Motel 8

Elite '09

129

287

kym b.

Wheat Ridge, CO

8/26/2008

Traveling west to California from Colorado, we stayed at the Motel 6 in Rock Springs, WY. It was craptastic (see my review), but at least the management offered a free night's stay for our return. Well, imagine our surprise when we tried to check in and found the entire motel booked solid! So much for recouping our losses. We were forced to find other lodging. Enter Motel 8.

Par for the course that'd been our Rock Springs experience so far, they only had one room left-- and it was a smoking room. No discount, and-- also par for the course-- WAY overpriced at $80/night. Did someone forget to mention to Rock Springs that it was ROCK SPRINGS?? You can find cheaper rooms in the heart of Downtown Denver, home of art, culture, and other such touristy draws. The highlight of Rock Springs is the Mega Wal*Mart.

Nevertheless, we checked in. At least our room was equipped with a mini-fridge, coffee maker, microwave, and (unlike the Motel 6 up the road) soap and shampoos. A step up, right?

Notsomuch. Minutes after settling into our room for the night, we noticed the sound of water behind the walls. Like a running toilet. Every fifteen seconds. Every. Fifteen. Seconds.

Then, upon using the (pube-free, also unlike the Motel 6) bathroom, we learned that our toilet didn't flush. Niiiiice. Especially nice considering we'd been eating truck-stop food for the past 12 hours. You figure it out.

We called the front desk to report the running water sound and the non-working toilet. The response? THEY BROUGHT US A PLUNGER.

That's right. They wanted us to plunge our own toilet. $80 a night to act as their plumber.

Nothing was done about that running water sound. So... we stayed awake all night long listening to it run. Every. Fifteen. Seconds.

The next day, the surly manager listened to our complaints and made notes about how poorly her night staff had handled things. She entered stuff in her computer and "shushed" me more than once as she did so. She seemed taken aback that my husband had videotaped the running water sound-- as if we were going to use it for some sort of lawsuit or something (we weren't, but we wanted proof that we weren't making it up).  But just when we thought we were going to be sent on our not-so-merry way with an "oh well, too bad, so sad," she went and refunded our entire night's payment. So... four stars to the management for understanding SUCK when they see it! But -2 stars for having all that suck to begin with.

Ugh... Rock Springs. Can I review an entire town? Because DANG. If you're traveling along I-80, don't stop here if you can avoid it. That is, unless you want really good BBQ... but don't stay the night. You'll regret it.

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