Watkins Motel — Hotel in Town of Dix

We booked this motel a long time ago through Booking.com. The reservation was for one room with two queen beds for four people.

When we arrived, the place looked very basic. It is run by East Asian staff, probably Chinese. The manager told us the room was ready but asked for an extra 30 dollars because we were four guests.

In the US, hotels and motels usually charge per room, not per person, especially when no breakfast is included. And this place doesn’t offer any kind of breakfast.

The room was small compared to other motels. It was very basic. The air conditioner was extremely noisy. We had to turn it off and sleep in the heat.

The staff spoke only very basic English, which made communication difficult.

This stay was disappointing. The unexpected extra charge felt unfair. The room was cramped and noisy. The AC made it hard to sleep.

I would not recommend this place unless you just need a bed for one night and...

You never know what you're going to get when you choose a motel without doing much research..... We stayed here on a whim after the state Park had no more availability. We had to fill out name, address, and credit card number on an old school index card, and the room had a real key, but for $139/night during leaf peeping season, at the very last moment, we decided to try. This place was a wonderful surprise! It is newly renovated and immaculate. Even the outsides of the buildings were clean! The room was quaint, but modern, with a flat screen TV above the fireplace and a mini fridge in the corner. The bathroom had ample space for 2 people, plenty of shelves in the shower and soap and lotion dispensers. There was also a large wall mounted charging unit with electrical plugs and USB ports for charging devices, and free WiFi. It's located downtown, immediately across from Burger King and about a mile from the park....

I took a last second trip to check out Watkins Glen state park and I needed a place to stay. Watkins Motel is perfectly located near everything. I was waking distance from the marina, the park, convenience store, etc.

The room I had was fine. Mini fridge, TV, desk, chairs, queen sized bed (or maybe king? Not sure). It was very quiet and the front desk was very kind. The parking lot is kind of hidden from the road so it feels more private especially that I rode my motorcycle down and I didn’t want to leave it out on the street for everyone to see.

This place worked out for me and I have no complaints. Kudos to the front desk! They are very responsive and their prices are fair compared to what’s around them. I’m already planning another stay there with my next...