Budget Inn San Leandro

The room stinks, and the towels aren’t changed. The shower drain is really slow, and however long you stay, the room won’t be cleaned daily.

The room was a horrible place to stay. Towels, bedding, rug, and chairs were stained, and the tub was dirty and broken. They charged a cleaning fee just for bread crumbs, then said we could never rent from them again for that. The front lobby reeked of propane, and furniture was sitting out in the parking lot. Staff were rude and didn’t want to talk or help. One man sounded annoyed when I rang the bell for him to come out.

The vending machine took my $4 and gave me nothing. That’s one star right there.

The way the front desk woman treats people will ruin this business. I’ve seen her argue with guests three separate times, and there are plenty of reviews mentioning how rude she is. It’s not just me, but people shouldn’t be treated like that. Other hotels cost the same or less and treat guests with respect. This was a last-minute booking, and I didn’t read reviews first. Lesson learned. Every negative review seems to get the same scripted response, but nothing changes. We only needed a place to sleep for a few nights, but the room was full of problems. The lobby and halls stank, the sheets were falling apart, and the towels were filthy, dingy, and full of holes. I asked for clean towels right after check-in because the hanging washcloths had visible skid marks. I ended up needing to buy my own towels. The microwave barely worked, my ice cream melted in the freezer, and when I pulled the microwave out to check its plug after it stopped working while I made popcorn, I found someone else’s underwear. I woke with bug bites all over me. Housekeeping knocked every day even with the do not disturb sign up. She said skipping daily cleaning means more work for her at checkout. Given the underwear in the room, I have to wonder how much cleaning happens anyway. The reservation clearly said checkout was 11 a.m. Thursday, and I had paid for the room. At 9:57 Tuesday morning, the front desk woman called my teenage son to say we had to leave by 11 that day because the stay was too long and someone else wanted the room. I was away at a business meeting two cities over. They had vacancies, and if the stay was too long, the reservation shouldn’t have been allowed in the first place. My son said staff were trying to unlock the door. I’m glad I’d told him to lock it when I left.