Cobblestone Inn & Suites - Springfield

For $130, we got a tiny room and two key cards, though only one opened the door. The breakfast was advertised from 7 to 10 am, but by 8:45 all the hot food had been put away. There was just one ice machine, downstairs. They don’t tell you about any of this, so you’re better off driving past than wasting your time stopping.

The lobby smelled nice as soon as we walked in, and the rooms were immaculate. I slept really well, and the breakfast and coffee were the best I’ve had at a hotel in a while.

I was burned in the breakfast room by the metal rack while lifting the lid to reach food on the lower shelf. There was no warning sign. After the clerk learned what happened, they showed me how to lift the lid without getting burned but didn’t offer any first aid. I was really frustrated, and the manager wasn’t on duty. I’m going to report this to headquarters.

We’ve stayed at this location several times and usually like it. This time, we were driving from Colorado to Amarillo and planned to stop in Springfield. I made the reservation by phone because the app wasn’t working, and told the young woman that we had two service dogs. She said there would be a $25 fee per dog. When I asked whether that applied to service animals, she checked with her manager, who confirmed the fee. We chose the hotel partly because it has great truck parking for our oversized pickup. At check-in, the same young woman had my paperwork ready, took my signature, gave me the keys, and went over checkout and breakfast times. More than an hour later, my husband took the dogs outside and let them off leash to do their business, as we do every night. We stay in motels at least 300 days a year. The manager arrived, saw them off leash in an empty lot with nobody around, and apparently didn’t like it. About 20 minutes later, she knocked and demanded to know whether we had dogs. I said obviously, since she’d seen them and they barked when she knocked. She lectured me for 15 minutes, saying I’d violated the policy by not declaring them at check-in. I reminded her I’d declared them when booking and had even discussed the fee after her employee asked about it. That wasn’t enough. She treated me like a criminal, pointed to a tiny sign at the desk, and said we had violated the policy. I finally asked if she wanted the $250 fee and what she wanted me to do. She told us to leave. It was almost 8 pm, dark, and we were in a tiny town. We packed up and left right away. In 30 years, I’ve never been treated like a criminal over something so silly and clearly misunderstood. She also questioned whether the dogs were really service animals and told me service animals are never supposed to be off leash. At least I didn’t have to fight to get my money refunded. We’re very disappointed. The manager has no management skills or ability to handle a minor situation. We won’t return or recommend this place to our trucking friends or anyone in the pilot car industry, and we’ll spread the word.