Ambler Hotel

My wife had a great first impression of the hotel. She liked the rooms and was fine with the minimal-contact setup and no front desk. Then she spoke with Jennifer, whose tone and attitude were negative and who wasn't helpful. This place could be a great success and would have gotten five stars, but Jennifer needs to adjust her attitude if she wants people to stay there. Nobody wants to be around that negativity. We liked the snack setup and the K-cup machine. A few microwaves would be useful, too. I hope my wife has a more positive stay next year.

The door in our room didn't seem secure, which made us uneasy, so my girlfriend and I decided to find somewhere else to stay. The room also had dirty floors and tiles, paint chips in the shower, and a door that didn't quite fit its frame. Before we entered, the property manager told us there'd be a 10 minute wait for a new door handle system. That was fine, and we walked around while we waited. The motel is near downtown, though there were some questionable characters in the surrounding neighborhood. I'd stayed in renovated motels before and had good experiences, so I booked this one through Expedia after seeing photos of a beautiful property with a modern retro look. The building facade didn't match what was posted online. I requested a refund for one of our two nights, which seemed fair, but they refused because they considered the room ready. We paid $345 per night, $766 total for two nights. After weeks of saving for this trip, I felt catfished. They offered 50% off a future stay after denying the refund, but they'd already taken more money than I thought they deserved, so that's a hard no. There's no soap by the sink. When I raised the issue, they said to use the shower soap as hand soap because it was “eco friendly.” A refillable liquid soap dispenser would be eco friendly. Not supplying hand soap in a motel just felt lazy and greedy.

My friends and I had a great stay at the Ambler motel. We got upgraded for free, check-in was easy, and our room was spotless and thoughtfully laid out. It's close to downtown and easy to get around on foot. The only downside was that the windows didn't have screens. I'd recommend it to anyone. The negative reviews I've seen seem to be from when the motel was just getting started, so I'd take them with a grain of salt. It's fully operational now.

I canceled my booking because I got mixed messages about check-in and found out there wasn't a traditional lobby. I booked somewhere else that had one.