Americas Best Value Inn Holts Summit/Jefferson City

The rooms were neat and clean, the staff were nice, and the rules were strict. The heater swung between too hot and too cold, though I’m not sure if that was the unit or if it needed service. The linens were clean but smelled a little old. Breakfast was decent, and there was a good selection of ice. TV channels were fine, but my phone service was terrible even when connected to Wi-Fi. Four stars overall.

We left without staying, after what turned into one of our worst hotel experiences. It was around 8:30 pm when we entered the lobby. The man came out from the back with a scowl, and his attitude stayed unpleasant through the whole exchange. He gave us different information from what the nice woman we’d spoken to earlier had told us. While filling out the paperwork, I went to check our license plate number. My fiancee had moved back from Florida and changed the plates just three days earlier, so I couldn’t remember it. The man became even more disrespectful. When he asked for my fiancee’s ID, he reacted badly to the temporary paper ID; my fiancee had moved back from Florida and was still waiting for the Missouri driver’s license to arrive by mail. We only needed a room for one night and tried to continue, but he said he would also run a $100 pre-authorization on the card. We asked for something in writing confirming it was only a temporary hold, and he refused, becoming ruder. After words were exchanged, we left.

We did enjoy our weekend getaway, and the breakfast wasn’t bad for free, though I wish there had been more variety. The stay itself was just okay. My fiancé and I had booked a king room two weeks ahead, but were given two double full-size beds instead. We paid $75 in cash and another $75 on my debit card for the two nights, and they also required a $100 deposit. That deposit wasn’t mentioned on the website when we booked, which frustrated me. The staff were rude to my fiancé when she asked them to clean our room on the second night, even though it should have been done in the first place. They eventually cleaned it. For a small-town hotel it was okay, but the staff should be friendlier and our reservation should be right if we ever return.

The hotel itself wasn’t bad, but the staff made the stay horrible, and I’ll never come back. On 9/20/14 and 9/21/14, the man and woman at the desk were both rude. The woman answered my son’s genuine question rudely, and when I brought it up, they blamed us and yelled, “We’ve done nothing wrong MAAM!” Later that evening the man cornered my father to tell him I’d come to the desk yelling for no reason. I also saw the woman treat another client rudely. I thought our room was clean at first, but then spotted used plastic utensils on the floor beside the bed, left by the previous customer. They were still there after the room was “cleaned” the next day.