Super 8 by Wyndham Manchester Airport — Hotel in Manchester

How does one rate shock and misery?

I'm not entirely sure, so I'll just describe what me and my husband were met with at the "Super" 8 hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire.

But before I start I want to say we knew we didn't book in at the Ritz Carlton. We read many of the reviews and from them it seemed it was a slightly older, relatively inexpensive hotel with a clean and quiet atmosphere with free breakfast. That's all we needed for a quick overnight stay between 2 days of 9 hour a piece driving.

What we found... was in fact inexpensive, but that's where the expectation and reality stopped meeting.

Upon driving up it appeared just as any super 8 I've stayed at... that feeling stopped at the front door.

As we walked in the front door the smell of age and cigarette smoke slapped us in the face as if Great Grandpa Ned just exhaled his 2nd pack of Camels in our faces.

The foyer had a few chairs and tables from the 70s shoved in a circle beside the reception desk.

The "receptionist" or as we dubbed her the "Ex con", met us with her Knuckle love tattoos and sweat pants at the counter to check us in.

We walked around the corner, slightly away from the smoke den foyer to find our room was just around the corner.

Inside was our room; unlike the ones on the online advertisements, was dark, dreary and more like a university dorm room of the 80s, BUT at least it didn't smell of Grandpa Ned anymore.

So I sat down and took a load off. I looked around and thats when my eyes landed on the opposing bed and the endless stains on the box spring cover. Hmm, is it on this one too? Yup there it is, this one looks like pee, or coffee, or god knows what.

We started to look online at a few other hotel options near by but we realized the cancellation policy wouldnt give us a refund, so we decided to go eat and get out of "The Hep C Room".

Upon our return to our "Hotel" we were faced with a woman puking her guts up on the walkway all while still smoking her cigarette ( kudos for your commitment to finishing that cigarette within the illegal proximity to the Hotel by the way ) . Atleast she was nice enough to warn us about the Burger King chicken down the street.

Once back inside there was no desk attendee anywhere and the entire first floor smelled as if Cheech and Chong themselves we're our door neighbours. Lovely, a show and a smoke all before getting to our cell, I mean room.

At this point we are so discouraged and disgusted we just decided to inspect the beds and figured atleast the top covers and sheets seemed clean enough to sleep for a few hours, wake up and get our complimentary breakfast and get out of here.

Fast forward, hubby gets up and goes to check out the breakfast while I wake up. 2 minutes later her returns with coffee and a message that unless we want cornflakes, a banana and toast we are showering and leaving.

And let me tell you, did we shower, all the while singing the twinrex commercial.

And we left.

So if somehow you are still considering staying at Super 8 Manchester, I would add, we would have rathered slept...

We stayed here four years ago, the last time we were visiting, and had a very good experience. As you would expect from a Super 8, nothing was fancy but the room was squeaky clean and in reasonable condition. So when we came back to Manchester this year, we stayed there again.

Unfortunately, a great deal had changed in four years. We booked a non smoking room, but could still smell cigarette both in the room and the hall. Housekeeping had done a nice job of changing the sheets, towels, bathroom was clean, but everything was tired and worn. There were multiple holes in the walls, the towel rack was broken, and there were large rips in the (dirty, dusty) drapes. The carpet had been vacuumed, but was in bad need of a shampoo. It was obvious that nothing had been updated, repaired, or deep cleaned in years.

We decided to stick it out, and the next morning went down for the continental breakfast. We’d been told there was a waffle option, but found no signs of a waffle iron when we got there and the morning desk person said there was none. We decided to eat elsewhere and didn’t try the breakfast again during the stay.

Throughout the entire five nights we stayed, we noticed a large number of other hotel guests hanging around in various areas of the parking lot - it seemed to be a popular chill spot for cigarettes and just general relaxation, to judge from the constant clusters. On the second day of our stay, we noticed another group arrive in the morning, and they stayed outside in the parking lot until their room was ready. All of the men were shirtless, and ignored the sign on the entrance door saying “shoes and shirt required”. We saw them daily for the remainder of our stay and never once saw any of the men wearing a shirt, either in elevators, hallways, or hotel lobby and breakfast area. Management apparently does not enforce the policy on the front door. And no, there is not a swimming pool.

Our interactions with Housekeeping was all positive, albeit limited. We opted to keep the privacy sign up, but they were cheerful and always eager to supply fresh towels or anything else. Most of the desk staff were also pleasant, however one night a member of our party got locked out of the room and the woman working that night had a bad attitude and was not helpful.

As the days went on, we noticed more and more what a sad, unhappy place this Super 8 has become. Most of the staff looked like they hated their jobs, and it seemed like even many of the other guests we encountered were either fighting or looked sad. The final surprise came on the morning of check out when we woke up to discover the telltale welts from bed bug bites. We had checked around the mattress and box spring upon arrival and didn’t notice anything suspicious, but they were obviously hiding somewhere.

We still believe in the Super 8 chain, but this particular location needs a complete change of management, a full remodel, and a visit from the exterminator. Until then, we’ll be staying...

This 1-star review (on a second visit) replaces my previous 5-star review (from a first visit). Ozone health hazard was dismissed by maintenance staff. I begin by giving credit where credit is due—the receptionist lady was very helpful and remedied the situation.

The incident. When I entered my room after checking in, there was an ozone air purifier running in the room. It was not readily apparent that it was an ozone machine (I mistook it for a regular air purifier). I had the mind to look more closely at the air purifier only after experiencing mild discomfort from the air quality after being in the room for about 20 minutes. Upon discovery of the ozone function of the air purifier, I became alarmed at the potential poisoning, turned off the machine, and informed the helpful receptionist lady. She did her best, going back and forth, finding a fan to air out the room, and locating the maintenance staff to find a resolution. This complaint is specifically directed at the maintenance staff (Dave). Upon hearing from the receptionist lady that I had health concerns due to ozone poisoning, maintenance staff Dave dismissed my concern by saying things such as “I don’t have time for this” and “the Holiday Inn is across the street” (insinuating that I should find accommodation elsewhere if I was dissatisfied). Of the entire interaction, the most concerning aspect was Dave’s insinuation that he would rather the guest suffer adverse health effects from ozone poisoning if it meant he could avoid the inconvenience of finding a remedy. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. Even another guest passing by in the hallway commented that “the smell from that room is bad” (indicating my room) and “he should not stay in there, it is bad for his health.” This passing guest recognized the risk to my health, whereas maintenance staff Dave did not.

I request the following remedy: disciplinary action and refresher safety training for Dave.

On the other hand, the receptionist lady performed admirably by taking actions such as: (1) procured a fan to air out the room, (2) visited the room and noticed the unacceptable air quality, (3) reassigned me to a new room with acceptable air quality. Out of respect for having used your services, and in recognition of the efforts of the receptionist, I will not request a...