Howard Johnson by Wyndham Aiken

The staff were friendly, though I only dealt with the front desk once when checking in. The room was filthy: dirt, leaves and crumbs were visible on the carpet, wrappers were still beside the bed, and the couch was covered in stains. The fire alarm had been removed, leaving a hole in the wall. The mattress and sheets seemed clean but had old stains. The bathroom was the only area that looked like it had been cleaned. The walls were thin, so we could hear everything, and smoke from outside and other rooms seeped into ours. Breakfast was just old-looking muffins in the fridge, coffee and old oranges. I wouldn’t really call that breakfast.

Its spot in the middle of Aiken, in the busy Whiskey Road area, is what sets this place apart from most lower-star hotels. Everything is close by and at your disposal. The rooms could be much better, and so could the services they offer.

The room smelled of old smoke and cigarettes, and it seemed like it hadn’t been cleaned well in a long time. It was a horrible stay. I asked the guy if they had breakfast and he said yes. The next morning I went down to the lobby, and this was what they had. You were only allowed to take one of each.

The customer service was amazing, but the room felt really dated. There was dirt and cobwebs on the ceiling, and they didn’t even provide fitted sheets.