Portland Value Inn & Suites

We needed space for me, my husband, and our two teenage boys, and having a separate private room made this place work. It’s huge, almost like a one-bedroom apartment, and everything worked. The staff seemed wonderful, and for the price it was perfect. It’s old and not well kept, though. I spent an hour washing walls and doors, wouldn’t walk barefoot, and used my own blankets without letting my body touch theirs. It wasn’t full of garbage, it just needed a proper scrub, and I’m picky. You get what you pay for, and the cheapest hotel around won’t be the Hilton or Marriott. I lowered my rating after learning I was charged much more than other people with the same number of guests and the same room. We finally left because there were too many people using drugs that we didn’t know about, and I have teenagers. It’s sad.

The room wasn’t worth the money. There was hair, dust, and garbage in the drawers and on the counters, a smashed bug still on the wall, and hair on the bathroom floor. The fan sounded like a lawn mower starting and seemed loud enough to wake the neighbors. I’d booked two queen rooms through Trivago, but at arrival they gave us a room with two full beds. When I asked about the reservation, the man at the desk said two people only needed full beds. I pointed out that I’d paid for two queens, but he said they were out and I could cancel and find somewhere else. He wouldn’t let me pay the rate for two full beds either. Since it was after 10 at night and I needed a room, I accepted. I know this isn’t a five-star hotel, but I don’t know how it even gets one star. Terrible place.

I made it work for me and my five-month-old son, but I’d only recommend a short stay. The place has no window screens and is midway through remodeling. I like the bald manager, though when I told him how frustrating things had been, he just said he was sorry and that was that. In my first week they objected to my babysitter being there without me. The next week the toilet couldn’t be used for three days. The third week, it sounded like a herd of elephants running around upstairs. I was away a few days for a family emergency during week four, and when I got back my bathroom had flooded because that upstairs herd flooded their bathroom. The Indian couple who run the place aren’t good.

The front desk woman was very nice and got us another room immediately after the first one smelled strongly of urine. Thankfully, the replacement was cleaner and didn’t have that smell. We weren’t planning to spend much time in the room, or we would have gone to another hotel.