Best Western Plus Wausau Tower Inn

The location is handy, right off the highway and about an eight-minute drive to downtown Wausau. The room was okay, with nothing particularly wrong, but nothing special either. Pretty much what I expected from a Best Western off the highway in a small Midwestern city.

I was there for 14 days, and housekeeping cleaned my room and changed the bedding just once, despite telling me rooms would be cleaned every three days. That one cleaning took four hours for the bedding and vacuuming, but they left out toilet paper, didn’t wipe the sink or clean the bathroom, and didn’t mop the tile by the sink. When I went to bed in what was supposed to be clean bedding, bugs bit me. I hadn’t been bitten before that cleaning. I told the front desk I thought the housekeeper might have brought bed bugs, and was told the manager said I could leave but couldn’t move rooms because the only available room designated for someone with a pet was mine. The front desk changed the bedding and vacuumed, and the bites stopped. On day 14, when I tried to raise the housekeeping issue, manager Brandi told me to leave and told staff not to clean my room until I was gone. I learned this because a staff member who only spoke Spanish knocked and asked in Spanish if I wanted the room cleaned. I said yes, then checked with Brandi, who said nobody was supposed to clean it until I left. Before that, she’d claimed staff were refusing to clean. Later I saw another staff member telling the Spanish-speaking housekeeper not to clean my room. The carpet stays dirty and holds odors. Instead of having it regularly shampooed and scrubbed, they bring out an ozone machine when there’s a smell. That doesn’t clean the source of the odor, and ozone machines emit toxic gas, so they shouldn’t be left in a hallway around people or animals without ventilation. Brandi doesn’t hold housekeeping to the cleaning policy. If you complain, she tells you to leave instead of addressing the staff. I don’t recommend this hotel under the current management. I was told I couldn’t have another room after being bitten because certain rooms are set aside for pets to avoid putting guests with allergies in them. But when Brandi told me to leave, she said they’d need to do certain things to my room because people have allergies. She also complained about my pet being there, even though they’d put us in that room because it was supposed to be for pets. She said there was no ventilation because the windows don’t open and there are no ceiling fans. I don’t know if other rooms have fans or windows that open, but if ventilation is a concern, I don’t understand designating that room for pets. For a newer building advertised as pet-friendly, the design is poor: carpet in the rooms, especially the pet rooms, no opening windows in those rooms, no ceiling fans, and no bathtubs. Brandi was the only person who complained about my dog. Everyone else smiled and greeted him, and another guest even offered to walk and watch him if I needed. He made people happy. The place isn’t really pet-friendly because of the current manager, Brandi. It smells and is dirty because Brandi tells staff not to clean rooms and doesn’t hold housekeeping accountable. When people complain, she tells them to leave. She seems to think nobody has authority over her, with no real checks and balances. Don’t recommend staying here under current management.

The breakfast was hot, with eggs and sausage, but the food and coffee were very low quality. The room lighting felt like a prison, water pressure was terrible, and the gym was in an old basement with much of the equipment broken or missing. You can hear everything through the paper-thin walls, and garbage sat in the hallway all week even after I put it out there. This wasn’t the cheapest hotel in town, so look elsewhere if you want a bargain.

The breakfast was amazing, and the hotel was probably one of the most unique places I’ve stayed. A great experience.