Howard Johnson by Wyndham Gillette

The room was dark, with no ceiling lights, and several things were broken: the phone, clock, and door lock. One side of the bathroom mirror was broken too. Cleaning needs more attention. The carpet should be vacuumed and washed once in a while, and the bathtub and its walls need scrubbing. My whole family had a hard time breathing there because of the poor cleaning.

This is an old property, though I could see they were trying to maintain it. There were a few coffee stains in the hall, as other reviews mentioned, and the interior doors had been patched and repainted. Finding a true 3-star place outside a metro is tough, so I'd forget the 4-star rating. Still, compared with other run-down motels where bugs scurry out when you open a drawer or mildew covers the bathroom ceiling, this was clean. The bathroom and room were clean, and it looked like the ceiling panels had been replaced. The young guy at the desk was friendly. My 18-year-old blamed two mosquito bites on the room, but we'd gone out for a late dinner, so they could have happened elsewhere. Breakfast was skimpy. They put out two bananas at a time, and within an hour they were gone. There were only two small powdered donuts, two regular ones, a bagel, and something else for a dozen people. There wasn't enough for everyone coming in, and people quickly lost interest. I slept fine, but don't plan on breakfast. Two stars for the property, breakfast, and being next to the highway.

I've been staying here for over a year while working in the area. The rooms are nice and clean, and the customer service is excellent. It's definitely one of my favorites across five states.

The breakfast was the same moldy biscuits and gravy every day I was there. It seemed like they might be putting out the previous day's food to save money or because they were lazy. The rooms were worn down, with threadbare carpet, peeling wallpaper, an uncomfortable bed, and a TV remote held together with duct tape. The bathroom was disgusting and dirty, and the walls were paper thin. The fridge and microwave didn't work either. The train tracks are across the way, and trains blared their horns around 1 am every night. Drunks from the bar next door could be heard yelling and screaming after it closed. Staff weren't very helpful. The door had a big crack near where it closes and latches, as if it had been broken into before. It didn't seem renovated since it was new, and the stay was neither comfortable nor enjoyable. It wasn't worth the money, and I'll stay somewhere else next time.