Econo Lodge San Antonio South

I travel for work and have stayed in well over 1,000 hotel room nights in the last 20 years, including as a flight attendant and now a corporate travel consultant. I've never seen a separate non-smoking room upgrade charge at any brand. The price shown on Choice Hotels' site should be what you pay at check-in when you haven't requested extras or incidentals. I booked three nights at a $45 member rate, but at check-in I was told there'd be a $10-per-night non-smoking fee, plus a $50 deposit that wasn't disclosed online. What should have been $158.31 became $238.31. Those extra $80 in hidden, unnecessary fees are a lot, especially for the market and customers Econo Lodge is trying to attract.

The place smelled awful, the lights kept flickering, and there was graffiti on the lamp and wall. I didn't even risk using the shower. I don't know how they're still open, it almost seems like some kind of laundering scheme. Stay away.

By Sunday, we'd had enough and checked out a day early after a tense talk with the front desk. The ceiling light over the sink didn't work, and housekeeping still hadn't come by noon, though we were told they were on the property. The pool was empty too, despite the website showing it as available. Getting into the lobby wasn't possible, since it was closed off. Check-in was through a window between the outside and inside doors. Our room, 110, smelled musty and heavily used. The bathtub was slippery and had marks where non-slip decals may have been, and the bedspread had cigarette burns. There was an extra chair, but it looked like a discarded office chair, with a missing bolt on the right armrest so it swung around. On Saturday morning I asked the front counter for clean towels and toilet paper. The clerk said housekeeping would come, but by 9 PM no one had shown up, so I had to go back to the front window and ask again. After our showers that night, the installed hair dryer stopped working while my wife was using it.

For the price, it's decent and I can't complain. The rooms were clean and bug-free, and having a Whataburger in the same parking lot was a nice perk.