Travelodge by Wyndham Pioneer Villa

The place is kind of old, but clean, and the rooms are big. The people were very nice and let me check in at 6 a.m. after I’d driven all night. I got a great room price at $73. It’s hard to find real truck stops like this anymore. I’ll be back.

We chose this place at the last minute for parents’ weekend at the college because it was the closest option we could find. The rooms were spacious, and the restaurant had great biscuits and gravy, but at over $150 a night I expected more. We’d paid for two nights through Expedia, and the front desk girl said everything was prepaid. On Saturday night I noticed a pending $171 charge from the Travellodge, the cost of another night. I wondered if it was a damage hold, but when I checked out, the kid at the desk was confused. He said guests who book through a service like Expedia get double-charged every Sunday. Since the banks were closed, he couldn’t do anything, and he wouldn’t give me the manager’s number. He told me to call the hotel Monday if the money wasn’t refunded. The woman behind me had been overcharged $600. This happening every week to multiple guests is asinine, and to me it’s straight-up theft. I’ll never stay at a travellodge again and will tell people I know to avoid it. At this point it could be a class action lawsuit. I got my money back Monday morning, but without backup cash I could have been stranded getting home.

For what it is, it’s perfect. There’s good food just 20 yards away, plus a bar, so you don’t need to drive after drinks. A gas station nearby takes care of late-night munchies. It’s quiet too, with no road noise or cars constantly coming and going.

The staff were nice, and the location is decent for getting to Brownsville, but the room was dirty, with stained carpets and a moldy smell. It was really unpleasant. We canceled the rest of our reservation after one night and found a better-quality hotel farther from our event.