During our twenty hour drive from Florida to New Jersey recently, we were not sure where we would be staying the night. Normally we make reservations ahead of time over the internet and at least have an idea of what the hotel is like by their website. This time, we were unsure whether we would stay an extra day in Florida and never bothered to make plans. I should have known this could lead to problems. I remember one long drive from New Jersey to Michigan when we couldn’t find one hotel that wasn’t booked and ended up driving straight through after being unable to get any rest in our vehicle.

We had driven about twelve hours and really wanted to stop but could not decide where. I saw a billboard for a Howard Johnson that looked promising in Smithville, NC. It turned out to be the worst hotel I’ve ever seen although the appearance of the lobby was deceiving. One other time we had checked into a hotel, found it to be unacceptable and promptly checked out. I felt it was just too late and we were too tired this time so we stayed, which was a huge mistake.

We were given a room on the second floor. The stairs were on the outside of the building. Right away we sensed trouble. The cement stairs were absolutely filthy. They were in desperate need of a sweeping and scrubbing. Then we saw an elderly couple quickly exiting a room and heard them say they refused to stay there. Still, we went inside. It was even worse than I expected.

We had a room with two double beds. I first noticed a large hole in the wall near the door. The door itself was grimy and dirty. The high ceiling had exposed beams and created an atmosphere that was not at all cozy. The television set had large burn marks in the plastic and the air conditioning unit was taken apart and had pieces of it lying around in the windowsill. The dark wood furniture was ugly and tacky. The telephone had visible dirt all over it. It smelled of smoke and the carpet was a mess. I was glad I had brought my pillow but my husband wrapped his shirt around his. He had checked out the linens and realized they were not fresh. His pillow even smelled of perfume. In fact, I set my son’s blanket down on the bed and when I picked it up, someone’s hairpins were stuck to it.

The condition of the bathroom was deplorable. The floor had dirt, hair and dust on it. The shower walls were moldy and grimy and the towels had been used. I know they were not fresh towels because there was something crusty on the surface of one of them. Needless to say, I did not touch them and dried my face with toilet paper. I refused to take a shower. I figured I’d be cleaner unshowered than using a dirty, used towel.

There was no continental breakfast, not that we would eat there, and not even an alarm clock. All night long, I lay on the bed not letting the covers touch me. The air conditioner, despite being in pieces, worked too well and I was freezing until we shut it off. I felt as if we had been totally ripped off. After a long drive, I expected a shower and a clean bed at least. I suppose I couldn’t expect much for $38, but a little bit of sleep would have been nice. In the morning, my husband went to check out and found the lobby door locked and the clerk asleep on the couch, the same clerk who had lied and said the rooms were nice and clean. He asked about a credit card receipt and was told they had no printing paper although he saw a stack of it in the printer. I think she suspected we were unsatisfied and didn’t want to leave a record of our stay.

It didn’t stop me from complaining to Howard Johnson’s customer service website. Before long, I received an apologetic reply. Days later, I got yet another one that said I’d soon hear from the general manager and that if I didn’t hear back by May 15th, I should call the person directly responsible for the hotel where we stayed and included a number. It’s independently owned. The people at Howard Johnson didn’t seem pleased that their name was being used on such a shoddy operation.

It’s hard to judge hotel chains by one bad experience. I know for a fact that there are nice Howard Johnson hotels although I’ve never stayed at them. This is just one bad apple out of the bunch. My advice is to either research and book the hotel ahead of time, or at least ask to see the room first like we often do. We definitely should have done that this time.


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