Econo Lodge Inn and Suites

The hotel itself was fine, but I was charged an extra day on my credit card as a damage deposit as soon as I booked a room. They said it would be returned three days after checkout, but that never happened. It took two weeks, 10 calls to the head office, lots of emails, and repeated promises, and I still didn’t get the deposit back. They said they didn’t know how to refund it. In the end, my own bank refunded the card and pursued the hotel for me. I shouldn’t have had to go through all that, and this is the only hotel I’ve encountered that does this. Be careful giving them your card, because getting the deposit back can be a real hassle.

The front desk only apologized and didn’t offer to move me, even after admitting the room had been smoked in. I’d asked for a non-smoking room, and this one clearly wasn’t. It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned: there was writing on the walls, dirty windows, what looked like blood on the walls, and a ring around the bathtub. Charging over $100 for a room in that condition is outrageous. It wasn’t even worth the one star I had to give.

The room seemed clean, and the bed was okay, though a bit too firm for me. There was only a thin pair of sheets, no comforter or other heavy blanket. The hot water also runs out quickly if two people shower one after the other, and I couldn’t get spare towels when I asked last night and again this morning. The cable lines were connected but there were no cable channels. The small fridge had no freezer, and I skipped using the microwave because I prefer a toaster oven, which they don’t provide. There is an ironing board, iron, and hanging rod in plain view. In the corner, there’s a table, lamp, and office chair, but using the outlet under the table means unplugging something. Other outlets are tucked behind or under furniture, so finding one for a phone takes some searching. The ice maker on the third floor was broken, there wasn’t one on the second, and the one on the first floor was in a room that felt over 100 degrees.

Don’t stay here. There’s such a long list of things wrong that I’ll just leave it at that.