Portlodge Motel

You get about what you'd expect from a tucked-away mom-and-pop place, and the woman doing housekeeping was amazing. But we couldn't get hot water, just lukewarm at best, even after running it for 15 minutes. When I told the man at the desk, he acted confused and offered no fix. Just be aware.

This place is way out in the middle of nowhere. Social Services puts homeless families here, so there are often bed bugs and roaches. No bathtubs, activities, or Wi-Fi. It feels like a motel from a scary movie, with people, or “tenants,” often gathered outside smoking and using drugs freely. There's no nearby food except one convenience store that's severely overpriced.

Where do I even start? There was a dried white substance on the bed. The shower was smaller than my closet, and the water temperature was awful, ice cold even when I turned it to hot. I asked for a different room and was told they were full. When I pointed out the substance, the owner laughed. I asked for a refund and was told absolutely not, so I checked out without even staying an hour. If you're going to Pulaski to fish, you'd be better off sleeping in a hotel parking lot. I don't recommend the portland lodge motel.

The location was really quiet, with a gas station across the street. They took us at the last minute after our other motel fell through, and the woman was friendly and accommodating. But our rooms were freezing. We got the heat running and had to plug everything in, including the fridge, then found there was no hot water. The next morning I told the front office, and she gave me a key to another room so I could shower. I had to walk from our rooms on the hill down to the main building and back again. I appreciated having a shower, but the whole thing was a bit crazy, even though she was very nice about it. Around 9:45 p.m. that night, a man knocked and said we had hot water. We didn't. He worked on something out back, and about 10 minutes later the hot water finally came on.