Americas Best Value Inn DeRidder

The room was clean and the bed was reasonably comfortable, but the towels and washcloths were threadbare. The chain lock wasn't properly attached: its screw sat in a worn-out hole in the door frame and fell out when I touched the chain. I told the front desk, but the man acted like I was making it up and wouldn't come see it. I had booked ahead because the price was good. If I'd met the staff first, I wouldn't have stayed. The counter staff were argumentative and unfriendly, barely spoke, and handled everything by pointing. They tossed my debit card at the window, left the receipt there, then knocked and dropped the key in the tray. I felt unwelcome from the start.

I came midweek and couldn't bring myself to sleep in the room. There were crumbs on the bed, dead bugs, and live ones too. When I came back that weekend, I got the same room and found the same crumbs and roaches. The rooms are filthy and disgusting. I wouldn't recommend this place.

After driving for 12 hours, we arrived to a room that smelled heavily of old cigarettes, with ripped, stained carpet, cigarette burns in the bed cover, and large holes in the walls. As two young women with men all around our room, I didn't feel safe at all. The workers were fine, and the location suited us, but the room was horrible. We lay on top of a sheet for about an hour, then left and canceled our reservation. Don't come here.

In March 2021, I added that we'd stayed again in January because motel rates nearby had shot up after the hurricanes. Even this place cost more than usual. We were first assigned a room that had clearly been used but not cleaned, though we managed to switch. There was no housekeeping or refresh during the day, and each evening we had to ask for towels and washcloths. The owners don't speak English, so communication is difficult. I fell off an unmarked step in the sidewalk and hurt myself. I tried to tell the elderly lady, but she only looked at me; I asked the housekeeping woman to let them know the step should be marked before someone sues. The place has declined a lot since our first visit years ago. It feels depressing, like the owners may be broke and have lost interest, and I feel sorry for them because of the “American Dream” and all. Back in November 2015, we'd been pleasantly surprised by the rooms because they were so cheap, and it wasn't trashy. We were comfortable. For Thanksgiving we booked two nights: the first was okay, but when we returned for the second night, housekeeping hadn't been in and there were no fresh towels.