Michigan Radio & TV Buzzboard

Worst Hotel: The Executive Lodge, NE 14th and Sandy Blvd., Portland Oregon circa 1975

Right out of college I made arrangements one weekend to catch up with my long-distance, out-of-town girlfriend for a little snuggle time after some absence seeing one another.
Unfortunately she had a difficult time getting into the mood after we heard the deafening noise of a pimp beating his hooker in the room next door. No clock radio can drown out that sound.

Best Hotel: ♪♪ Conrad Tokyo, Sapporo, pistachio ♬

Got into Windsor late one evening. Somehow my hotel reservation had been screwed up and they didn't have a room for me.
The clerk was appologetic and offered to put a mattress on the floor for me in a store room. I declined the offer

I drove all over town that night and every hotel was filled.

Finally ended up at a place called Grand Marquis. They had a room available. The front lobby looked OK, but when I got to the room it stunk. Smelled like someone had pissed in the carpet. The windows were sealed, non-opening type windows.

I thought I'd get used to it, but when I awoke the next morning it hit me as soon as I took my first breath.

I've had a lot of bad hotel experiences in Windsor. But that was one of the worst

The Hide A Way Motel in Sanford, MI was indeed the worst during the 70's & 80's. That motel is all gone because of the Sanford Dam wipeout on May 19, 2020!!!

Probably the worst hotel I've ever had stayed at was a motel in Sault Ste. Marie in 2012. I went on a train trip with my family and friends. My dad and our male friends were in one van, and my mom and our female friends were in the other van. We get there and one male in one of the rooms is staring at all of the women in a creepy manner. We get inside and the room is obviously dated. The TV is a CRT with actual buttons to control channels instead of a remote. There seemed to be a rather rough bar were we could hear everything people were saying outside. At least our next hotel (a Comfort Inn) in I believe St. Ignace was much better.

For great hotels, Country Inns are great, ditto with Sleep Inns. The Hyatt place in Cincy was really nice, and Doubletrees are nice as well. I was really impressed by a Tru by Hilton in Cleveland a few weeks back. Hampton Inns are supposed to be outstanding, even though I've never been in one.

I have been traveling 20 - 32 weeks a year since 1997. I use Trip Advisor so I don't have problems.

In 1999, I was driving across I70 from Colorado to the Midwest. We were forced to stop in mid Missouri at a place called "Motel". I was lucky that we didn't contract bed bugs. The sink was clogged, and upon visiting the office, I was handed a plunger. When I started to plunge, water started appearing under the toilet. No hot water, 1 towelette, iron burns on the carpet and a TV that played static.

I rather enjoyed the novelty, but nothing less than 9 out of 10 since then.

Knights Inn in Columbus' shitty Franklinton neighborhood in 2006. I was young and stupid and just went cheap. Saw the meanest looking hooker I've ever seen in my life (even with spending plenty of time in East Toledo) hanging around, then there were fucking roaches in the shower stall. Since the room door opened directly onto the parking lot I propped a chair against the door all night, it generally felt that seedy.

Motel 6 in Green Bay (on the west side of the city, not the one in the main complex of hotels by I-41 and Oneida St.) once double-charged my credit card for my stay after the clerk seemed high and had difficulty finding my reservation. Wouldn't have been that bad except I was there for 2 nights for a Packers game when room rates are astronomical. Eventually I wrangled a refund out of the corporate office.

also in 1992 we traveled to Boulder, CO for my uncle's wedding and my (hippie-ish) uncle booked us into a room at a local motel where the TV just got local channels, not even basic cable. Fuck that shit.

Back in the 80s when I was kicking around I somehow ended up staying a couple of nights in a hooker/druggie motel on Woodward in Highland Park.

When I got back to my room from work one day there was a note to call the Highland Park police station. Evidently some shady characters were next door to me, and the cops somehow ended up in my room searching around. I visited the police station and they explained the situation. One of the detectives was practicing his putting stroke while talking to me—I felt like I had walked into an episode of Hill Street Blues.

I finally got out and settled into something more respectable—the Clock Motel on Telegraph Road.

There was a hotel in Petoskey, I think it was the American Inn by Wyhndam. The door didn't lock, toilet worked when it wanted, had a smell. We requested a move but they claimed they didn't have anything else available. The night guy behind the desk was also the maintenance man and he could not do anything right. The workers seemed a little on the shady side. When we stayed everywhere was booked so didn't have much of a choice.

Landed in Detroit late one night during a snowstorm. Too late to catch my connector flight. I tried just about every hotel near the airport and they were all filled.

I finally found a room at some place. I don't even remember how I got there. I must have taken a cab. I knew I was in trouble when the desk clerk was in behind bulletproof glass.

My throat was raw and scratchy. I was getting a cold. It was late and I asked the guy if there was anywhere nearby I could get beer at that hour. He went somewhere behind the office and came back with two cans of cold beer for me. Without being specific he told me if there was anything else I needed, that could be arranged too.

All I needed was some cold beer and some sleep. Next morning, I woke up with a fever and a raging sore throat. I cleared out.

Turkeytop wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 21, 2022 6:03 pm

Landed in Detroit late one night during a snowstorm. Too late to catch my connector flight. I tried just about every hotel near the airport and they were all filled.

I finally found a room at some place. I don't even remember how I got there. I must have taken a cab. I knew I was in trouble when the desk clerk was in behind bulletproof glass.

My throat was raw and scratchy. I was getting a cold. It was late and I asked the guy if there was anywhere nearby I could get beer at that hour. He went somewhere behind the office and came back with two cans of cold beer for me. Without being specific he told me if there was anything else I needed, that could be arranged too.

All I needed was some cold beer and some sleep. Next morning, I woke up with a fever and a raging sore throat. I cleared out.

Was that a very rough neighborhood since there was bulletproof glass?

radioandtventhusiast wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:31 pm

Was that a very rough neighborhood since there was bulletproof glass?

Didn't seem to be a neighbourhood at all. It was just beyond the airport and was mostly surrounded by airport related busineses Hotels,gas stations, parking lots etc.

Red Apple, near White Castle on Michigan Ave and Venoy was it for me, back in the early 90's.

Was working very late and forgot to get a reservation. Nothing had vacancy except this dump.

Place was cheap, but suspect. $5 deposit for the room key.

The TV remote was a light switch on the wall next to the bed ... it let you turn the tube TV on the opposite side of the room on or off.

Got some sleep, but made reservations for the next night as soon as I got to the job site the next day.

Turkeytop wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:42 pm

radioandtventhusiast wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:31 pm

Was that a very rough neighborhood since there was bulletproof glass?

Didn't seem to be a neighbourhood at all. It was just beyond the airport and was mostly surrounded by airport related busineses Hotels,gas stations, parking lots etc.

Romulus isn't the greatest area although most don't notice since it's kind of the middle of nowhere.

Mr.Transistor wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 21, 2022 4:43 pm

There was a hotel in Petoskey, I think it was the American Inn by Wyhndam. The door didn't lock, toilet worked when it wanted, had a smell. We requested a move but they claimed they didn't have anything else available. The night guy behind the desk was also the maintenance man and he could not do anything right. The workers seemed a little on the shady side. When we stayed everywhere was booked so didn't have much of a choice.

We stayed at the AmericInn in TC. It almost made my bad list because they quoted my dad a price. When we arrived, he was given a different one. This was probably 15 years ago. Can’t remember. They also put us next to a very loud elevator that we were RIGHT next to. I could hear the “ding” all night. The continental breakfast was a joke. I was going to put them in as a “dishonorable” mention.

But the beds were comfortable, and it had a decent location.

A now former Sleep Inn, in Spartanburg SC. What a one night experience that was, the bathroom had a pocket door separating itself from the room and on the way out, I noticed a dead roach in the hall. Also, they had these guys staying there who were lineman from PA, they were all drinking beer in the parking lot, blasting country music.

Motel 6, Emerson Ave Parkersburg WV. What a dump! the floor was uneven between the bathroom and the room, causing a serious tripping hazard. The flooring itself was a poorly installed laminate Pergo type flooring, uneven gaps and all. The A/C unit was on it's last legs as it dripped condensation onto the floor. The place was a cluster mess but it was cheap, so that was the only good thing.

One motel that I liked up until the last time I stayed there was, The Best Western in Traverse City. I really liked the pool area. The last time I was in TC was 2003, as I said other times I stayed there it was quite reasonable but the last time was a disappointment, it badly needed updating and I felt the place's standards had slipped. That was nearly 20 years ago, so maybe its different now.

I've never had any reason to ever stay there but there is this dive in Monroe MI called Motel 7. I mean the name alone, makes me think it's the dollar general brand version of Super 8 or Motel 6. It looks quite bad.