The Finger Lakes Lodge

We booked the Finger Lakes Lodge for 6/6/2015 after finding it on Google. The photos looked good, and when we arrived, the motel itself seemed acceptable. But at check-in we were sent several blocks and turns away to Cedar Lodge, with no reason given. We could have asked to switch, though they looked at us oddly when we did. At 2:30 pm there wasn’t a single car in the office lot. We went along with the assigned room after being told it would be just as nice. At Cedar Lodge, there was a Student Housing sign and no office. We carried our suitcases over loose, unpaved stone to the room. It was dark inside, with a very strong sweet smell that stayed just as strong after we opened the only window for an hour. We hoped afterward it wasn’t insecticide and that we hadn’t been exposed to something terrible. The room layout was strange, including a two-shelf unit with cord cutouts that wasn’t useful for us, and a tiny TV, maybe 20 inches, high in the opposite corner from the bed. We couldn’t read the news captions and had to keep our heads turned to watch. The shower was only 32 inches square, with no tub, for $115 a night. We’re both slender, so we managed to shower. A corner of the linoleum was curled up at least an inch beside the shower, making it impossible to clean properly and unsanitary. After dinner, a man was charging concertgoers $10 to park in our lot for the event next door at the Constellation Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center. We found the last three spaces in an adjacent stone lot and had to walk farther among strangers who weren’t motel guests. We worried about our car and our own safety. The motel had no fence or visible staff for security, and the room door had no second lock from inside, only an old keyed lock that could be copied or stolen. In my 30 years of business travel, hotel contracts required an inside lock that could only be reached from the room, and if one was missing, we were told to ask for another room. This situation made us very uneasy. We also have income from student housing, and we wouldn’t consider this place suitable for young students. It didn’t feel nice or secure enough. You decide.