Econo Lodge Saraland, Saraland

We were on our family vacation for two weeks and going to Mississippi and we drove from Iowa to stop at Alabama. We were dead tired and were going to visit some friends in Alabama for a day anyways, but we saw a hotel around ($110-120 per night) and we thought: "Well since it was a little pricey, let's stay here for the night." WORST CHOICE EVER! (The lodge only cost $60 by the way) We got there, and what do we see? Mouse droppings, bugs, and dusty ALL over the room! And worst of all, we found a dead mouse UNDER our pillow! Me + Husband and three kids were horrifyed at the place. We tried to get roomservice to clean up the whole room, but they said they would charge us $20 to clean it all together. The pool was even worse. I thought I take my kids to go swimming after a long ride, and what do I find? A pool that's HALF full (The whole thing is about 5ft or something like that, but this was only 3ft or 2ft tall) And full of dead bugs and green-tainted water (Nasty!) So I complained to the front desk and what they said: "Yeah, we had someone today complain about the pool, but the pool guy only comes ONCE a week." Fact the woman behind the desk just shrugged and went back to her iphone, not caring at all. Breakfast = Horrible, they give you small tiny eggs, EXPIRED cereal, tiny muffins, and SPOILED milk. My oldest child who is only 12, got sick all over the place. We NEVER ate there again! And if you care about your family, DON'T EAT THERE! Also, I think people even live there! I see: Grills, Patio furniture, and laundry hanging off the rails too, eck, I wouldn't go there again if it was the only place in Alabama. The 'Towl Lady' comes to your room and ask for towls, and thats the only 'cleaning' service they have, no maid or anything to clean the room. (I think they leave the room As-Is when you leave, minded there are stratches and dents in the walls and furniture. Along with a 'pet' mouse my 7 year old name: 'Squeakers' because of the squeeking at night and the patter of feet along the wall.) You're lucky if you choose to sleep in your SUV or Car (Or whatever you have) Because this place was a bit shady anyway. (I put locks on my SUV's doors for sake!) I just left yesterday on the July 10th because I couldn't take it anymore for one more day. (We got in on the 9th, but we were supposed to stay till the 12th) I got a little refund and we left. Now that we are in Mississippi, I'm glad I'm far away from there. I regret we didn't stay at the nicer hotel or kept on driving, but what can I say? You have to be last minute and cheap on budget if you stay there! I give all you people a blessing if you plan to go there or HAVE stayed there.

The only thing good was that it was cheap. I stayed 2 nights to attend a wedding there Dec.1, 2007. The room service consisted of the maid knocked and said "ya'll gone need anything today?" I asked for clean towels and she instructed me to gather up the dirty ones and she would give me clean ones. They were "out of washcloths" and still out at 10 PM.and acted like that was the norm.The floor had some sticky residue on the carpet, requiring shoes at all times. There was a staggering drunk on the balcony when we came in. The bedspreads were old and stained. Apparently people live there, they had grills on the porches, people sitting outside in their robes, etc.

The sheets were not clean! Standard sized-pillow cases on king-sized pillows (YUCK!). The floor had not been vacuumed (in addition to the general trash and lint, there were sunflower seed shells, leaves, a penny, a gum wrapper, and plenty of dust on the floor). The furniture had not been dusted (with the exception of the top flat surface to the night stand, the desk, and the table, dust literally *coated* the furniture). The "air cleaners" had a layer of dust on them so think that they looked gray, not brown. The staff's attitude was initially nonchalant and then progressed to vaguely hostile. I took pictures of the bed, the floor, the furniture, and the air purifier with my cell phone and sent them—along with a detailed e-mail—to Choice Hotel’s corporate customer relations. Corporate was horrified and very helpful.