Motel 6 Shartlesville, PA — Hotel in Upper Bern Township

This is a suitable place to stay if traveling with pets and looking for an overnight stop. Check-in was efficient and I appreciated the ground floor room in the back. We were traveling with hard suitcases strapped to the luggage rack, and after a lot of thought, felt like our luggage would be safe, and it was. We were traveling with a chihuahua and a cat, and I really wasn’t expecting a fantastic room for such a low price; the room was clean with appropriate towels except it only had one washcloth, but it was obviously a room for people staying with pets: the doorway to the bathroom had obviously been chewed on and damaged by a large dog. We didn’t mind because the room was clean. It had a mini fridge and microwave, which not every motel 6 has. Bed was okay for one night. Pillows were small in size and number, but again, I wasn’t expecting more. The attendant at the front desk was a polite and hospitable young man. There is coffee in the front office in the morning. I do think a few personal welcoming touches and amenities would be an improvement. I knew from reading other reviews not to expect shampoo, and it was true there was no shampoo or conditioner available and no extra toothbrushes available for purchase even. Some type of welcoming info in the room or a list of TV channels or even restaurants nearby would have made me feel like they tried to provide quality hospitality. It’s not like I asked for suggestions since I can Google these things. If I had been looking for something more than a safe clean room to sleep in while traveling with pets, I’d have been disappointed, but I got exactly what I expected and paid for. My pets were delighted watching Law and Order. I’d stay again if under similar circumstances- safe for people and pets, no frills, very efficient check-in. Full disclosure- I smoke cigarettes and do not smoke inside and did not notice any smell of smoke or of previous pets. I read some other review that mentioned rooms smelling smoky and I didn’t notice...

No...no,no,no. We were having a hard time finding and available motel. The night before we had been to a small motel and didn't have such a pleasant experience. We decided to go with a well-known chain when we stumbled upon Motel 6. One of the only rooms that had available was actually in the Building that contained the office. We were told upon arrival that the door only locked from the inside so if we had to leave we need to take our valuables with us. The reason for this is we had a small room with a sliding glass door. The room was very dirty. My husband is allergic to fragrances and when we went to sleep at night his nose became swollen shut. He said there must have been some kind of fragrance in the room and then we realized that the blanket on the bed smelled like women's perfume. It obviously wasn't washed. That led us to check the bed sheets which had hair on them and stains. The mattress was so and warned that you sunk into it. The nightstand was unusable because there were no electrical outlets nearby. The lamp was placed on top of a large entertainment center that was sitting in the room like an albatross totally useless. What use do you have for an entertainment center inside of a motel room? The flat screen TV was hung on the wall opposite of the bed it was connected with extension cords and plugged in to the outlet on the other side of the room which led to a tripping hazard. The bathroom had spider webs with spiders and their prey in several of the corners. The rug obviously had not been vacuumed for some time because you could feel the debris under your feet as you walked. If I had nowhere to sleep while traveling I would sleep in my car before I would go back...

It looks pleasantly different from the highway. Up close, well that's another matter. Honestly, this Motel 6 is a little below the standards I have come to expect from this chain.

Many Motel 6 locations are purchased from other franchises or from an independent operator rather than new builds. I believe this was purchased from an independent operator, and I am sure it looked good at the time. Now, the outside property is just dirty looking. I will say that the room was spacious, almost to a fault. Too much open space in a motel/hotel room leaves me feeling a little insecure (perhaps it does to the reader too). My room looked like it was thrown together at the last minute. No wallhangings (desperately needed to hide or distract from the numerous visible patches in the drywall), only 3 drawers, one of which was in the pleasantly spacious desk, refrigerator on the floor with a microwave on top of it. The security devices on the door didn't look too swift either. Also, the mirror and front door glass could have used a proper cleaning as opposed to the wipedown they appear to have received who-only-knows when. The main overhead lighting was dismal at best, and the lighting in the bathroom had a ballast hum to it. And the partial toilet paper roll left on top of the empty core said to me "We just don't care anymore." At least the bed was comfortable and clean and I did sleep good. I guess that's...