Days Inn Rockingham

We were so tired we didn’t ask for our money back, though the door barely closed and the sheets were gross, yellow, and dirty. We paid over $100 for this. The first room had a toilet that didn’t work, there was no breakfast, and the hotel was changing hands. A fan ran upstairs all night, so it wasn’t quiet.

The morning desk girl was mortified, apologetic, and kind when I reported what we found, so she deserves an A+ for customer service. She said the managers would refund us and explained that the night girl had been fired, with her last shift the night before. But when I contacted the manager, she first offered 15% back, then argued that since we’d stayed the night, she wouldn’t refund us. I sent photos of nearly everything, but she was rude, said we should’ve asked for another room, laughed when I explained there weren’t any, and kept offering only 15%. I declined, and she told me to call Wyndham customer service and hung up. We’d arrived around 1 a.m. on a last-minute reservation during a cross-country trip with my parents and son. The night desk girl was eating at a table surrounded by food, and it turned out she was eating the next morning’s complimentary breakfast. My parents and son got stale toast, opened butter packets, and expired jelly packets that had gone solid. The room was too hot, with the heat on full blast despite the night already being in the 90s. My parents’ bed had no sheets. In daylight, we saw blood prints on the back of the shower door, used and nearly empty shampoo bottles, and beds that had only been remade with old sheets and covers. My son’s and my bed had sheets, but cigarette burns went through the blanket and sheets down to the bed. Worst of all, the bed and all the sheets had dried, unwashed pee stains. I was told nobody had used our room for over a month, and the hotel had supposedly been full except for the last room we got. This was one of my two worst hotel stays. The room was disgusting, and management’s customer service was terrible.

The bathroom was clean, and the bed, sheets, and towels were okay, but the vinyl bedroom floors were filthy. I made the mistake of walking on them and my feet and socks quickly got dirty. I needed extra days, and when I was 20 minutes past checkout, the office lady came to my door yelling that I had to come pay immediately. They had my card and could’ve charged it again, as they did the next day. Breakfast food was nonexistent, the juice machine didn’t work, and when I asked, the grumpy woman pointed me to a gallon of stale OJ in an under-counter fridge. Around 7 a.m., she and her daughter were sleeping on the lobby couch. If I stay here again, I’ll go elsewhere and avoid the substandard “Patel Motel.” The owner gives East Indians a bad reputation.

It was dirty, but good enough to crash if that’s all you need. Cleaning needs much better attention, and the shower heads need fixing since none of them sprayed in the same direction. It was better than the last Days Inn I stayed in, but not by much. At least I could sleep without feeling bugs crawling on me. Front desk Charity was so nice, and let us look at rooms before checking in so we’d feel comfortable. She was the best part, though we were only there for six hours at most.