MHO Inn & Suites

It was quiet and comfortable, and the room was clean, though there were a few stains on the carpet. The hotel is older, and ours was a smoking room, so it smelled. I didn’t check what might have been under the covers on the seats.

Good prices, parking, a convenient location, and clean beds have been enough to keep me coming back over the past few weeks. It’s close to my work and the shops I need every other day, gas stations included. So far, the service has been good too. A few drunk people came in loudly in the middle of the night, which was still disturbing.

The people in the lobby were friendly, but when we asked for housekeeping because we needed more towels, we got a bit of an attitude. During our weekend stay (3/5-3/9), the towel rack fell off the wall, there was a cigarette smell in the bathroom, and one afternoon we found a condom on the staircase. It wasn’t a terrible stay, but quite a few things need updating, and staff need to enforce the smoking policy.

The cleaning staff were genuinely nice and helpful, which is why I’m giving two stars. I stayed around 18 days total, not consecutively. The location worked for getting to my job at the time, but I felt unsafe there at first, and several safety concerns weren’t addressed unless I kept pushing. Sometimes staff said the problems didn’t exist. I’d stay again only if I absolutely had to. The price was lower than most places nearby, and the cleaning staff were pleasant, but don’t expect much help or openness from staff if something goes wrong. On my first night, the front desk person tried to charge me $30 more than my reservation. I reminded her I had a reservation, and the king room itself was fine. For my second booking, I reserved a queen room, but the online photos didn’t match the description, even though the room was adequate. The third room had a broken door handle. Staff said maintenance couldn’t fix it until the next day. The door looked like someone had tried to break in, or that it would be easy to force. The mesh outside the window was bent near the inside latch, as if someone had tried to get in there too. The latch is directly across from the bend, so someone could potentially push a screwdriver through and slide the window open from outside. I told staff about that and other security concerns. They first said no other rooms were available and nobody could fix the door. Later they offered a room at the back with no cameras, or rather, the two nearest the parking lot were pointed at the sky instead of the ground. That made me more worried, so I stayed put and fixed the lock myself. The next night, while I was asleep, something pushed a bag off the bed onto the floor. Call it a ghost or whatever, but it made me think something was moving in the room or trying to get in. My first reaction was to call the police. They came, noted the door handle and frame, and left once they decided things were OK. At least local law enforcement will help with security, even if the hotel staff don’t. Afterward, one staff member offered a refund for that part of my stay. I thought I saw it on my bank statement at first, but then I was charged again. I might be mistaken about whether they refunded me in the first place. For the last few days I needed to stay in the area, I asked for a different room type. Because of the earlier security issues, the front desk kindly let me see the room before checking in. I decided against it. Staff said the payment already taken before check-in would be refunded in a few days. When I followed up the next day, they said I had to call the third party, though the email said the number to call was there. I offered to check in and let them keep the money, but they said the room was already booked and unavailable. Shortly after, another guest came in and got that same type of room. Eventually they gave me the third-party number, and I’m still waiting for the refund. Maybe my anxiety got the better of me. If you’ve stayed in a room like this before and know the houses and buildings in the area, you might not be bothered by what concerned me. I’ve included photos of the broken handle before I fixed it, the bent window frame from outside, and an untouched one for comparison.