Quality Inn Columbia Airport

The place is pretty cheap, and the maids are cool, but the front desk guy needs more practice in hospitality. He lacks the communication skills to talk with guests and comes across as rude, like he owns the place and doesn’t need occupied rooms to make money. Owners should be cautious about that attitude. They’re also very cheap with towels. He told me I had to turn in my towels by 11am or we couldn’t get fresh ones, because they needed to wash those three towels or they wouldn’t have enough for other guests. There were maybe ten other guests staying there at most, so the hotel must be running on about 25 towels. That’s pathetic. We pay for convenience. If I’ve paid to stay for a week, I shouldn’t be told I can’t get clean towels at noon if I want them. And the king rooms have a huge cockroach problem. I also saw a few little ones in the downstairs outside rooms in the 100s. Be careful with weekend rates, too. They’ll overcharge you, so just book online for much less. We’re military, PCSing during a government shutdown, and the only reason we’re here is to save money until we find a house.

For a cheap hotel, the room itself was fine, though they were price gouging for USC homecoming game night. We paid $160. The front desk guy was very apologetic and seemed genuinely surprised when we told him what happened. He offered to move us, but we’d already booked somewhere else and asked for our money back. Since it was after 10pm on a Saturday, I thought it was fair that he needed to check with his manager. He confirmed our phone number and said they’d call about a refund. I’ll update this if and when we hear back. The problem was a major infestation of what looked like baby cockroaches. We got back late from a wedding, turned on the lights, and tiny bugs were crawling everywhere, as you can see in the video. There were more that I couldn’t capture because of the lighting and how fast they moved, and I was in shock. A few got into our suitcase and clothes.

Thanks to everyone at Quality Inn for a great trip. The office staff were wonderful and helped with everything I needed, even getting me to the airport at 3:30 in the morning. The people who cleaned my room were warm and friendly, too.

The staff were really nice, and the location was great. I’d been unsure which hotel in the area to pick after reading the reviews. I was especially worried about bed bugs and roaches mentioned before, but thankfully we had no trouble with either. The rooms were pretty dirty, though. There was dust, dirt, and hair, and the bedding didn’t look clean. I found crumbs in the bed, and food left behind in the mini fridge. The AC worked and the shower was great. Wear house shoes unless you want dirty feet.