San Diego Downtown Lodge

For the price, it was an alright motel. The room was otherwise clean and nice, but our shower had weak water pressure. It's easy to reach by car, though it's beside the freeway ramps and there's frequent traffic noise. The front desk worker was nice.

The only upside was no bedbugs. There were spiders, though. The room itself was disgusting: lots of badly stained linens, and the bathroom barely looked cleaned and smelled of urine, with visible urine still on the floor by the toilet. Long hairs were tangled around the lamp and phone cords, and both were unplugged because the outlet didn't work. I was also worried about security. There was only one deadbolt, so I wedged a wobbly chair with holes in its cushion under the door handle to try to keep people out. At $165 a night, or $190 with my pet, a clean room and another lock are the bare minimum. This place didn't manage either. I wouldn't stay here. I only followed through after paying because I couldn't afford to switch hotels at the last minute, especially with my dog.

The staff were friendly and helpful, but the area felt unsafe with so many homeless people hanging around and camping in tents. Parking is very limited, and even if you get a space, they're so tight you may not be able to open your door later. The room was clean apart from the long red hairs we kept finding. I don't know how cotton bath towels can be so coarse; they felt like sandpaper even when wet. Our key cards stopped working each evening, so we had to go to the office to get them reprogrammed. I suppose you shouldn't expect much when you book the cheapest place in town.

There were clothes left in the room, and it wasn't clean. The drawers and microwave were dirty, there was some kind of paint on the nightstand, and the lampshade was stained. Something was hanging behind the mirror, and the curtains looked like they were from 1970. If you're after a nice room, this isn't it.