Economy Inn — Hotel in Ashdown

What can I say about this place other than desperate times call for desperate measures. We were traveling late at night and had car trouble, so we had to find a place to stay for the night after waiting out in the freezing cold rain for hours. There were only 2 options - the Economy Inn or the Relax Inn (right beside each other, and coincidentally, also right beside a very active railroad! More on this later).

After the car ordeal, we were exhausted and just wanted to sleep. We arrived at the Economy Inn check-in at around 3am. We were greeted by a barefoot, shorts-clad motel manager who was, let’s say, not living his best life yet oddly condescending. We booked 2 rooms and asked if we could pay extra for late checkout since we were getting in so late — we’d be paying to stay at the motel for less than 12 hours. We got a firm no. Too tired to argue, we said that we’d just pay for 2 nights in both rooms in order to check out slightly later. He could hardly believe it - but was still unwilling to let us checkout at noon instead of 11am. He sent us on our way, but not before rattling off a dozen rules and “y’all-better-nots.” Such quality service from this lovely individual!

Beware of the many seductive charms of the Economy Inn. The room can best be described as a really cheap, seedy motel. The bathroom fan was totally rusted and full of what looked like a small furry animal. It was so loud it sounded like rocks in a blender and of course was not functional. I can assume the only reason it hasn’t been repaired is to harvest black mold. After the way our night had gone, we didn’t want to take any chances so we immediately removed the thin 80’s-print bedspread and replaced with our own blanket. No need to take home both black mold and bed bugs as lasting souvenirs of our stay at the Economy - that would just be greedy.

The pool featured in the online photos is, in reality, another interesting amenity of this motel. To our surprise, its actually a murky green swamp. It’s hard to imagine how many years of neglect must have gone into achieving such a cloudy, dark green color. That takes some serious dedication!

The vending machines WILL accept money, but will not actually provide you with anything as they are empty. Once again, the Economy never failing to surprise with its mirage of a vending machine!

Regardless of the bathroom fan and pool, we really just wanted a place to sleep. But - the Economy Inn never fails to surprise! Remember that railroad mentioned above? Well, it is in fact VERY active at night. So active, that we were awoken by extremely loud, long train horns at least once an hour while trying to sleep. All night long.

We didn’t actually need the extra time in the morning since we were wide awake courtesy of the railroad and other noise, but our motel manager is nothing if not consistent. Still barefoot and shorts-clad, he didn’t crack the faintest hint of a smile when we dropped off our keys and let us know that we’d still be charged for the extra night. He didn’t inquire about our stay as I suspect he’s already well-aware of the Economy Inn’s many delights.

Oh, Economy Inn. I’ll...

Needed to stay in Ashdown for a fishing tournament. Next time, I will stay 15 miles away in Texarkana- it would be worth the fuel and drive. Economy Inn seemed the most decent of the lodging options in Ashdown. If it had not been so late and if I had not been so tired, I would and should have got my money back and driven to Texarkana. At first glance, the room appeared decent at best. It had an awful smell (kind of similar to a wet dog). No shampoo. You get a tiny piece of bar soap. The room key I received had an advertisement on it for Domino's pizza. I called them to place an order and apparently they are a few hundred miles away in Waco, TX. After looking at the room key we were given, it appears that Economy Inn got the keys from another hotel. The pizza place said they've gotten a few calls from patrons at this place. I searched for a phone book to look for a local pizza place (which none deliver by the way) and found the phone book in a drawer. Next to it was the Holy Bible with three condoms laying on top of it. The fridge smells sour. It's just all around nasty. Couldn't wait to get out of there and take a boiling...

Staied a few time and rooms are not clean up to standards. Mold in bathtub. The AC in thw last room we staid in didnt cool.off at all. Pulled the blanket on top of bed back and there was sand. And dirt on the sheets. We had a pillow case that had what looked like a dry blood stain. In the morning it nerver failed they was hollaring and cussing in both laguages at the cleaners. Tho pool is usually over ran by kids who they let pay by the hour to swim and the ppl who paid fornthe rooms swimmimg imcluded cant swimm do to all the teenagers that want to be rude to children. When something is said to sleo about it. The owners just say they dont have much more time. I was jist made aware that the place has bed bugs. A couple that staid went to dic over small bumps that itched really bad and doctor confirmed it was indeed bed bug. The person went anf told them it was bed bug bits but the owner said no it wss fleas. But wither way, Coose where...