboard heaters. The mattress was stained and burnt, with no protector, the sheets were burnt, and the table had burn marks. A hotel horror story.

I tried emailing the hotel to handle this privately, but never got a response. You’d probably be safer sleeping in your car. Here’s what I sent them: Dear Olympia Lodge Team, Our stay was far below expectations, and I wanted to give you a chance to address the problems directly rather than post publicly. Right from arrival, the air conditioning didn’t work and the room was very uncomfortable. There was broken glass under the bed, a serious safety hazard. The bathroom door wouldn’t close properly, and the broken frame meant the main door didn’t lock securely. The sheets were visibly stained, which raised immediate cleanliness and hygiene concerns. I was also charged an unexpected $25 fee for paying with a Visa debit card. This wasn’t disclosed during booking, and felt especially unreasonable given the room’s condition. With these safety and cleanliness issues, plus the surprise fee, I’m formally asking for a partial refund. I hope you’ll take this seriously and respond. I’d prefer to settle it privately.