Comfort Inn Arnold

The beds were clean and very comfortable, but the hotel is older and needs updating. The halls weren’t clean, and there was a dirty chair in the room that we avoided. Signs about specific Arnold laws and a notice listing charges for taking towels or other items made me wonder whether the area was a good or safe place to be.

Keep driving. The kind person at the counter who checked us in was the best part of our 20-minute stay. When we arrived, I had to sign a waiver saying I wouldn’t take part in any brawls or have unregistered guests from 10pm to 7am. The comforter had stains in the middle, the carpet looked like it hadn’t been vacuumed in about a year, and the bathroom floor was sticky. I assumed housekeeping had overlooked the room’s condition and asked for another one. They let me preview it, but it clearly had had a dog and a smoker in it, with paw prints on the tile and ashes here and there. When I returned, my kids were still standing with their bags because they didn’t want to sit anywhere and didn’t feel safe. I told them we were leaving.

I left after about three hours because I couldn’t get past how grossed out I felt. First the sink was dirty, with hairs in it. Then I found fresh-looking, questionable stains on the bedspread. If the sink hadn’t been cleaned and the bedspread wasn’t fresh, I kept wondering what else in the room hadn’t been cleaned. The receptionist didn’t ask whether I wanted any of my money back when I left. I called the next day, spoke to someone else, left my name and number, and said I’d be happy to speak with the manager. Nobody called back or offered even a partial refund. I paid $90 for three hours of feeling completely disgusted. Worst experience of my life, and I wouldn’t recommend this hotel chain to anyone.

Management needs an overhaul from top to bottom, starting with housekeeping. The room was supposedly ready just before 6pm, but it wasn’t, and the smell of cigarettes outside was like walking through an ashtray. Inside, you could smell someone smoking grass. We should’ve turned around and left right then. You could tell the staff were trying, but I’ve seen properties like this before. It needs a lot of capital. They should close a few rooms at a time and bring the place up to Choice Hotels standards.