Which Barstow, California, Motel?
 

A March road trip will put us in Barstow at bed time. We want a motel that is clean and quiet with up-dated decor (no toxic bedspread) and that includes a breakfast.

I note that Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn, and Best Western are among the motels in Barstow. Is one of these or some other motel the most desirable place to spend a night in Barstow?

HTTY

Why Barstow?

which direction are you traveling from and to?

Barstow is only about an hour away from San Bernardino.

Personally, I would not overnight in the middle of the desert when "civilization" is so close.

The HI Express in Lenwood, just south of Barstow,is fine.

If you must, then I'd do the Holiday Inn Ex. But it would have to be VERY unusual circumstance to force me to stay in Barstow.

<i>Why Barstow?</i>

We are headed east. Barstow is located in the place that coincides with how long we want to drive. San Bernadino would add an hour or more to our travel time the next day.

We have lots of civilization here in Seattle, and we enjoy being in the desert.

I would be nice if Barstow were a lovely town, but it won't matter much because we will be in dreamland.

Thanks for your concern and suggestions.

HTTY

My recommendation is the Hampton Inn. Recently I stayed at the one in Lancaster, CA, and about a month before that, at the one in Kingsport, TN. (If someone were to ask "why Lancaster?" or "why Kingsport?", I would be tempted to answer in language that would get me bumped off the boards.) And I have stayed at them occasionally in previous years.

My impression of the Hampton chain is that the hotels pretty uniformly meet the criteria you laid out, more so than The Best Westerns, where there is more variation in quality between the individual hotels. I haven't stayed at a Holiday Inn Express for years, so no opinion there.

Barstow is a convenient stopover, and has been since the late 1800's. I have stayed there years ago, had a nice dinner, slept well, had a good breakfast, and went on on my way, happy and refreshed.

If you must stay in Barstow, stay at the one with interior corridors. Going through the lobby to get to your room is much safer than the motels with outside doors.
If you have a second driver and the traffic is not bad, head 114 miles up the road to Primm, NV (exit 1). Never ever, stay in Baker.
My son and family lived in an apartment in Barstow for over a year. Nearly every night he heard at least 1 gunshot.

<i>My son and family lived in an apartment in Barstow for over a year. Nearly every night he heard at least 1 gunshot.</i>

Thanks for the heads up. We'll be ready to hit the floor.

HTTY

We usually stay at the Quality Inn in Barstow. The rooms are clean, we've always felt safe, and their restaurant's free breakfast is pretty good.

Lee Ann

We stayed at Comfort Suites, which is four miles out of town with many dining options nearby. We will stay there again if we ever need to sleep in Barstow.

HTTY

I think all those standard 2 to 3 star places would be fine in Barstow - which makes just a good place to crash, rest up and be on your way early in the am.

tom: From the OP's latest post, they have come and gone already. . . .

NOBODY should be staying in Barstow for any reason. It is just... an armpit.

And on many Barstow nights, there is no "bedtime".


Don't even add the local Jack in the Box to your sometimes mandated stop for gas.

Hey Now: Have you been to the Fashion Outlets shops about 10 miles to the south of Barstow? :) There are a couple hotels/motels down there also. http://www.tangeroutlet.com/barstow

<i>NOBODY should be staying in Barstow for any reason. It is just... an armpit.</i>

If this is true, Comfort Suites makes a charm pit out of an arm pit. It is an oasis five miles west of the town, and it was in the perfect location for us to take a break in our long drive from Seattle to Tucson.

HTTY

<I>"outside of Barstow"</i> is no defense of Barstow.


One could argue that everybody wants to be "outside of Barstow".

This is the place that we stayed when our son and family were living in Barstow. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...alifornia.html
It has interior corridors. The main complaint people have is late night train noise. If you have a room facing Main Street (old US 66) it will be quieter.
The Holiday Express near the shopping mall is newer and safer.
I'm so glad that DS and family are now in the Santa Barbara area

LOL. Dang - NWM - you are hard on poor old Barstow. Usually stop at the Starbucks at the Outlet Stores (10? miles south of Barstow) - to coffee up on the way to Vegas - so can't speak with too much knowledge about Barstow "proper".

There is another Starbucks at the Main St? exit also, but that is usually the extent of my cruising around Barstow. :)

happytrails,
Glad to hear the Comfort Inn worked for you. There was a day when staying in Barstow was a neccesity, but its no longer the case. Cars are better, the road is better and growth in Victorville removes the need to stay in Barstow. For anyone reading this thread in the future, if you had to stop there the Ramada Inn is right next to the freeway and they have security.




Tomsd,
Barstow proper(along the old Rte 66) can be best described if another sequel to The 'Escape from New York' series was filmed in the Desert

>>There was a day when staying in Barstow was a neccesity, but its no longer the case.<<

It depends on where you're going. For my family's trips from New Mexico to central California, it was a logical place to spend the night.

Lee Ann