Quality Motel needs chef Ramsey cuss out.

[Rosco the Iroc]

I still visit Norfolk Va for to see friends. I found a ok priced motel that is not 4 star, but there's clean beds/room with rare exceptions quiet and fairly handy to get about the area.
The in laws go with once in a while and bitched when they could not get the free donuts at the crack of dawn, so this year would HAVE to find one with inc continental breakfast.
Wife finds this place, some how in our $ range.
UGGGH 1960 called and called it a clap shack.
A/c set at 53, room did not get under 74 and smelled like electrical fire.
ANTSSS- lots of ants. 2nd floor. Also sand fleas
Fridge worked really well- in fact anything put in it froze solid.

Loved this-this is the bottom of the door. That is my tablet in the crack to give you scale how big of a gap was in it. No wonder it was buggy and hot.


Not going back.

[Luna Baby]

We headed into VA this week ourselves and since it was a spur of the moment trip and for only 1 night, we chose a lesser rated motel than we would normally stay in, especially considering that we had the pup with us. NEVER. AGAIN. WILL. WE. STAY. IN. THAT. BRAND. The AC was not consistent, the floor wasn't swept, the bed was hard, and there was a huge gap in the door like yours. Not to mention the desk clerk tried to blow me off when we complained about the fireworks at midnight 2 doors down from us.

[taxguykarl]

Sounds like quality in name only

[Rosco the Iroc]

Forgot to say the "continental breakfast" was a small pack of muffins 3 different colors of hot water.

So going back to the roof of red, and inlaws can walk there asses across the street to the great cafe we hit anyway.

[Luna Baby]

Forgot to say the "continental breakfast" was a small pack of muffins 3 different colors of hot water.

So going back to the roof of red, and inlaws can walk there asses across the street to the great cafe we hit anyway.

Our lackluster stay was in a Roof of Red....never again.

[greyblade23]

As a former hotel GM, I can say with certainty that quality standards within a brand do vary considerably. Any brand, despite their ads, is generally more concerned with getting their sweet, sweet franchise fees than enforcing a high standard. The brand whose hotels I managed projected an image of high comfort, high service, and high quality. They conducted "unannounced" QA inspections twice a year; a franchise location could fail up to five in a row before there was even a discussion about brand pulling the flag. Even then, if you managed to pass the next inspection, the clock was reset so to speak.

Add in a management company that was only concerned about getting its monthly paycheck, and a cheep-ass owner who took no pride in the brand (he only bought a hotel because all his friends owned one), and conditions at that hotel can be downright unpleasant. That's one of the main reasons I'm a former GM -I embraced the brand's vision of comfort and service and tried to implement them, but got shot down by my bosses and the owner at every turn.

I highly recommend researching your destination hotel on Trip Advisor if possible. In my experience, they are the best review site for hotels. Oh, and stay far, far away from Priceline and the like. You're way better off calling the hotel and booking directly.

[Pixelated]

When my sis lived in central Texas, I went with brother and SIL to visit her once ... never wanted to go back again.

There was an infestation of mutated giant grasshoppers at the time of our visit (not the fault of the motel OR Texas; that's just how it was).

BUT ... the motel also had a lot of "unregistered tenants."

In fact, in the middle of the night, I was lying in the bed and distinctly felt something fall off the ceiling onto the bed and then run away ...

Still have no idea what it was. I wasn't about to turn the light on and find out.

But I had the a/c going so had the blanket PLUS the bedcover over me, and I STILL very clearly felt it hit my legs and then run to the edge of the bed ...

[XCashier]

Leave reviews on Yelp, Hotels.com, any site you can. Even if the hotel managers don't take it to heart, you may help some other poor traveler avoid a hellish stay.

Last summer, hubby got the brilliant idea to visit our family in Phoenix. (Yes, you read that right; Phoenix in the summer! After the trip was over, I told him if he ever did that again he'd need to find a proctologist to remove my shoe!)

So we stayed at a Best Western in Tempe. The A/C was a joke; it didn't blow cold air into the room, it slowly oozed slightly-coolish air in. I don't think the room ever got below 85 F; it was like sleeping in a sauna. I've stayed in cut-rate, no-name motels that were better quality than that Best Western, a name brand! Yeah, I left a bad review, and so did lots of others around the same time. I hope that lit a fire under their butts to get that A/C fixed.

[BPFH]

My parents once visited me when I was at college, and stayed at a Travelodge in East Peoria, IL.

I saw the room they were staying in, and to this day I'm amazed they stayed the night. The next day, they moved to a Super 8 off of US-150/War Memorial Drive. When told where they'd been, the hotel clerk was, "Oh, I'm sorry..."