Econo Lodge Homewood - Birmingham

The place was filthy and the clerk was rude and unhelpful. My TV didn’t work when I got to the room around 4 pm. He said he’d come fix it in 15 minutes, but after waiting about two hours, he still hadn’t shown up. Then I found a whole large order of old fries behind the bed. When I asked to change rooms, he said it was a problem because I’d already been there for two hours. I was furious. He eventually came back with me and fixed the TV while the cleaning staff picked up the fries with their bare hands, then the clerk just left. Later, water started coming through the wood floor and the TV went out again. There was mold above the shower, and the bedding was torn, stained, and full of burn holes. Whoever was working from 4 to 6 pm on 7/26/2021 showed no sign of wanting to help. The health inspector should come shut the place down. I wouldn’t recommend anyone stay here, 0/10, and if I could give it negative stars I would. I was extremely unhappy and disturbed.

Both rooms were a terrible experience. The first had cockroaches everywhere and a bullet hole in the window above us. We asked to move, but the next room was worse: the bed wasn’t made, it looked like someone had left 30 minutes earlier, and there were still cockroaches. We did get our refund easily, at least. The manager, a woman, was considerate and nice.

After an eight-hour drive, our family just wanted to rest before continuing to Florida. Instead we got the worst room any of the four of us had ever seen. The building exterior was crumbling, the metal around the concrete steps had rusted away, and the lobby bathrooms and ice machine were out of order. The free breakfast advertised online wasn’t offered anymore, and nobody apologized or offered anything. They also charged the $25 deposit to my VISA. It took a 30-minute call to Choice Hotels to get it credited back. Their representative didn’t seem concerned or surprised by the details. The owner and especially CHOICE Hotels should be ashamed to offer a place this deplorable. Inside, the bedspreads had cigarette burns and stains, plus a hair that wasn’t from anyone in our family. The rounded parts of the mirror were left hazy, as if someone had wiped it with a car wiper that couldn’t reach. The walls were stained and had holes, and the floor had some kind of nail polish stain. The AC had been shut off, so it took three hours to cool the room in mid-June. There was also a 3/8-inch gap letting daylight through between the unit and the wall. The tub and shower had a thick layer of gritty soap scum. All four of us decided not to risk showering and waited until the afternoon to use a sanitary place. The hair dryer, iron, and ironing board were coated with something like the shower grime too. This place isn’t worth one star. Zero isn’t an available rating.

The owners and people running the hotel are very nice and seem to be trying to improve it, and I hope they fix the operational problems. Our room wasn’t very clean: there were hairs and stains on the sheets, and several makeup marks on the pillows made us wonder if the bedding had been changed. Maintenance also needs attention. The tub backed up after five minutes in the shower, there was a gash in the wall with splinters sticking out, only one desk outlet worked, and the chair was broken. They did bring a replacement chair when we asked. Breakfast was quite limited, just corn flakes, coffee, and sugary pastries, with no fruit, eggs, or bagels. The orange juice tasted like Sunny D rather than real orange juice.