Days Inn by Wyndham Merced / Yosemite Area

After my last call of the day, I drove seven minutes to the hotel and got a room quickly with no trouble. When I went in, the TV was destroyed. I turned it on, took pictures, then went to the desk so they’d know it was already like that. They offered another room, but I declined. The front desk worker was very nice and apologetic, and I don’t even watch TV. I just wanted them to know. Later I came back with food and tried to turn on the heater because the room was cold. It wouldn’t start, though it was plugged in. Using my flashlight, I could see the vent was completely full of multicolored mold. I covered it with a towel and wrote this review. I’m very disappointed. The room was cheap, and it shows. About an hour later, a worker was moving boxes under my room and making a lot of noise. I politely asked if he could be a little quieter. He replied in broken English, with an attitude, that 10:00 PM was when he worked. He was using a metal dolly and making more noise than the traffic outside. This is ridiculous.

There’s a $200 deposit on the room, so be aware. I stayed with my two sons, aged 3 years and 11 months, using a homeless voucher for the night. The listing said the room would have a mini fridge and microwave, but there was no fridge and the microwave didn’t work. My son spilled a couple of spots of chocolate milk on the sheets, and they kept my deposit over that. I admit I was rude to the front desk worker after they refused to return it. I’m homeless, and that deposit could have paid for another night in a room for me and my boys. They eventually gave me $100 back, but that still meant losing money needed for my kids over a small stain on a sheet. I’d never had to leave a deposit here before. It feels like they don’t care about taking money from someone less fortunate over an easily fixed problem.

The location felt poor to me. There were homeless people around constantly, and I didn’t feel safe at all. The woman at check-in was nice, but we checked out after 10 hours even though we had already paid for a second night. We explained why we were leaving early and got no refund, so we paid about $205 for 10 hours. It wasn’t worth it, even at half that price. The woman at checkout said she’d pass our concerns to the owner. From what I can tell, they collect “invaluable feedback” but don’t do much with it, judging by earlier poor reviews and comments about the owner. My verdict: don’t come here. Look at my pictures.

I expected very little, but the staff greeted me warmly, smiled, and actually seemed to enjoy being at work. It was a refreshing surprise. Breakfast was another pleasant shock. I expected a sad banana and stale bread, but there were several hot choices. The waffle station made me gasp, the eggs weren’t gray, and the coffee didn’t taste like remorse. It wasn’t a Michelin-star meal, but I went back for seconds without shame. Was every detail perfect? No. Did the place beat my low expectations? Absolutely. I’m already planning another stay. I’d happily let them take my money again.