Travelodge by Wyndham Gaylord

The icy, unplowed parking lot was dangerous. My wife, who was seven months pregnant, slipped and fell. Inside, the bathroom faucet sprayed water everywhere, and we found bugs and mold in the shower. I checked the bed for bedbugs and didn’t see any, though the room felt so unclean that I’m still worried. The ice machines were broken, and a blue bin was catching water from a leak. Gas heaters in the lobby made the place smell awful, and there was a smoke smell in the hallways when we left. The heat in our room didn’t work, and we spent the night freezing with only sheets on the bed. I didn’t want to make a fuss, so I planned to mention it at checkout. That was a mistake. Call the front desk right away and ask for another room. We took no photos except one of the heater showing it was set to 84, the maximum, while the room stayed cold. We also had a problem with the service dog fee. We’d told reservations that our service dog, DAD, would be with us, along with our pet dog, for which we expected a charge. We stayed one night because of an emergency, and at checkout they charged for the service dog too. The front desk said hotel policy required documentation and that we were lucky not to be charged a $50 emergency dog fee. They refused to remove the fee when I explained that federal law doesn’t require us to provide documentation. If you have a service dog, you know they don’t come with documentation. Corporate confirmed this was not their policy and said they’d contact the private owner, but couldn’t do much else. The owner emailed asking for documentation again. I sent the law and never heard back. We paid over $130 for one night in a dump. I won’t stay here again and would tell others to avoid it. If negative stars were possible, that’s what I’d give.

We’ve been in Gaylord two weekends in a row to take care of my parents’ estate, and my family really enjoyed staying at Travelodge. After long days of work and memories, the hot tub and pool were just what we needed. The courtyard was a great setup, we slept well, and the staff were great. Thanks for making it a relaxing, pleasant stay that didn’t break the bank.

The whole place smelled like gas, and the blankets were basically sheets. They really need thicker, better blankets like most hotels have. Our room didn’t seem to have been cleaned in a while either: there was an old donut between the bed and headboard, plus chips scattered behind the dresser with the TV on it.

I’d seen plenty of bad reviews, but we needed an affordable weekend stay, and the place was nowhere near as bad as they made it sound. The location is great and the room was clean, with a comfortable clean bed, good AC, stove burners, a microwave, and a fridge. Staff were friendly, and there was a nice-sized TV. It’s dated and obviously not a five-star hotel, but for somewhere to sleep without spending a lot, I’d recommend it. We’d come back for that purpose. Don’t let the negative reviews put you off.