Motel 6 Petersburg, VA - Fort Lee

The manager and a woman at the front desk told me that staff fighting could happen anywhere and that I could leave if I didn't feel safe. I felt unsafe after hearing employees shout vulgar language and threats at each other, with the manager yelling for them to stop. It happened on the second day, then got worse the next day. I thought I might have to call 911 to come. This involved staff, not the guests staying there. My husband and I had driven over 2,000 miles from Utah for Christmas to see our grandchildren, whom we hadn't seen in three years because we'd been in Europe. We'd recently been reassigned to Fort G. At first, a very nice young man welcomed us warmly, even coming around the desk to greet us. We tried to ignore the staff noise at first, hoping things would improve. I spoke to the manager after it calmed down, but that response didn't help. I don't recommend this place.

One housekeeper loudly complains about everything with lots of profanity and openly hates dogs, even though this is a pet-friendly hotel. A front desk clerk also kicked us out without warning just because we asked too many simple but important questions. It feels like bad employees matter more here than good guests. Neither person should be in a public-facing job with that attitude. We'll be filing complaints.

The room was okay and the location was fine, but the front desk experience left me feeling unsafe and glad to get out quickly. The apparent supervisor, whose name I think was Jennifer or Jessica, was angry, rude, and condescending. I got the impression she might have been high, though I can't be sure. The rest of the staff were friendly. I hate having to write this, since I'm not picky about hotels, but I wouldn't wish a stay here on my worst enemy.

We asked to switch rooms because the first one had water damage all over the ceiling and we have a 10-month-old baby. The next room had no ceiling damage, but it wasn't very clean, the mattress was awful, there were water bugs or gnats in the bathtub, and it still smelled terrible. The first room smelled of mildew, and the lobby and hallways reeked of cigarettes and weed. The smell got stronger farther down the hall, and I had to keep my baby's nose covered most of the time. The place felt like it was in a bad part of town. It's odd that wherever you go to reserve a room, the photos shown are from when the place first opened. I regret staying one night.