WoodSpring Suites Jacksonville Baymeadows

I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to anyone. I’m going to contact the parent company, and I’ll make sure anyone I know visiting the area stays far away. The whole place smelled of weed, and I personally saw drug deals, people using drugs, and people getting drunk and screaming in the parking lot. It also seemed mostly occupied by permanent tenants or people in government-subsidized housing, who may not need staff regularly like other hotel guests do. That still doesn’t excuse the lack of housekeeping for shorter-term guests. The room was dirty and had cockroaches, and the towels were stained. Housekeeping never came around. Staff said they don’t take out garbage, so you have to do it yourself. They also said I had to come to the desk at 9am the next day to request room cleaning, but when I went down around 10am the desk was closed behind its metal drop-down partition. For towels, trash bags, or toilet paper, I was told I had to get them at the front desk. During my 10-day stay I exchanged my towels once and was charged $7+tax. Anything you need while staff are away costs an extra $10 fee. I booked through a corporate booking company, whose site said pets were okay but didn’t specify what kind. I told the front desk lady at check-in that I had two cats, and she said that was fine. At checkout, another staff member said cats weren’t allowed. I pointed out I’d declared them at check-in and walked them through the lobby without an issue. Staff also hang up on you or don’t answer the phone at all. I had to call more than 10 times per day for three days to get my receipt. I have no proof, but I have to believe the hotel management is bribing people with discounts on their stays for positive reviews, because no part of my stay was worth more than one star and I had issues like those in many other one-star reviews. Staff also seemed unsure of their own rules.

Lisa was the highlight of the stay. She was kind during my late check-in and let me change rooms without giving me a hard time when the first room was dirty. The next room was cleaner, though it had roaches, so I had to buy bug spray. I slept with the lights on because of them and didn’t get a decent night’s sleep. The first room had a hairball on the bathroom floor, and the bed looked made but still showed sleep marks on the sheets and pillows. It was hot, and the thermostat near the cooktop was so dirty I didn’t want to touch it. The cooktop and counter were just as yucky. The fridge looked as though it had come straight from a junkyard. Cooking items and dishes had been left in a dishwasher so long the water in the overturned dishes was gray, slimy, and murky, with stuff growing in it. Contrary to the hotels.com listing, there was no coffee or tea anywhere on the property, and no coffee maker in the room. I could have lived without a pot if there’d been coffee in the lobby as advertised. There’s a McDonald's and Gate within walking distance, but that’s not the point. This is the first hotel room I’ve had without a coffee pot since at least the mid-1990s. The hall and stairwell reeked of cannabis smoke, which I don’t find inviting, especially with quite a few children staying there. There were adequate washers and dryers for the size of the hotel. Dog poop bags were available too, but hard to reach at the far end of the property through fairly tall grass, sand, dirt, and overhanging branches. Honestly, this hotel can break your soul, or at least suck the life out of you. Maybe it won’t affect you if you don’t care about cleanliness, bugs, or drugs. After seeing a bunch of five-star ratings on hotels.com, I do wonder what was going on with those people that they’d give it such an exuberant score.

For the first time in my life, I felt like I was living in a shelter. The manager spoke to us and treated us in such a low-class way. The marijuana smell throughout the building turned me off Jacksonville.

I like that the room has a window that opens for fresh air, which is a must for me, and the room itself is nice. The unsealed vinyl floor affected me severely because I’m chemically sensitive. Lisa at the front desk is the best lady I’ve ever met. I wish more hotel managers were sweet, kind, and helpful like her.