America's Best Value Inn

Nearly two weeks later, I was charged for a room. If I could rate this experience zero, I would. Don't stay here. I can't comment on the rooms since I never got as far as staying. I tried to book directly through the Inn's website, choosing my dates and room, but checkout showed a reservation for that night. I panicked because the site said bookings were non-refundable within 24 hours of the stay, so I called the hotel right away. They said they couldn't help with online reservations and told me the weekend I wanted was booked except for their most expensive room. After the call, I checked my email and saw I'd chosen the right dates. A few minutes later, a second confirmation arrived with the wrong dates, so I had two separate confirmation codes. At that point nothing had been charged, luckily. I canceled the reservation I could and locked my card to stop them charging me for the incorrect date. I don't know what went wrong with the website, but along with the unhelpful phone call, it put me off staying here. If you want to book, I guess call instead of using the site.

There was nobody at the front desk or anywhere else to greet me or help at check-in. A sign said to dial 0 for assistance, so I kept calling as instructed. I stood there with all my luggage for 43 minutes, waiting while I could see the phone ringing across the desk. That's completely unacceptable. Careless and unprofessional. I'll never stay here again, and you shouldn't either. Unbelievable.

The room was clean, with a good AC unit, microwave, and fridge. The old-style spring mattress wasn't especially comfortable, though it wasn't bad either. The shower had good pressure, but its spray spread out more than I like. It has a real blast-from-the-past feel, like a place left over from a few decades ago. I had a pretty nice weekend stay, but by Sunday it was starting to feel old.

The hotel is near more than a dozen lakes, so there's plenty of scenery, and there's a grocery store right next door for anything we needed quickly. The interior felt charming and homey, and the management was kind and accommodating. I enjoyed my stay.