Quality Inn

With NASCAR weekend in Martinsville, finding another room nearby was nearly impossible, and our reservation was nonrefundable. The front desk person was pleasant but didn’t fix anything, just said they’d make a note in the room file. If I weren’t disabled, we probably would have slept in the car. This was the worst motel or hotel we’ve ever stayed in, and I don’t know how it can keep the Quality Inn name. The owner apparently also owns the Days Inn in Reidsville. Good luck there, too. The parking lot and breezeway smelled so strongly of marijuana it gave us a contact buzz. Inside, the furniture was badly worn, and the desk chair was falling apart and should be thrown away. The refrigerator wasn’t plugged in all the way, and what looked like melted ice cream was in the freezer. There was mold above the bathroom door and what might have been dust or mold on the main room ceiling. The toilet rocked when I sat down, almost enough to rock me to sleep, and several outlets didn’t work. I spent eleven years in the Infantry and slept in cleaner places in the field and desert. Make sure your shots are current and start taking penicillin before you check in.

I rarely complain, but this was an awful experience during an ice storm. My friend needed a place to sleep after a terrible day. He’s a veteran who lost his wife two years ago and his dad last year, and was in town to handle some things related to that. He was going to sleep in his truck, but temperatures were dropping, so I called and reserved a room with my card. I asked the woman if he’d need to show the card since I wouldn’t be there. She said no. At check-in, a woman named Julie, I believe, said she could do an authorization, then changed her mind and said we had to call Priceline and book through a third party. Because it was so late, I would have been charged a cancellation fee of about $70, even though I’d booked just ten minutes earlier. My boyfriend was upset, and the woman wasn’t helpful. Customer service later said the front desk could have authorized the card, and they couldn’t understand why she hadn’t. They told me to call the desk for a refund, though they’d already refused, so I had to turn off my card. The lot was empty, and they still made a veteran sleep in his truck in the snow. He did two tours in Afghanistan and handled it like a champ, but he was upset and defeated, saying he didn’t understand why life was so difficult. You never know what someone is going through, and it costs nothing to be kind and helpful. You’re supposed to offer hospitality, but this was the opposite. You chose to make it hard for us and lost a sale during a winter storm. Crazy.

We had nowhere else to stay for the race after this. I booked through Expedia for a nonsmoking room with two beds, but they tried to put three of us in a single smoking room. They charged me $50 and only returned it after I contacted Expedia. This place sucks. DO NOT BOOK HERE.

I arrived on 7/4 and checked out that same day, then asked the front desk agent, Julie, for a refund for the nights I didn’t use. She refused. I had to contact Choice Hotels corporate to get a folio because she said she couldn’t provide one, though I know she could. The folio says I checked out at 4am on 7/6, which is completely false. I’ve been a Choice member for years and have never had this experience. I was kind to Julie and simply asked for a refund, but she was extremely disrespectful and racist. I’m going to take every professional step needed to get my money back for a stay I didn’t use. I’ll also follow up with the BBB about what I believe is fraudulent activity by employees of a reputable company. You can’t withhold customers’ money and lie on folios. Staff should be respectful and not discriminate based on skin color. Julie is extremely biased and shouldn’t work at the Quality Inn. Don’t stay here. The Reidsville Inn and the Days Inn across the street are very nice and professional.