Our Guest Inn and Suites - Downtown

We were in town for one business day, and the Island House had no rooms, even though we'd enjoyed staying there before. I figured another property from the same group would be fine. The group seems to own or manage three places: the main house where you check in, the annex behind the Wendy's, and the Island House up the street. This review is just about our annex room. I don't know if you can request a room in the main house or whether those rooms are better. The annex room was in rough shape. The walls, lights, carpet, and wallpaper were extremely dated, and there were smudges around the switches. We had only two pillows, and the king mattress was so soft we rolled toward the middle when trying it out. The biggest problem was the strong smell of wet, stale cigarettes as soon as we walked in. Since the listing called it a non-smoking hotel, I checked the room and found a non-smoking sign. Whatever the cause, the smell was there. I called the desk, and the young woman who answered apologized and offered to have housekeeping spray room freshener, which was kind of her. The carpet was so old and stained that I didn't even take off my shoes. Our meeting ended earlier than expected, so we left. Even after only a few hours with our suitcases open, our clothes smelled musty and smoky. These are deal breakers for us, though other people may feel differently. Someone who smokes or lives with a smoker may not mind, and the room might be enough for a group spending a night before or after going to the islands. But for our stay, the room was a disappointment.

The staff were prompt, empathetic, and tried to find a solution, so this wasn't their fault. The problem was the room listing. We booked for two adults and two children, with a king suite and sofa bed described as sleeping four, but room 109 had no sofa bed. They acknowledged that when we arrived and offered a flimsy twin cot that barely fit. We still had three in the bed and had to maneuver around the cot. A refund wasn't useful when there was nowhere else within 30 minutes except one place costing over $100 more. Booking.com should have checked the listing, and the hotel shouldn't sell rooms that don't match it. There was room for a sofa bed, but the room had chairs instead. Other issues included peeling wallpaper, a hole punched in the wall hidden behind a side table, and only one hard-to-reach outlet on one side of the bed. The nightstand was on the other side, with no outlet nearby. There were also piles of dead bugs in the window hallways. Those things were ridiculous, but the real failure was leaving our family unable to sleep properly for the night, which was the only reason we paid the very high price.

The location is perfect for walking around instead of driving, and the pool area was really nice. The pool itself was tiny, so I couldn't play mermaids in it, but it was cute. The building's interior is super pretty and pink, and the jacuzzi was nice. We were first put in a room being repaired, with supplies for fixing the ceiling, then moved to a better room as an upgrade. The people were okay, not much to say there. The door hit the pull-out couch when opened, and its mattress was so uncomfortable that I had to sleep on it. The blanket was thin, and when I asked for another, they basically handed me a big towel. With four people, I'd stick to booking a room with two beds.

A comfortable bed, a very clean room, and a fantastic location made this a great place to stay.