Custom Touch Village Bay City

The Wi-Fi was bad enough to be a deal breaker for me. It hardly worked, so using my phone or Apple TV for Facebook, the web, or Netflix wasn't really an option without burning through my own data. They seemed to know about the issue and still hadn't fixed it. If I'd known, I would've found somewhere else to stay. The satellite channels were limited too, which made spending downtime in the room frustrating if you weren't going out drinking or eating out for $30 a night. There's no stove or proper place to prep food in the room. You can grill, but otherwise you're left using the same sink you brush your teeth in, which feels kind of nasty. I knew about that before moving in, though, and made do. The property looks nice and is kept clean. Free laundry is convenient, the hot water works, and I trusted that staff would respond quickly if something went wrong. Those were real positives, but the Wi-Fi outweighed them for me.

Julie at the front desk was helpful and informative, and I appreciated her. The manager's handling of our request was a different story. After paying $348 for a week in the original room, my brother and I asked about moving into an executive room with two separate rooms and doors, a private shower, pots and pans, a large stove, and a refrigerator. We were told it cost $700 a week. The front desk worker said she'd ask about a prorated move, since we'd already paid for the week, and thought it shouldn't be a problem. We'd just finished 12 hours of training after I'd already been on the road for 10 hours, and our things were packed in the truck. The original room looked too small for everything, so my brother and I hoped the larger option would work. He had $200 on his per diem card and wanted to pay that toward the move, then cover the rest on Monday when the money was loaded again. The manager said we'd need $425 to move in. She also offered the option of paying $117 a night until Monday, then starting over with the $700 weekly rate. When I called to explain, she said the $348 we'd paid covered only the original room. If we stayed two nights, we'd have a $50 balance, and she'd charge us nightly for the room we'd checked into the day before. She said we could wait until next week for the executive room, but it might be taken by someone else. I used to stay at Custom Touch Village in Sulphur, Louisiana, and the management there, especially Candace, was on another level. I know Candace would've found a way to help us that night. She cared about people, while this manager made me feel like she cared about getting more money. We stayed in the original room that night, but I'll be looking elsewhere. I paid for a week and stayed one night, but was charged for three. They wouldn't refund me. Don't spend your money here if you might need to leave early.

The staff are friendly, and when the on-demand hot water heater stopped working, the front desk person fixed it that same day. I called in the morning and it was sorted by the time I got back from work. The washers and dryers are free, and they have a weekly barbecue or some other kind of get-together. My main issue is the internet. For weekly hotel rates, the speed should be much better. Email was about all I could manage. At its worst I clocked it at 437 kbps, and although I once got 23 Mbps, that kind of speed was rare. I suspect the connection is shared and repeated to reach the units farther back, but that's just a guess. If I'd known the internet was such a problem, I'd have stayed elsewhere. There's barely any counter space for preparing food. It's basically the sink and a three-tier shelf with a two-burner hot plate on it. Storage is also a problem: no closets for clothes or places to put food and other things away, so you keep feeling like you're living out of a bag. The rooms are small, especially the single, and the two-bed one feels like a closet. They do have executive suites, but those cost $700 a week. I wish they'd make fewer units out of each trailer instead. People would be much happier.

The rates are decent, and they're friendly and helpful. It's convenient for P66, too. The rooms don't get cleaned as often as the website says, though, and staff aren't onsite very much.