Americas Best Value Inn Lakewood Tacoma S — Hotel in Lakewood

Out of the cheaper prices hotels I've stayed at out in that area, this was the best one... The area of the hotel is in a not so great part of town..BUUUUUT the main road it's off of is very heavily patrolled by police, and I saw a sign at the hotel saying something along the lines of 'The hotel is a crime free establishment that works with the local police department' , and also saw police there both nights I stayed, but from what I saw they weren't there for a distrubance, but more just checking in with the hotel seeing how things are going and probably making their presence known. Also, when I got there and was checking in I was DREADING the talk about having a service dog with me, because most employees (not just at hotels, but everywhere really) do not know the laws regarding a medical service animal (not an emotional support animal, there is a pretty big difference) and it ends up being a huge argument. But the lady that checked me in knew at least the basics of the ADA guidelines for a service animal. THAT WAS THE BIGGEST RELIEF The room I booked was just a standard queen bed, single person room. I was actually surprised when I walked in... First thing I noticed was a HUGE, comfy, black leather, lazy boy looking chair! The bed had THREE very fluffy pillows, with a super fuzzy light brown blanket. It was a thinner blanket due to summer I'm guessing with a sheet under and over just in case that wasn't warm enough. Flat screen TV mounted on the wall in front of the bed towards the top, and to the left side was an entertainment center looking thing with the microwave, mini fridge, some extra open storage spaces, and then 4 drawer's at the bottom. On the right side of the TV was a desk and nice rolling computer chair, with a small coffee pot and items that go along with that. They bathroom had an actual door (: , full shower/tub, lots of counter space, towel rack, and a full length mirror. Very good size bathroom for such a standard 1 bed room. The room and bathroom were very clean, and actually smelled good the whole time I stayed. I forgot to mention how COMFORTABLE the bed was!!!! Not to soft, or to firm and having 3 pillows made a huge difference, and the fact that they were actual thick fluffy pillows too. There were 2 things that sucked, I was on the second floor with a few bags and a pretty heavy suitcase and there was not an elevator...but I'll take that issue, and my next one any day compared to some I've had else where, and with how comfortable, clean, and friendly it was there.. My next little "issue" I guess you can say was the smoking rules..but that's because I'm a smoker. Not worried about having a non smoking room cause I prefer that, but having to go down stairs and "25ft." away was a tiny bit inconvenient, I'd rather smoke either right out my door on the balcony but understand the doors are to close together with the laws that have to be followed, so maybe a designated smoking area in each floor far enough away from all entrances would have been better, more just for at night when I'm about to go to sleep or when I wake up at night n smoke really quick before going back to bed. Like I said though...I'll take those...

Dear Trip Advisor, Yelp, Expedia, and Google,

I just wanted to take a moment and provide you some feedback with pictures from my recent stay at America's Best Value Inn, located at 4215 Sharondale Street SW, in Lakewood, Washington.

I stayed at the hotel from 03/25/17 thru 04/01/17 while attending a business conference in nearby Tacoma, Washington.

I choose the hotel as there were several favorable internet reviews and the price was very reasonable.

There were several serious concerns I will address below. I also wanted to point out several positives as well. One positive was the front office staff was very kind. Although not all of the issues were resolved, the employees were friendly. Secondly, the two different housekeepers I dealt with were very nice and did a good job. Unfortunately, the bad far outweighs the good.

After my first night's stay, I discovered some huge concerns.

Issue #1 : Bugs There were ants and bugs on the desk, on the bathroom sink and floor, and in the towel stack. On a positive note, I called the front desk and they arrived minutes later. They said they would spray the room the next day. When I arrived back to the room after my second conference day - more ants/bugs. The office said they would again spray. Unfortunately, the ants were present the entire week, (I had no food in the room). The last night, they even made it to the bed! bugs.JPG

Issue #2: Desk Chair I have no idea what was in the chair but I called the front desk three days in a row and asked if they could clean the chair or swap it for one in an empty room but it was never addressed.

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Issue #3: Bathroom Stains The picture on the left are permanent stains on the toilet seat. The picture on the right is some unknown brown substance which is on the tub, next to the toilet. Yuk.

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Issue #4 : More Stains The picture on the left shows the brown stain on the bathroom sink. The photo on the top right shows miscellaneous holes in the wall. The bottom right picture shows permanent stains on the desk next to the clock.

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Issue #5 : Railroad Nearby

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Beware. There is an active train track alongside of the hotel. The picture on the left is from the front door of room #115, and is not zoomed in. The pic on the right shows just how close the train track is. Unless you are a very deep sleeper, you WILL hear the train when it rolls by.

Issue #6 : Questionable People in the Area I took this picture in the early morning from the front of the hotel. It shows a Washington State Trooper parked across the street, watching the front of the hotel. He pulled up after I took the picture and was kind. The State Trooper explained to me he was looking for a wanted subject at the hotel and was sitting across the street watching for him. He also explained the area was known for low level drug dealing and gang activity - it explained some of the questionable people I witnessed in the rear parking lot and frequenting two different rooms at all hours of the night.

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I just wanted to make sure you received the feedback from my stay with photographs to document my concerns, so it's not just an...

Without a doubt, the worst hotel we have ever stayed at. We booked through Travelocity because of the low rates and the ability to stay with our pet. When we walked into the room, we were greeted immediately by two things: the overwhelming smell of smoke saturation, and a sign informing us that the room was non-smoking, and we would be charged for any smoking within the room. The room was absolutely disgusting and dirty. Luckily, the nice young man at the front desk gave us a new room, no problem. The luck ended there. The second room had many problems, including: carpet so full of greasy filth that we had to keep shoes or sandals on for fear of an unknown growth forming on our feet; sheets with easily discernible stains in both beds; unknown substances stuck to the walls; a crazy amount of trash under the beds, including 3-4 water & soda bottles, a child's pillow, and a U.S. Army Specialist's patrol cap; bathroom sink that virtually didn't drain; toilet surrounded by stains/rings on the floor; shower that looked so scary the sandals stayed on for the one night we endured. We checked out of the hotel the next night, only remaining because we were so tired from our PCS from Germany. The "not-a-manager" man at the front desk that day was admittedly fairly pleasant considering the situation, but could not refund us due to the Travelocity booking. That is a whole other messy story. The nice man did make the mistake of admitting that a lot of people had been complaining about the hotel conditions lately, so we felt validated in our judgment. He probably shouldn't have disclosed that truth. The actual manager, or any manager on duty, was not around, and we have had no luck reaching one in the days since. A hotel without at least a shift manager to address guest issues is a warning sign itself. Now as we try to get some, any kind of refund, the same man is attempting to make it sound like he doesn't even remember the situation, and Travelocity states that the hotel doesn't even have a record of us checking out early. I'm pretty sure our conversation with the "pseudo-manager", asking him for a refund, turning in our room key, and stating we were leaving constitutes a checkout. Having worked at a hotel front desk myself for several years, I am very sensitive to treating service workers with courtesy and respect, and hope for the same. Being in the military also makes you used to sleeping in less than ideal conditions and locations. Motel 6 is paradise compared to this hotel. BOTTOM LINE: stay away from this hotel like the plague, or else risk catching something akin to the plague. Haha. But no kidding, this place is so gross it needs to be condemned...