Best Western at Historic Concord

The beds were really comfortable, and the rest of the room was clean once we got the bugs out. It seemed like the patio door had been left open for a while, because the room was cold and bugs were by the screen door. Our room was at the far end of the second floor, a long walk from the lobby, and the magnetic key wouldn’t let us in through the other doors. The hotel is just off Route 2, with a gas station beside it and restaurants on the other side.

I checked the room and left without staying. The pictures make this place look nothing like it does in person. It feels run down and nearly abandoned, with some construction rooms left open to the hallway. The dim corridors looked like a horror film, and the parking lot doesn’t go around to the other side, so guests with mobility issues could face a long walk with no shortcut. The wrinkled carpet is a tripping risk. They said the hotel was “winterized,” so none of the windows or patio and balcony doors would open, which also seems like a fire hazard. One room smelled strongly of bleach, and a door that looked like it led to a utility room was broken. The front desk was chaotic and disorganized. Staff seemed incompetent, and the male manager was rude and didn’t seem to know what he was doing. A guest couldn’t breathe in the bleach smelling room and needed to check out, but they gave that room to another family checking in. There’s no hot breakfast now, just coffee, cereal, and muffins, according to the manager. It apparently had hot breakfast when it was a Best Western. Don’t trust the photos, there’s no hot buffet, the pool is filthy, and the building looks held together with glue, dirt, and duct tape. Pay a little more and stay somewhere else.

We paid just under $400 for two nights, and I can’t believe it. The bed was uncomfortable, and every time the TV started up it blasted a news station at full volume. Around 9 pm on the first night, the fire alarm went off. They waited for the fire department to shut it off, though there was no fire. The second night brought major plumbing trouble. People were in the halls all night, making a ridiculous amount of noise while apparently trying to fix it. There was banging and door slamming loud enough that we considered calling the police. Our toilet made awful sounds all night, and in the morning we saw that plumbing had backed up into the tub. No shower for us. At checkout my husband ran into so much confusion that he just left the room cards and went. He was frustrated, and we both needed a bathroom since we didn’t want to use that toilet. We should’ve gone camping.

The building was really run down, and the hallways had a possibly moldy smell. I knew it wouldn’t be the nicest hotel, but I still underestimated how it would feel. It might have helped if it had been advertised as a motel. I tried to use the gym, but it looked more like a storage room. My room faced the parking lot and had a screen door that was coming off, so it just wasn’t very comfortable. Nothing was technically wrong, but even with an affordable price and good location, I didn’t find the stay pleasant.