Rodeway Inn Gainesville - University Area

I should have done more research before booking this motel for my work trip. It's dirty and needs a renovation. The beds were lumpy, and the chair was so rough and ragged that I didn't even want to sit at the desk. Breakfast wasn't hot; it was just granola, coffee, and plastic-wrapped donuts. On the opposite side was a Quality Inn, also under the Choice Hotels brand, and I liked its cozy lobby.

We only booked here because our original hotel's reservation got mixed up and canceled, and this was the only nearby place with a room. They usually charge $40 to $50, but charged us $230 because they knew we were desperate. The room was awful: hot, with barely working AC, roaches everywhere, and so much cigarette smoke we could hardly breathe. The toilet had pee stains, the bed was hard and stained, and there was no privacy curtain on the window. Worst hotel I've ever stayed at.

We were in Ocala for a weekend event and there weren't many reasonably priced rooms left. I booked the Rodway Inn for $248, Thursday through Saturday, checking out Sunday at 11am. Since we had to be at the event by noon Friday and most hotels check in after 3, I booked Thursday even though we wouldn't use the room until about 2am Saturday. The place looked and felt like a flop house. When I entered to check that the key card worked, a strong, pungent smell hit me, with a heavy cigarette stench. The room looked like someone had been using it for a long time. There were cigarette burns on the blankets, finger smudges on the wall pictures, and debris under the sink cabinet, along the bed platform, and beneath the refrigerator. I went to the car for air freshener and sprayed it all over the room, nearly soaking the beds. Mold covered the refrigerator door and gasket, and the cabinet cart. The chair at the table was moldy too. The inside of the microwave was the cleanest thing in the room. On Saturday morning, as we left for the event, they were dismantling the room below mine, with mattresses propped against the wall and the frame and refrigerator out in the lot. It was clear to me that cleaning care was nonexistent, as was concern for guests' health. This hotel needs to close and be renovated.

As soon as we got into bed, we started itching. We checked and found bed bugs. I called the front desk and they moved us to another room, but that one had bed bugs too. We got a refund. Don't stay here.