Durham Skyland Magnuson Hotel

The rooms are a good size and really clean, and the place is peaceful, without riffraff coming and going. The staff are so friendly, especially the guy who runs it. It also wasn't a hassle that we didn't have a credit card. This is going to be our regular hotel from now on.

We stayed here for several months and paid $350 a week. The pool was supposed to be free for guests, but each time my son and grandson wanted to swim, we were charged $5 each. It took nearly three months to get a clean comforter, and housekeeping didn't come by every day. The staff were rude, as was the maintenance man, who acted like he owned the place.

I spent six months here, and the weekly-rate customers get treated terribly. The posted nightly rate is $70, and the weekly rate is sometimes $50, sometimes $45, but I caught them trying to raise the price on me several times. When a work friend stayed with me and used the pool, the front desk said the next day I'd owe $10 a day for his pool use. They said I could leave if I didn't like it. The place also has a bed bug infestation. They wouldn't clean the room after I reported it, and I ended up bringing bed bugs home. It's a horrible, disgusting place. Take my word for it and spend extra to stay somewhere else.

The basics were there, and the hot water was nice, but the room was only sort of clean and needed paint and patching. Quite a few simple things that could have been fixed cheaply or for free were missing, and there didn't seem to be any urgency about improving them. At graduation weekend prices, it just wasn't satisfactory. If it cost less, I'd probably overlook it. And if you want coffee, get there before 9:01, lol!