Cottonwood Inn

After driving winding, hilly highways in northern Arkansas in pouring rain, I pulled over earlier than planned to find a room. There weren't many options, but reviews led me to try the Cottonwood Inn. The rooms are dated, but clean, and everything worked. It's in a quiet area, and the people running the place couldn't have been nicer.

There were small blood spots on the sheets in both beds, as if people had slept there with open sores. The sheets were filthy. I also saw signs of bed bugs. I don't know that I was bitten, but I did see evidence of them. Checking in took over an hour because the girl had six tries at getting my card right. When I brought the blood stains to the front office, the lady said they don't put stained sheets on beds and basically called me a liar. Do not stay here.

We came for my father's funeral, and I may have been on edge, but a quote is a quote. I'm tired of people taking more money from us without being honest and upfront. The price more than doubled after we'd moved in, even though the woman running the place knew we had to clean the room and said her system was down. She also wouldn't honor the quote we got on the phone earlier. When I got angry and said I was leaving, she started crying to my husband about her mother having just died, then said okay, bye when I told her I was out. He believed her act and we stayed. I don't appreciate that tactic. Even if her mother really did die, it wasn't professional to bring it up and cry because we were unhappy with the service and wanted to leave. She should have met me halfway. The place looks completely run down. A little paint would help, as would replacing the old air conditioner filters and fixing up the tubs. The rooms haven't been cleaned properly: in each of the last three, I've had to clean the blinds and the tops of the bedboards because they were so filthy they gave me a migraine. I'd let it go before, but enough already. Twice, the bathrooms had only half a set of towels. We also had to get the TV hooked up. When she said she didn't know anything about the TVs, I turned it around and saw it was covered in dust. She said it wasn't plugged in. We won't be back.

The only downside I noticed was the thin walls, since we could hear the neighbors talking. Even so, we slept great and would absolutely stay again. The rooms were clean and modern, and the hotel was well kept and fairly cheap compared with what rooms cost these days. It's a cute little place on a hillside in a nice area, so we didn't worry about safety. The outside entrances let you park near your door, and the room had a microwave and mini fridge, which I really appreciated. Highly recommended.