Real Value Inn

The cockroach in the bathroom was the last straw, and I left. I had been prepared to stay despite the dirty hallways, the unvacuumed floor with crumbs and candy wrappers, and a penny on the chair. The smoke detector was covered in plastic, plaster was falling from the ceiling, one bathroom ceiling tile was crooked, and there was mold in a bathroom corner. At check-in, the front desk staff argued with housekeeping for about five minutes over which rooms were clean. People were milling around the lobby, which was fine, but the hotel smelled of cigarette smoke. This was truly one of the worst places I've stayed. I chose it for the price, so that part was my fault.

The elevators have been out since 2017, so it's the stairs. Most of the rooms are homes to hotel staff, which leaves them with limited rooms. The staff were nice at check-in, but after that the service was horrible. No refunds, no extra towels, and no fresh towels brought in the morning. You have to ask and then wait four hours. Never again. The faucet leaks, the tile is broken, and there's a dead wasp on the air conditioner. The stairways are always full of food or trash.

The room was nasty and smelled moldy. There was a tampon and trash in a drawer, sticky spots on the floor, and the bathroom light was so dim I could barely see my feet. They only have one mop, which is ridiculous. Workers stole a lot from me while I was away and blamed the other guests. I should have called the cops. They were lucky I was in a good mood. Worst place to stay, a true waste of money. Never go.

We checked in at 2 p.m. on July 3, 2016, with my 14-year-old son, because the hotel was only three miles from the Memphis airport. I asked the front desk to add a second set of towels, since there was only one set in the room. When we returned around 9 p.m., the A/C window unit in room #116 had been taken apart. A staff member said he was cleaning it and it would be ready in about 10 minutes. Then they called me to the front desk about our reservation. A man there asked for $40 in cash to move us to another room. We had to be at the airport early, and I gave him the $30 I had in my wallet. In room #121, there were no towels, the shower didn't work, three of the four electrical outlets were dead, the fridge didn't work, and there were roaches. They called me to the desk again about the reservation. I wanted my car to be usable in the morning, so I told the woman at the desk I'd sleep in it and asked her not to disturb my son in the room. She was generally nice, but unhappy about me staying in the car. She said parking security wouldn't allow it, and complained that we'd taken the only set of towels from room #116 to #121. I told my son to lock the door and call me if anyone bothered him. I spent the night in the car with the engine running. Around 5 a.m., a drunk man woke me while trying to flirt with a woman. There was no parking security around. Then the same man I'd given $30 knocked on my window and asked if my son was sleeping in the room. My son told me that around 11 p.m. someone tried to open his door. They couldn't get past the inside lock and left when he told them to stop. He didn't call me because he thought it might be over. As he and I were later recounting, we'll never forget this hotel experience.