Candlewood Suites Jacksonville by IHG

The parking lot incident was awful. One night, a group of cars took over the lot with radios so loud my ears were ringing inside the room and the walls were shaking. The hotel did nothing. The hallway also smelled strongly of weed every day. Our unit was dirty, and we had to mop the floor three times after arriving. The water was black, and the floors clearly weren’t cleaned. The kitchen sink backed up because the disposal wasn’t working. We later learned they knew about it because the kitchen breakers had been switched off. Repairs were sloppy too: the walls had patches in the wrong paint color, the unit above us had a leak that bubbled the paint on the way, and they used a whole tube of caulking around the toilet. I expected more from the Candlewood name. There are full-time live-in units for people who can’t qualify for a lease, and it wasn’t a good environment.

The renovations and new floor have made a big difference since this January. The atmosphere has completely changed, and it looks like a fresh new hotel. I guess the new manager is really good!

There’s a mall close by, and Walmart is an easy walk, under 10 minutes each way. I’ve stayed here twice and plan to come back. The front desk is always helpful and kind, and my rooms have been clean. For such a low price, I was surprised by how good the stay was.

We had trouble with the TV, whose screen went blank while we were watching, and the front desk said maintenance would have to look at it the next day. Before that, the smoke alarm in our room had gone off. There’s no ice machine, and the fridge is supposed to make ice, but it took a while, produced one batch, then needed to be jiggled to make more. They also charged a $100 security deposit in case of damage.