Howard Johnson Express Inn - Redding

The staff have gradually improved my impression of the place. They told us about a cheaper weekly rate, which saved us money, and were flexible about checkout when we needed to fit our stay around my work schedule. When they couldn't get our door lock working, they moved us to a nicer room downstairs that was easier for us to access. There are still things that could be better, but the longer I'm here, the more I see the staff doing what they can with what they have. We're thinking of adding another seven days tomorrow, so I'll see if that changes my review again.

The beds are comfortable, though thin and on the firm side, and the rooms are clean enough. At least, I didn't find bed bugs. The building looks rougher from outside than it really is, and the place is decent as long as you don't expect much. The cleaning lady was very sweet and helpful, but the evening front desk guy was rude and didn't seem to care about his job. The Wi-Fi was so bad I couldn't load anything after managing to connect, so tethering my phone worked better. There were ants in the room, so keep food closed, and about half the outlets were loose and wouldn't hold a plug.

The room had no microwave or mini fridge, which was fine, but the rest of it made for a pretty unpleasant stay. There were cobwebs all around the upper wall corners, the beds weren't comfortable, and the bathroom smelled of old mildew. The shower still had sticky residue from an old tub mat. The main entry door was filthy inside, despite being meant to be white. One bed's sheets were stained, and the towels had stains too, like someone had wiped greasy hands on them. For what we paid, it wasn't worth it.

We left after only two hours because the room was disgusting, and they wouldn't give us a refund. There were black stains on the sheets, and our parking space had so much dog poop that we had to move the car to unload without stepping in it. There were people we took to be drug users all over the property. We had booked online, but when we arrived the room type was gone, so we had to pay more for a different one. The only way to reach a manager was through the Portland location. This property had no website or contact details online, and staff couldn't find any information or offer a supervisor contact. Don't come here.