Econo Lodge Hermitage South — Hotel in Shenango Township

Aside from being convenient to the highway and within a few minutes of many places to eat, this is the best I can say.

My daughter (19) and I travel many times a year for dog events. We both work and compete at these events. I chose this hotel based on cost and ratings. It was actually higher rated than the hotel in the same company where I am as I write this review. This Econo Lodge had 3.5 stars on the site I often use to check hotels. I do not expect the Ritz for the cost but clean and safe should be the standard for all hotels and motels.

My daughter and I arrived early evening. The pictures on the site give way to much hope for this place. Needless to say, the exterior was dirty, people drinking in the parking lot. Others where hanging out in front of rooms behaving oddly. There was a woman staggering around, going room to room. Another man sitting in the middle of the walkway, talking to himself, smoking with a metal can of butts next to him and a small dog wandering around. There were room doors open, personal grills around, etc.

The lobby was dark, dirty, nowhere near inviting. When I asked the manager if there were people living at the hotel - not guests but living, she assured me no.

As we were getting into our room, there were two men in a running car in front of our room. They were drinking beer and putting in eye drops. They watched us as we unpacked. I went to get food and they were still there, watching the room and drinking. As I was pulling out, someone came up, handed them a bag and left.

I came back from getting dinner and there they were, watching my room door. As I pulled into a space, one began trying to get my attention. My daughter opened the room door, I told her to get back inside and I went to the office. I explained what was going on. The clerk said yeah they were workers who lived at the hotel. She said she would handle it. I went in to the room to eat.

Well, they backed up into the space behind us and kept watching the room. The clerk said they would not bother us. There were a bunch of people living there while working on a construction job. THEN she told us the guys had the room next to ours but the door connecting the rooms could be locked. I explained I no longer felt safe at the hotel. For 2 1/2 hours they watched us walking the dogs, tried to get our attention, were drinking copiously and had people approaching the car and hand them things or take things. I explained I did not feel safe. Add in that we had an adjoining room, no. I would not stay at a place where I did not feel safe.

The room itself was dark, broken floor tiles, dirty tub, mini fridge and microwave not in the entertainment unit where they often are. They were plugged into a wall outlet by the bed. The bed sheets has burn holes in them too. I saw no signs of bugs - I do check for bed bug signs.

I do not expect the Ritz for Econo Lodges, but they should be clean and safer. There is no excuse for what she was allowing to happen except she and the owner do not care.

The motel did not match the pictures or the reviews. I called the other hotel up the street that is in the same company (and had lower reviews) and explained the situation. She found a room for us.

As we left, the guys continued to watch, wink, smile, drink, etc.

So, I have no idea how long the construction project will last. It is a major industrial warehouse and distribution...

The front desk clerk is literally the only good thing about this hotel.

The hotel itself is severely neglected. Apparently the owner only cares about lining his pockets, not the upkeep of his hotels! He would rather spend money buying more hotels, instead of purchasing new items for his current hotels to keep them in good condition!

Our chair broke, we never got a new one. It's been almost 3 months, yet the owner claims they ordered some.

The pillows are flatter then a pancake, you need 4 of them just to be comfortable.

There was several times we left the room, and when we came back things were moved and missing.

The heater/AC is falling off the wall, with a HUGE gap, allowing air in.

The toilet was not secure to the floor and moved a lot.

The door is not fit right, with huge gaps on the sides.

The air is stuffy, and you can never do anything for that!

Our microwave was rusty, and the paint falling off, got a used one, that one broke. Got ANOTHER used one, again that's rusty.

The sink kept getting stopped up, we got blamed once, so I had to plunge it myself anytime someone in the next room flushed the toilet. An, when they found a single carrot, 1 of the 2 times they did do the sink (which I'm almost positive they didn't find a darn thing, because I cleaned up the spill myself) I was told how if it happens again they would have to pay $150 for a plumber!

The fridge leaks, so does the ceiling.

Always illegal things going on in other rooms. (Drugs, daily, the smell is EVERYWHERE!!)

Got told we didn't pay for 3 days, then that got changed to the full payment wasn't made. (Yet the price I paid is what the app said, so how didn't I pay?)

I was scammed out of $500, (Pa law says a resident is anyone staying 30+ days CONSECUTIVELY IN THE SAME ROOM. Under that law my state and local tax was supposed to be given back, but the hotel claims I don't qualify because I checked in and out. My lawyer says otherwise and I can't wait for court, the Pa Department of Revenue and The IRS to complete their investigations!) Now, the hotel claimed I wasn't a resident under the law to get my tax money back, but I did qualify as a resident so they didn't have to clean the room. (They came 2 times to actually clean, meaning sweep, mop, etc. in 7 months! An I had to beg multiple times, to no avail, to use the mop, so I could do it myself!) So, our so called "residency" status always worked in the owners favor, lining his pockets, but never in the FULL PRICE PAYING CUSTOMERS favor. There was no benefit to us.

I almost fell on the outside steps numerous times, because they are painted but they don't have slip strips, and when it's wet, they are slippery.

The railing on the steps is falling off.

The windows don't have any screens, which I am almost positive is illegal. I am ABSOLUTELY positive it's dangerous if you have young kids, since the windows have the handles you turn to open, and they do open widely, and a child can get through. (I'm sure that HAS to be a code violation!)

The phone in my room work, it rang but couldn't hear anything. Basically it was useless.

An don't even think your getting breakfast like they advertised, because that will never happen. They don't even have coffee pits in the room as they claim either.

I would never recommend to this...

Do. Not. Book. I opted for budget lodging since all pools, breakfasts, etc. are currently closed from the pandemic. I don’t expect much from budget lodging other than a clean bed and shower and heating/ac. During the pandemic when hotels/motels are required to take extra precautions, I’d also expect surfaces to be sanitized. I booked two rooms at this motel. One for the adults, one for the teens. I booked non-smoking rooms and requested 1st floor accommodations for one of our children with mobility issues. Upon walking in at check-in, the registration area reeked of smoke. There was an ashtray in the cubicle and that should’ve been my sign. The lady who checked me in was super friendly and hospitable and even told me she did one better (I requested the rooms be in the same floor as close as possible ) and gave us adjoining rooms. So far so good. Upon opening room #104 there was a STRONG odor of cigarette smoke. Mostly coming from the bathroom area. Room #105 seemed fine. I opened the door for a while to let it air out assuming that someone violated the no smoking (neither of the doors had a sign that they were designated non-smoking rooms for what it’s worth.) The rooms were old and not updated and had chipped paint, but it was a budget motel, right? The bed spreads and blankets had multiple small burn holes, but the sheets appeared clean and there was no evidence of bed bugs. The kids settled in their room and me and a friend settled in ours until we had to meet up for dinner. My daughter sat in a chair to talk to us and when she crossed her legs, I noticed the blackest foot ever. She ended up having to scrub her foot with a wash cloth and we checked and the other kids that had taken their shoes off had the same issue. The floors were laminate and looked clean but on further inspection they were not at all. Especially around the doorways. And the sides of the bed. That’s when we noticed how filthy the walls were (and ceilings, and windows.) We joked about it, I told the kids to leave their shoes on until they got into bed. ||After we returned from dinner our room was freezing, but the kids room was pretty stuffy. They opened the window and the screen fell out. ||We settled into bed (upstairs there was a small child running across the floor until well after midnight) and we noticed the walls were quite thin. After several complaints, we noticed the ac in the kid’s room was not putting out cool air. We ended up opening the adjoining doors and blasting our air so they could get cooled off (we, meanwhile, froze.) Some time after we fell asleep, we were all awakened by screaming coming from one of the rooms. About 3:30 am our nephew was awoken by his headboard banging (rhythmically) and jostling him awake (not that that activity is unusual in motels, but I’ve never heard of the walls being THAT thin. ||In the morning there were lots of various people in and out of the rooms or chatting and smoking then going in the rooms with linens and such (we were told at check in that there was only one housekeeper.) There were also ||apparently several people who lived at the motel. In the end, this was not so much a motel for travelers. ||Also of note, there were fingerprints on the microwave and fridge and mirror so it is safe to assume there was no extra sanitation in regards...