Gray Plaza Motel Benton I-57 IL

The shower was good, the bed was clean and comfortable with no bedbugs, and the Wi-Fi worked great. That’s about all I can say in its favor. I won’t stay here again, especially since there seems to be a nicer place across the street. The old 1940s look could have made this place charming, but it’s badly neglected. There’s an abandoned gas station in the same lot, the parking area is full of potholes, and the building looks like it’s falling apart. Inside, I found peeling paint, plywood patches on the walls, badly caulked bath tiles, unreliable-looking air conditioning and electrical work, mismatched old furniture, and musty carpet. The residents also seemed questionable. Pulling up on my motorcycle, I wondered what I’d gotten myself into. I filmed the place here: https://youtu.be/FQ4J5_sJJU0?si=dwCwXtotLuIUy0nr

The room was the last straw. Our non-smoking room had cigarette burns on the sheets, comforter, and mattress, and I could see bedbugs in a crease in the mattress. As we hurried to get out without taking anything with us, a huge roach was blocking the door. My husband went to kick it aside, then saw it was dead. It must have come from the bed when we threw the covers back. The lobby also had a sign warning that the area has a high crime rate and telling people to keep their keys with them outside. There were old mattresses piled in the parking lot. I was shocked after arriving, especially given the online reviews calling the place clean for the price. They did refund all my money so I could stay somewhere else. Unless bugs and safety aren’t concerns for you, don’t stay here.

The second room had roaches everywhere, so we spent the night wearing all our clothes over the blankets to avoid another incident. I wouldn’t recommend this disgusting place to anyone. My fiance and I were traveling to Arkansas to visit family and stopped because of bad weather. In the first room, I got at least four bedbug bites after lying down for about half an hour. I called the front desk and brought the dead bugs over to show what had happened. He acted like it was no big deal, brushed off my attempt to show him the bites, and offered us another room. The negative reviews are right. Nobody pays to get bugs and bites. Someone should call the health inspector.

For $60, I found a broken ice machine, a loose electrical outlet, roaches, cigarette burns on the comforter, and unexplained white stains on the carpet. The owner was pleasant, but the room still wasn’t worth the money. He seemed worried my service dog would mess it up, as though the room could have been in worse shape already.