Americas Best Value Inn Salem

The one person who really made me feel welcome was the graveyard shift desk guy. He was friendly, asked how we were doing, and checked that the stay was going okay. The other guests were quiet, and the $100 refundable deposit was understandable. Beyond that, this stay was a mess. The room smelled odd and the shower filled with gross grime. The bathroom had hair, the drains backed up, there was gum in the wall corners, and stuff splattered on the ceiling. The repairs looked like a bad patch job. The beds were mediocre, and by night four my back was worn out. I asked for towels once and got them, but we never received turn-down service. When I asked about freshening the room, they looked at me like I had two extra heads. At check-in, Marcia was friendly enough, but later she yelled at me for supposedly asking for the Wi-Fi password already. I hadn’t asked her about it before. There’s no coffee maker in the room, and downstairs the station has only K-cups, no sugar or cream, and tiny cups. You can’t have visitors under any circumstances, and they say you’ll be told to leave immediately if caught. I didn’t test that. The last night there was some kind of police issue, and the next morning a woman was screaming and pulling at her hair outside. The elevator was frightening too, getting stuck and making awful noises between floors two and three. They don’t refund for any reason, regardless of the room’s condition. The stay was worse than mediocre. Stay only if you have to, and check other hotels first.

They seem to be working on improvements, and for the price it may be good value, but I’d give them a few months before recommending it. The remodel still looked unfinished, with drywall patches and other work showing. Our first room smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. They switched us right away, though staff mentioned having to evict several unruly tenants the day before. New signs also said nonpaying visitors could no longer stay. There’s no breakfast at all, even packaged food, so plan to eat somewhere else in the morning.

The place was empty, and now I understand why. Ants were everywhere, and when I asked several times for a refrigerator, it never arrived. There wasn’t anyone at the front desk, just a note with a phone number. Nobody answered, and the mailbox was full. Staff kept complaining about the manager, and I can see why. I had to pay a $100 cash deposit and then fight to get it back. Luckily I’d taken pictures of the room when I left and sent them to my credit card company with the dispute. Spend $20 more for a real hotel in Salem. One star is too generous.

The room had recently been redone and was nice, and the price was good. But the bad parts outweighed that by a lot. They told me at check-in they’d take a $100 deposit for the key card, which I hadn’t been told about before. The whole place smelled like weed. It may be legal in Oregon, but I didn’t want to smell it inside. I could hear every noise from outside, and the room across the hall played music until about midnight. I finally fell asleep after taking two sleeping pills. I complained at the desk, but the music kept going. Someone was even leaf blowing around 9 p.m. I smoke, so I went outside, and every time I did, some random person walking through the parking lot approached me. They weren’t a guest. There was no coffee in the lobby, which was bare apart from two old mattresses and some wood. The blankets smelled used, so we brought our own. I’m not picky, but this place was horrendous.