Americas Best Value Inn & Suites Boise

Hi, I’m Carlie Smith. We were in room 440 at the American Best Inn. Under the counter and beds was disgusting, there were spider webs, and bugs in the window cracks. The maid also never knocked to ask if she could clean. On top of that, the neighbor came home late and got noisy.

The smell of curry was so strong in the building that it stayed in my clothes and hair seven hours after I left. I also got the impression the front desk staff might live onsite. The dim corridor, low ceiling and battered doors made me uneasy before I even reached the room. Inside, the place felt gross: a beat up little fridge I didn’t open, loose outlets that wouldn’t hold plugs, broken lights, peeling mirrors, no toilet paper, just Kleenex, and a cracked sink with a big yellow glob on it. I couldn’t tell if it was a botched repair or something a previous guest had coughed up, and didn’t want to touch it. The tub had mildew and mold, the nonslip mat was ringed with black dirt, and the floors hadn’t been swept. There was dust everywhere. I slept maybe an hour. The room was so disgusting I couldn’t relax, and when I showered I put a towel down in the tub as a barrier and kept my shoes on the whole stay, except in bed. I used another soapy, wet towel to wipe down my dogs after they’d spent the night on the floor. I booked through an online site. The reviews seemed questionable, but the pictures looked good and I thought it was a place I’d stayed a few years earlier, so I felt more comfortable booking. Once I arrived, I realized it wasn’t the same hotel. Looking at the lot and going inside, I could see what a huge mistake I’d made. I’ve stayed in cheap hotels before, but this was the worst. It felt like one of those places in a book where you don’t want to take your shoes off, and you’d believe it had once been a crime scene. I wrote to the city ordinance division because I figured there had to be several health code violations. It seems Boise doesn’t inspect the inside of properties after they’re built and doesn’t care that this place is basically a slum. I didn’t think I could respect the city of Boise any less. Almost every review here has an owner response saying they appreciate the feedback. If they know the property is a health hazard, why aren’t they doing anything? Shallow apologies mean nothing when the same problems keep showing up year after year. I saw a sticker on the bathroom mirror saying Hilton had once owned the building and describing how much care they took with sanitation and guest safety. Looking around that bathroom, the irony was hard to miss. I don’t understand how this place is allowed to operate as it is. The homes around it are very nice, and I’m sure this is dragging property values down.

It was clean and quiet, with hardly any noise, but the TV in room 317 didn’t work all night. There were no cables connecting it to the cable box, maybe someone had taken them out. That was the only problem.

The shower curtain had what looked like old blood all over it, and my friend spotted stains on the bedsheet that looked like feces. Before that, they’d already given us keys to a room someone was occupying, so we had to switch rooms. It looked like a cheap 90s slasher set. I definitely wouldn’t stay again.