Motel 6 Merrillville, IN

I was racially profiled by the manager SHARON. I came in to politely ask about a room, and she made a rude comment about how I looked and whether I could afford the stay. When I asked for someone above her, she refused to give me corporate’s number and said good luck. There were staff at the front watching and laughing in the back. Another day when I stopped by, a staff member had an unsupervised toddler girl at the front in pajamas and no shoes. I later found out she was related to the manager on duty. I thought coming back to inquire would go better, but clearly I was wrong. Worst experience ever. I’ll never go here again. Be warned.

We were moved after the first room, which was dirty and damaged: dirt stains and crumbs under the covers, a punched-in line in the bathroom door, and a TV mount and remote that didn’t work. The front desk manager brought clean sheets but first tried to keep us in that room. The next room had a housekeeping party that smelled of liquor and drugs. They stayed on both sides of our room all night, blocked the door of 210 while I was in 211, talked and played music outside. I worried they might try to get into my room. At least there weren’t bed bugs, I guess. This was a two night work trip. Don’t book here.

Room 128 had a light that kept shining and flashing through the curtains. The $60 deposit is cash only. Paint only covers so much: the bathroom floor was coming up, possibly from water leaking from the toilet tank, and there was a hole in the wall by the floor and the corner of the tub’s splash guard. Some furniture was falling apart. The room was a good size, with a king mattress on a large board frame, but it was supposed to be accessible and wasn’t. The large fridge worked, there was plenty of hot water, and coffee was available in the lobby and from a single-cup maker in the room. No hair dryer.

I was told very rudely that they had no clean rooms and no staff to clean, so I couldn’t check in, even though I’d booked days ahead. I left because who would want a room they’d “cleaned” just to say they had one? Then at 9pm, while I was at an event in a different state, I got an email asking how check-in went. Big red flag, since they hadn’t let me check in. I drove the 6 hours home that night. I contacted the booking company, which contacted the hotel. They said I’d refused to pay a deposit. Why would I need a deposit for a room already paid for? A card on file for incidentals, sure, but what I was told was that there were no clean rooms and I couldn’t check in. Now they’re refusing to refund the stay they refused.