Encino Motel

We stopped here on the way to San Antonio in early summer 2017, and paid $50 a night. It’s about 30-45 minutes from San Antonio. Though the motel is old, it was extremely well maintained and looked newly remodeled, inside and out. Only two rooms share adjoining walls, with a large carport between each pair. I have allergies, and usually struggle with carpets in busy hotel rooms, but the carpet here was clean and we slept comfortably. The whole place smelled fresh and clean, even compared with high-priced five-star hotels. The remodeled bathroom was spacious and clean, the beds were comfortable and clean, and the blackout curtains worked so well we overslept. We woke up rested. The owners were very kind and told us the place had been used to film a scene for the movie

The owners were nice, the rates were low, and the bathroom sink and vanity were new. Still, the mattresses were hard, the TVs small, and there was mold around the bathroom door trim and along the floor baseboards. There was also a blood-splatter stain on the ceiling over one of the beds. I wouldn’t rule out staying again, but things would have to be really bad. I had no choice this time because everything else was full and my truck’s radiator had died. I stayed in room 12, but chose not to take or post pictures. If you want food delivered, Domino’s was the only option I found. Ordering online says they don’t deliver there, so call it in and they will.

It’s an older motel, but it is clean and the room furnishings are dated. The owners made the experience worse with how rude and nosy they were. Whenever you have a guest, they practically run to the window.

The traffic was loud at all hours because the rooms are so close to the road. The pool looked like it hadn’t been used in about 10 years. Inside, the first thing I noticed was the cigarette smell. The beds were very hard, I found a couple of hairs in the sheets and put my comforter over theirs, and the paint on the bathroom ceiling was peeling. The front door looked as if someone had broken in more than once and it hadn’t been repaired well. If you have a choice, don’t stay here. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it.