Baymont by Wyndham Jamestown Conference Center & Water Park

The dim halls and tiny bathroom made the place feel abandoned, and the lamp between the beds had been repaired with a completely different switch. There was a nice ice machine, and the soda machines weren’t too expensive, but for the price I won’t return. This felt more like a convention venue than a real hotel, set in an industrial park across from a mall. A few times I wondered if we were the only guests. It seemed as if the people who’d just acquired it didn’t know how to run a hotel. The people at the front, who were from Taipei, wouldn’t help with check-in, so we had to wait for the third guy. We needed extra pillows and blankets, and they arrived tucked under someone’s arms. Check-out was remote, with a man on a video screen. I’m surprised Wyndham puts its name on the property.

The restaurant staff were great. Val was friendly and prompt, and makes a terrific Old Fashioned. Waiting five minutes for it to be done right was worth it. Chef David made some of the best food I’ve had: the steak, cheeseburger, and chicken sandwich were all terrific. I ordered onion rings with ketchup, then found they didn’t need ketchup at all. The front desk staff were friendly and quick too, and the rooms were clean and comfortable.

We arrived after driving more than five hours and left for another hotel around 1 a.m. The room smelled like sewer, the sheets were stained, and there was garbage between the bed and the headboard, and between the bed and nightstand. The room and hallway were cold, even with the heat turned up, and there were dead bugs in the hallway light fixtures. I know the hotel has new owners and is supposedly being remodeled, but this wasn’t okay for a Wyndham hotel. The check-in kiosk was one thing, but the employee made us post a positive Google review before handing over our keys. She kept asking about a scanner near the kiosk, and we couldn’t find it. She muted her headset, turned away, and laughed with the person beside her, then said she was getting the key and asked about the scanner again. After 8-10 minutes, we realized she meant the hotel QR code. She had me scan it and leave a review before giving us the keys. We felt harassed and forced to post, so we didn’t want to ask the kiosk employee to switch rooms and left for another hotel instead.

We booked the kitchenette room, but there was only one fork and one pan, both left dirty and moldy in the dishwasher. Gross. The rooms smelled musty and had peeling paint in several places. The pool was closed for extended maintenance, and the front desk hadn’t told us at check-in. Breakfast was a mess because nobody communicated when it was open. Apart from the check-in staff I met on arrival, customer service was nonexistent, and the virtual attendant was no help. I’d prepaid through the website’s “pay now and save” offer, but when I arrived they couldn’t find the payment. The whole experience was a complete mess, overpriced, and horrible.