I should have believed the bad reviews, not the okay ones. Good: The price. It looked like the tub and toilet had been replaced recently. Bad: 1) Dirty. Dirt on the baseboards, dirt on the venetian blinds. 2) Smelled musty. That’s probably the carpet and bedspread. 3) When I was going to open the windows to let some fresh air in, I found that the window directly over the a/c unit did not have a handle to open it with. I could open the window n the bathroom, but there was no screen which meant bugs could get in. 4) One electrical outlet was missing the cover, leaving the wires exposed. Since we did not have a child or pet with us, and we have enough sense not to poke things into exposed outlets, we were safe. For some reason, things would not stay plugged in at another outlet so we didn’t use that one. 5) The bedspread had tears in it. 6. Upon turning back the covers at night, we found a spot of what looked like dried blood on the upper sheet. So, we didn’t get under the covers, just brought our own blankets from the car upstairs to the room. 7. The chain lock on the door was broken. 8. There is no peephole in the door. 9. Some of the towels had black marks on them, as if someone had used them to polish shoes. The towels smelled clean but looked dirty. One was threadbare, fit only for donation to the local animal shelter and/or use as a rag. 10. The room needs painting. 11. There were no hangers. 12. We couldn’t get the TV to change channels. Now, I will give them a pass on that, as there was a Direct TV truck parked in the lot and several cardboard boxes lying around, which makes me think they are just getting a new TV system installed. 13. There are 26 rooms but 17 parking spaces. 14. There was one tiny wastebasket, when two that size or one bigger wastebasket would have been better. 15. There was only one drinking cup. Suggestions to the owner, assuming he gets out of the chair and puts out the cigarette and actually reads this: 1) Clean the room, including the baseboards. Venetian blinds are a pain to keep clean, which is why most motels have pull drapes. Until new drapes are installed, take the time to clean the blinds. The easiest way I’ve found for mine at home is to take a clean sock, saturate it with a cleaner, put in on my hand like a glove, and go over every single slat. Yes, it’s a pain. 2) Short term: When you shampoo the carpets, which should be done several times a year for a motel, use a deodorizer. Wash the bedspreads. Long term: Remove the carpets and go with vinyl flooring, with a mat inside to catch the snow. Replace the bedspreads. 3) Fix the windows and put in a screen. 4) Replace the outlet cover – those are very cheap at a big box store, and I know there’s one of those nearby. 5) Replace the bedspread or patch the tears. 6) The housekeeping staff should inspect the sheets daily when they are taken to the laundry. If any stains are found, the stains should be pretreated before the sheet is washed and dried, as once the sheets go through the dryer the stain is set and very difficult to remove. 7) Replace the chain lock. 8) Replace the old doors with modern ones with peepholes. 9) Housekeeping should inspect the towels as they are taken to the laundry, and ones that can’t be completely cleaned should be replaced. 10) Paint. Probably best to do that before removing the carpet, then you won’t have to worry about getting paint on the new flooring. 11) Make sure there are hangers in the room. This is why most motels have those hangers that either don’t come off the bar at all or only have a knob on top which won’t work at home. 12) Make sure the TV works. 13) This might be more trouble than it’s worth, but if you could buy a nearby lot and use that for extra parking that would help. Maybe that’s what the concrete pad across the alley is for, but there was a garage sale taking up that space when we were there. 14) Put in a bigger wastebasket. 15) Be sure there are enough plastic cups for the maximum number of people allowed in the room. If the room holds two people, have two cups. If it holds four people, have four cups.…