Arab Knights Inn

Maintenance was a mess: the smoke detector had been pulled off the wall and left disabled on the mini-fridge with its batteries removed. There were dead bugs behind the fridge, too. The room key drop box in the lobby was packed full, apparently not emptied in ages, and anyone could reach in and take keys. That’s a security joke. I did appreciate how quickly and easily staff handled my request to change rooms. But when I looked back at the first room later, nothing had been fixed. Same problems behind a different door. The place has a run-down, 90s roadside motel look. The lobby’s leather couch was peeling off in chunks, and the room had battered furniture and a microwave sitting on an old Clinton-era cabinet. I didn’t even open the mini-fridge. Cleanliness was bad, too: there was a mark on a white towel that looked like dried blood, and I named it Kevin. The phone was caked in old grime and sticky fingerprints. I needed hand sanitizer right after touching it. There were gaps under the door big enough for squirrels. At 2 AM I was huddled in two layers of clothes on top of the bedspread, texting the group chat for help, Febreze, Lysol, and therapy. The place has a whole personality, and not a good one. If you need a cheap bed in Arab, go in with rock-bottom expectations. Otherwise, keep driving.