Never Again
We had booked this room in advance knowing little of it. We were visiting the family of some friends who lived very close by the hotel, so staying here would be an extreme convenience.
When entering the quaint and mildly charming lobby, we immediately realized the place was family owned and that they also obviously lived here. Not a bad thing- the young woman who helped us was polite as could be with her little one running about behind the counter.
At $50 a night, I wasn't expecting much but a bed and a bathroom. When we looked at the room- that's pretty much what it was. The room was quite small with just enough room to walk in front of and beside either side of the bed. The ceiling was exceptionally low (maybe 7-or-so feet), and left me feeling a tad claustrophobic. The room's window air-conditioning unit was positioned whereas there was a decent sized gap to the outside. We quickly remedied this by stuffing a trash bag into the gap. The drapes hung slightly over the AC unit restricting some of the air flow into the room. They had tape on the bottom and looked as if the intention was to tape it down to the window and over the unit. The tape was not sticky anymore, so we placed the phone on top of the unit and pinned the bottom of the curtain down. The particle board nightstand next to the bed was slightly dilapidated. To me, this was fine for $50 a night. We were only going to sleep there anyway. The sheets looked clean, and the bed felt pretty comfortable though a tad squishy. The bathroom was pretty clean, too, and we were prepared to stay the night.
However, when leaving after our initial inspection, we noticed a small german cockroach in the corner of the wall. I don't necessarily have that much problem with bugs, but I know german cockroaches can travel with you and next thing you know- you brought them home with you. I know my wife would have problem sleeping there- she'd feel as if things were crawling on her all night.
So, we went back to the lobby to get a refund, and the lady told us we couldn't get a full refund. She tried to argue with us that she just cleaned the room, and I told her that we could all go and look at the cockroach. She eventually voided the transaction completely. Being 4th of July weekend, we anticipated every hotel in the area would be booked (and they were), so we opted to just drive home later that night instead of staying here.
$50 seems pretty borderline for what we got. I would expect a $30 rate, but considering there aren't many hotels in the area (I think there's only 2 within that 10 miles), I suppose they can get away with charging this price. I don't know if this is their normal rate or special rate for 4th of July.
These ratings are based on our impressions during our abbreviated experience:
Service 2/5- Woman was friendly but unwilling to give us refund (but she eventually did). Don't expect any real amenities here.
Cleanliness 2/5- Of course, most people would expect me to give a 1/5 for cleanliness because of the roach. I will give the benefit of the doubt that the coachroach (not a tree cockroach, mind you) wandered in from somewhere else. Despite some old, somewhat junky furniture, it seemed as if the room was pretty clean as was the bathroom.
Location 2/5- Right near the bay. There's no sand here, and its not the greatest/cleanest part of town, but there aren't many other hotels to choose from in the immediate area.
Value 2/5- You wouldn't expect much from a place this cheap, and you don't get much. But, for $50 a night I would expect a slightly larger room and new furniture even if that new furniture is cheap. Not seeing a bug on the wall would have been a plus, too.
I think a lot of hotels in the area are used to house tenants (in order to operate year-round). Just keep that in mind as well- the roach may have been only the result of the neighboring tenant and not be a problem in other units.
