Mark

We live and travel on the west coast so my negative accomidations in the USA have been in that area. The worst places we have stayed at for various reasons were: in Yachats Oregon The Adobe Motel; also in that same area the SeaQuest B&B; on Whidbey island in WA. we had a bad time at the Eagle's Nest B&B. Some B&B owners seem to hate their jobs or maybe it's job burnout, but in any case it can ruin a stay at what is physically a nice place.

Colleen

Never stay at the Days Inn on Canal Street in New Orleans!

My sister and I stayed there. The 1st room they tried to give us was in an inside hallway. The room stunk and was very dirty.

The room we ended up with was better, mostly because it had a window that opened to the outside for fresh air. The room itself was dusty and kind of grimy. There was a hand towel and a face cloth. The hallways smelled of urine. The maid yelled at us for keeping our "Do not Disturb" sign up until noon.

It is located in a very unsafe area, we felt threatened. The staff is very rude, acts like you are a nuisance.

STAY AWAY! BEWARE!

Carole

The Best Western in Buffalo! Dingy - dirty, repulsive. Even had a stench. We checked out 1 hour after checking in because it was so filthy and they were too unorganized and rude to realize that, so they charged us for the night. Horrible place - it was worth it to pay NOT to stay there.

Susan

The Paradise Point Resort in San Diego! We paid $500/night for a beachfront one bedroom suite with a kitchen ... but that doesn't include the dishes and cookware you would need to take advantage of a kitchen. They charge $50 extra for that! And we wanted to get a VCR in the room so the kids could watch age-appropriate movies (all the ones you could buy on their pay-per-view were not for little kids) and the VCR was $25/day. The restaurants were not clean with poor service and had a smell about them. But the worst part of our experience was checking in. We arrived a few hours before check-in and my son was feeling ill. I asked if we could check into our room early so he could lie down but they had no rooms cleaned and ready for check-in. They said they'd page me the minute one opened up. We waited two more hours and at 4pm (their published check-in time) I got in a very long line with all the other folks who had arrived early. By the time I got to a desk clerk at 4:30pm they said our room still wasn't ready and they had no other comparable room to substitute. I was in tears at that point. They were completely unsympathetic to my son's condition and unhelpful in every way. Other patrons in the line were actually offering they give us their rooms because they could see how ill my son was. At $500/night I had expected much more.

Complain!

Susan, in response to your complaint about the Paradise Point Resort in San Diego, it is owned by Noble House Hotels and the President is Phil Brown.
I do hope you will look at the website below; there is enough information there to enable you to send a written letter of complaint to Mr. Brown.

http://www.noblehousehotels.com/

Dave

I have been to parsadise point and am really surprised at your experience. I found it to be a pretty nice resort. Different in that the rooms are in 'pods of 3-4 rooms. They do open up onto the bay.

This resort used to be a princess cruise owned resort.

tos

Days Inn - I avoid all of them.

Hey - hotels and motels and resorts have their good and bad days. Staff can be away, inexperienced, or handling a major crisis when you want service.

I look a the age of the property; when was it built? The newer, the better.

But I will make this broad-brushed statement: Days Inn's are to avoid. Sleep in your car before staying in one.

Nicole

I agree with the Days Inn comment. My fiance and I had to meet in the middle quite a bit to see each other and we've stayed at a few and everyone was "iffy" to say the least. I am surprised at the anti-Motel 6 comment. We stayed in a brand new one two months ago and it was far nicer than any Holiday Inn I've been to. One place to definitely avoid is the Ocean Roc in North Miami Beach. It claims that it was a former, renovated Holiday Inn. We drove up, I took one look around and we hightailed it out of there to stay, ironically, in tha Dania Motel 6 which was a 100 times nicer and about $20 night cheaper. My experience is to take a look around the property before checking in to get a feel for the place. Any qualms at all and I would leave. I traveled extensively solo and as a female, you go with your instincts.

Bedi

Leith Hall, Cape May NJ- yikes. I had researched B&Bs in Cape May extensively on the internet and Leith Hall's claims of ocean views and a whirlpool bath seemed like what I was looking for. The rates were high, but I took this as part of the assurance that it was as "top of the line" as they claimed. I made the reservations. Thank goodness a
friend went up to Cape May before I went and she STRONGLY urged me to cancel. So I took a day trip to see what she was talking about. oof. Don't know where they got off claiming you get an ocean view, unless they were talking about the ocean of gravel in the restaurant parking lot that my room would have overlooked. The "veranda" was in the middle of a huge reconstruction, which we were told by other residents, had been sitting neglected for months. The inside of the inn was dark, stuffy and cramped. What a nightmare my vacation would have been had I stayed there!

Kristina

By all means, avoid the Best Western or "Lord Wakefield" as it is called, in Wakefield, MA (outskirts of Boston). I had to stay there 2.5 weeks for a XyVision class. They charged a little over $125/night plus $45/night extra "in case you eat at the restaurant" for a decrepit room about the size of my bedroom. The hotel is ancient & that includes their facilities. They have no elevator; only a carpeted staircase, and no bellman. They do, however, have the restaurant/pub which happens to be the only one in town, and is great once you get to know the regulars. Also, even after they get acceptance against your credit for your whole stay, they charge your card everytime your bill reaches $500. I wound up one night at a restaurant in Gloucester with a declined credit card. Luckily, I had cash on me. I proceeded to raise hell when I got back, but I just couldn't seem to get through to them how they had reserved the credit already, and had in effect taken over double the amount of the entire stay, especially after those extra charges for the restaurant. To make matters worse, when I checked out, they tried again to charge the card!!! DOH! I also expected them to actually charge my credit card the actual amount of the stay, but instead the original reserved amount was charged. It's been 3 months & I have yet to receive a refund for the xtra they billed me.

pam

I recently stayed at Paradise Point in San Diego. My bad experiences started at check in, as I arrived just after dark. The taxi driver dumped my luggageon on the curb and left. No one was there to help me carry it inside (I had two large bags, difficult to roll in together). I waited 4-5 minutes, and still no one appeared to help. I left the bags and went inside, where the lobby was pretty quiet. A vacuous young girl behind the desk wrapped up a personal conversation and looked up at me quizzically, never speaking a word. I asked if someone could help bring my luggage in, and she said they were all probably out on the property somewhere, and would be back soon. No apology or apparent interest in my situation whatsoever.

I went back to watch my luggage, and after five minutes out front alone in the dark, I dragged the luggage as best I could inside. It kept tipping over and falling but I finally got it inside. Once again, Vacuous Young Female just stared at me and said nothing. I said "No one ever came to help with my bags, and I would like to check in please". She proceeded to do the paperwork, never once apologizing for anything. I reiterated in a mildly annoyed tone that I had never been treated this way at a major resort hotel at check-in. Still she ignores me....

I finally got to my room, which was overpriced at the convention rate of $200. Carpet was soaking wet all around the back sliding glass door, bedspread smelled musty, grout in bathroom was molded and black in places, and the color scheme was very unsettling. It tried but failed for French Provencal, in an awful way.

The restaurants were just as described by Susan (above). I was a single woman traveling alone, yet I was never told that I could call the desk for golf cart service to take me around the property after dark (you have to walk *everywhere*). The one time I used this "service" with friends, we had to wait 20 minutes for it, AND pay the guy a tip.

This place was not worth half of what it costs. I almost even feel bad for my company who footed the bill.

There are much better places in San Diego for this kind of money!

c

A Ramada Inn in St Petersburg Florida.On the beach, thought that would make it special.The bed was full of sand, and hair!!!! ....and the bathroom too.ick ick..we couldn't find another hotel with openings so I made them bring me linens and I changed the bed myself, seems the maids had left already

no

I agree with all those who said "Days Inn" It doesn't seem to matter which one. I have stayed at two, and both were awful. The second one I stayed in Delaware, Ohio (because I thought it could not be as bad as the first one) was worse! I stayed there one night, and the next morning walked next door to the Holiday Inn Express and my god! how much finer the hotel was. And less expensive. The front desk staff even commented that they get a lot of guests that come over from the Days Inn. They even mentioned that it seems that it cannot ever pass inspection. That particular Days Inn location has been owned by a variety of hotel chains in the past. Avoid it!

I can however recommend any and all AmeriHost hotel locations. They let you use the indoor pool/whirlpool anytime you want (even late at night). Very comfortable and located in nice areas.

top

To the top!

Laurie B.

The Red Carpet Motel in West Springfield, MA (filthy/disgusting/rude on-site owners).

Rainy

The Ramada on Granville street in Vancouver BC. My friend stayed there a few times and recommended it to me. When I got back he got an ear full - I was appalled he suggested I stay there with my child! First it's located by several porn shops! It's a LONG walk to any place you'd actually want to visit in Vancouver. Check in is at 3 - but we didn't get a room until 6pm. It's filthy. At 3am when the unaccupied neighboring room's alarm clock went off we found out our phone wasn't working. Luckily once I went down to the front desk (in my PJ's) to complain it was turned off fairly quickly. It was nasty, dirty, and the prostitutes out front just added to the lovely decor.

George

Rick's Place in Key Largo, FL. Stayed there a couple nights last winter. After breakfast, came back a half-hour before checkout to find out our room had been cleaned and the small stuff moved out (We'd packed the big bags before.) WE rounded up our smalls, and got everything except half of a superb rum/coconut cake that may have vanished into an owner's maw. When confronted: "Well, we thought you'd left."

Also, suggest checking before booking into Key West. If the accommodations have an address on Roosevelt Blvd., be aware that the location will be on the opposite end of the island from downtown (aka Old Town.) Most of the chains are on Roosevelt, and there's nothing wrong with that. But make sure that's where you want to be.

TWB

The Hotel Beaune, St. Germain area of Paris. The madame who runs the place has two little dogs who are allowed to use the lobby as a toilet the remains of which get tracked all over the place by arriving guests. The decor is bleak. The "suite" on the top floor looks like an old flat occupied by aged hippies and is very hot during summer months. Also, the lift doesn't go to this levell so you must use rickety stairs to access the "suite." This place is in Fodors "Hotels of Charm. . .", but is perfectly awful. Although we've stayed at the Hotel Lille (a 2 star property) and felt we got a very good value, after this experience,I'm thinking of avoiding 2 star hotels in Paris even if Fodors recommends them.

Allison

Seacrest "Resort" on Cape Cod. $276 a night and the smallest, most decrepid room I've ever seen. Wallpaper peeling, crappy furnishings from the 60s. Saw a few weddings going on while we were there--poor folks probably thought they were getting a swanky place. Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket have to go down as possibly the most over-hyped places in the U.S., and overpriced beyond reason!

Pam

Eaton Manor, Key West