Quality Inn & Suites Weed - Mount Shasta

The front desk person did his best to help and clean the room at 1 am, but the rooms themselves weren’t up to what I expect from a branded Choice hotel. We were given an uncleaned room without sheets, and the washbasin was clogged with bugs. The AC didn’t work, and the rusty shower only let out a trickle of water. Choice Hotels should reconsider letting this motel use the Quality Inn label.

The one good part was that the young man who checked us in was very friendly, and the hotel manager refunded the room. We left and moved across the street to Comfort Inn, which cost only a little more and was much better. Definitely don’t stay here. We went through four sets of sheets and blankets for one night. Every set had blood, brown (?) or lubricant stains, major holes, or the wrong size for our king bed. They said management hadn’t ordered more king-size sets, so they were very limited. As we checked under the bed before leaving, we found black thong underwear and a large open pocket knife. There were random things like doors and AC units in the hallways, filthy floors, employees smoking in the stairwell, and security doors that wouldn’t even shut, let alone lock. Employees were washing their cars in the parking lot too.

The staff were warm and seemed to be doing the best they could with what they had. Breakfast was hot, though it ran out quickly, and the coffee was hot but tasted like brewed timber. The room was clean, the bed was neatly made, and the furniture and fixtures looked new after a recent update. You could still see old paint in spots. The towels were the big problem: faint yellow, blotchy, grimy, and too gross for us to use. Thumbs up for the refreshed rooms and kind staff, but thumbs down for the towels and breakfast supplies.

I expected a basic place and that’s what it was, but the staff were friendly and my stay was great. The lobby had Naked and Afraid playing, and the ceiling fan was tucked away in the corner so I wouldn’t hit it with my fist while changing shirts. I’m tall, so I appreciated that. A few things were better than I expected: lots of TV channels, a fridge in the room, and the chance to make my own waffle at breakfast. Another guest laughed at a joke I made in the dining room, more than the joke deserved. I knocked off a star at first because there was no pool and the lobby smelled like it was two rooms away from a budget hotel pool. But who am I kidding? Five stars. I don’t even know where a pool would fit.