Motel 6 Palm Bay

David at the desk was the one bright spot on my last trip. He checked on us and went out of his way to see if he could make us comfortable. He was marvelous compared with some of the people who’d worked there in the past. The room, though, was a disgrace. The carpets were so stained and dirty that I avoided walking barefoot, and the shower stall was awful, with deeply embedded grease stains that might take industrial strength detergent and a lot of effort to remove. Outside the room, the roof support was badly rotted. The bathroom floor felt as if it was caving in, probably from termites, and some room lights didn’t work. I think it was room 324. The pillow covers were about an inch too short for the pillows, too. Why? I’ve stayed at this particular M6 for 20 years because it’s convenient for a great fishing area. I’ve watched the place swing from decent to bad, better, bad, okay, and now terrible. The manager also removed all the outlets that fishermen used, then spent a year claiming they’d be repaired. I usually come every week in the winter months, but I’ve canceled all my reservations through the end of April and will stay at the Quality Inn instead. It costs a little more, but there I feel like a guest, not a nuisance.

The price was much better than anything else nearby, so I’d stay again for the value, even with the inconvenience. Our room wasn’t ready when we arrived at 4:30 pm, and they eventually put us in a different one. Several lights didn’t work. The bathroom sink was clogged, but a maintenance man came promptly and cleared it. The air conditioner couldn’t keep the room cool during the heat of the day, and nobody came to check it. There was only one towel and one washcloth; I asked the front desk for more, but none arrived. I eventually found a housekeeper who got me some. Even so, the room and bathroom were clean, the bed was comfortable, and there was plenty of hot water.

The room’s bathroom was clean, the beds were nicely made, and the area around the pool looked very clean. The man at the desk and the woman who checked us out were both so nice. Outside, though, the area around our door and the sidewalks weren’t clean. We didn’t have little bars of soap or enough towels, so we helped ourselves from the housekeeper’s cart. It would’ve been nice to have a small table and a couple of chairs, since we made sandwiches for supper and I like to sit at a table to write. It seemed to us that a lot of people were living there. We saw people taking bikes into their rooms and groups gathering outside, with quite a few children going in and out of rooms.

The rooms looked clean but had a funky smell, and it was not a nice stay. Our door keys kept failing, so we had to get new ones four times. They even moved us to another room over the key problem, but those keys failed too. The staff could’ve been more helpful, or at least friendlier. When I asked the front desk clerk for a paper towel, they told me to call housekeeping. The TV channels were fuzzy.