Best Western Ocala Park Centre I-75

In Room 405, we found roaches in the bed and traps throughout the room. When we told the front desk, the staff didn’t seem surprised and said they’d move us to another room. They also told us the roaches could stay unless we paid half the room price. Room 325 looked just as concerning: we found eggs around the room and more traps. We didn’t see live roaches there, but it seemed likely that room had the same infestation. We left and found another hotel. The staff didn’t give us any trouble about leaving, which made me think this happens often. The lobby had an immediate bad odor, the hotel felt dated and poorly maintained, and there’s only one elevator, so you wait to get to your room. The first room looked clean at a glance, but closer inspection showed otherwise. I wouldn’t trust positive reviews from people with higher cleanliness standards than mine. The place needs to be shut down, or maybe torn down and rebuilt. If you want to take home an extra guest on your trip, this may be the place, but it wasn’t for me. Beware. RUN!

The hot tub and pool were both really clean, and the fire pit looked gorgeous. You can switch it on and off with a timer. Breakfast was included and had a good range of hot food, especially the delicious biscuits and gravy. I got a very friendly welcome when I arrived. My room was clean and had a refrigerator and microwave. There’s no in-room coffee maker, but there’s a machine in the lobby.

Noise from outside was so loud we couldn’t hear the TV in our room. It felt as if there were no glass in the window. I’ve stayed at hotels by highway exits and busy roads before, and they were insulated better. This was the loudest hotel I’ve ever been in, even compared with places in the heart of NYC. The evening and morning front desk staff weren’t very outgoing. The evening employee insisted he couldn’t find my reservation, then blamed the system after he finally spotted it at the top of the screen, where he hadn’t looked.

The front desk woman was icy, and I was disappointed by how much I paid: $179 for one person after bed tax and sales tax. Apparently they think the continental breakfast justifies that price. I’d stayed here before, but only about half the rooms seem to offer a decent night’s sleep. The west side is quiet; on the east side, the room vibrates as semis gear down and pass by. The road noise goes on all night. If you need restful sleep, skip this place or ask for a west-side room. Others around me got better rates after asking, while I was charged more for a single night. That may meet a short-term goal, but it loses the repeat business of future vacations and even second and third generations. I’ll never stay here again, and probably won’t choose a Best Western again either.