Howard Johnson by Wyndham Virginia Beach At The Beach — Hotel in Virginia Beach

[The funniest thing about all this is there will be a response to this review that won't address a thing I'm about to talk about.]

Here's a few things that won't necessarily bring me back, but are just good general tips if you're planning on running a hotel/motel in general.

1. Blankets. Blankets would be awesome. Obviously, you're in a beach area, so no, no one is necessarily going to be freezing to death without blankets, but in most hotels I've stayed in, the beds had more than just a sheet on them. Prisoners get blankets in most prisons so you're not being held to a high standard here.
2. Housekeeping. This would also be a great additional service that could be provided, but it looks like you only "clean" the rooms when they turn over. Of course, when any staff was asked about if our room would be cleaned (and we were there 5 days), we were told "The rooms are cleaned daily." No. No, they aren't. So, the same cigarette burned sheets on top of your horribly stained mattresses just stayed that way for the duration of our stay. Also, again, this is a beach city, so someone coming and sweeping the rooms that get covered in sand would be just an absolute delight if it was provided.
3. Responding to any sort of need. Do guests really have to go to the front desk whenever anything runs out? I mean, if you provided housekeeping, you could replenish towels, toilet paper, coffee supplies, etc. The amount of times I needed to basically go get my own things that are supposed to be provided...I lost count. You might not know what provide means, though, so I assume you're just using that word because other hotels use it.
4. A small positive. The pool looks nice. Why I would want to bake in it in the middle of a blacktop parking lot, I have zero idea, but staff will legitimately wander into your room if you leave the door open to remind you there is a pool...so you get like some neat unsolicited activities managing. That's provided, I guess.
5. Here's a cool suggestion. If your entire building is under construction, give guests a hads-up. Let them know they'll never access an ice machine for the entirety of their stay. Let them know workers may show up at 8AM and have loud conversations right in front of your room. Let power tool enthusiasts know they'll have free access to those noises all day.
6. Now, I give myself credit. I got your TV to work. But I have a Masters degree. I'm thinking most people are just staring at the "NO SIGNAL" massage creep across their screen and feeling bad about themselves. Maybe have someone program the TVs so it starts on the input where your cable box is? Just a free suggestion.
7. Also, it was awesome have the cable box and refrigerator plugged into one outlet, but you also stacking the microwave and coffee maker over there as well, so you have to play Sophie's Choice whenever you want to prepare any sort of food or drinks, unless you want to carry appliances across the room to use them. That was a cool interactive experience.
8. Charging an early check-in fee to access all this disappointment a few hours earlier was also just...chef's kiss Such a nice touch.
9. I did see a roach. I killed it for you. There are probably more there somewhere.
10. If you paint a wall, maybe put up a "Wet Paint" sign. That's a common courtesy we do here when we're not total sociopaths who like to ruin other people's things.

I could go on, but that's 10. Please insert boilerplate...

If I could give zero stars I would!! I put in our reservation that the room was for four adults. Upon arrival we were told there wasn't enough parking at the hotel so my husband who's 100% disabled veteran, couldn't park on the premises because the lot was full. So we had to pay to park at a parking garage and walk back to the hotel. After paying almost $1,000 for 3 nights at a mediocre hotel we were now paying over $50 a day to park. Side note the one and only handicapped parking spot was between 2 regular parking spaces. No extra room to get a door all the way opened or anything. People were parked int he handicapped parking spot with no placard displayed indicating they were handicapped at all. Then we checked in on Friday at 4pm when we went to shower at 1030pm, we realized there were no towels and no wash cloths, at all anywhere in the room. So we called the front desk and were given attitude because there was no way the person didn't put any in there. They said they were busy so it would be at least 20 minutes before they could have someone come up there with towels. I walked down to get the towels and was shocked to find 2 people standing behind the counter 1 just standing there. Then I was again given attitude after asking for both towels and wash cloths. The rooms were not even close to clean, smashed bugs on the lamp shade, stains all over the bedding, clumps of nasty hair on the room service menu and the safety lock on the door was broken. I wouldn't recommend this hotel to anyone. Photos on the website are a joke, must be the only room that they clean. Then while standing on the balcony we watched multiple people, which I took pictures of, using the parking lot of the hotel as a parking lot for them to go to the beach. Parked in the parking lot, got all their things out of their cars and walked to the beach. So your paying customers can't park in the parking lot and are forced to pay to park off the premises, however you allow people who aren't paying anything to come and go as they please. Then Monday morning right before we left, the toilet wasn't filling up as fast as it should have, so I took the tank lid off to see if maybe the chain came off. To my surprise there 2 two needles in the toilet tank which I can only imagine were heroin needles. Diabetic people wouldn't throw them in the damn toilet tank lid. I will never ever be staying at this hotel or any other Howard Johnson by Wyndham hotels ever again!! This was absolutely disgusting. I have never in my entire life been so disgusted in a hotel. I have photos of the nasty bed sheets, the needles in the toilet tank, the handicapped parking spot, the people in the spots leaving for the beach, the smashed bugs on the light shade, and the broken lock on the door. Way over priced for what you get in this place. Oh yeah and the ice maker was broken, there was the spot in the bathroom for the blow dryer, but no blow dryer. I wouldn't eat anything in this hotel ever, judging by how disgusting the rooms were I'd steer clear of the...

I was afraid to open the door of my room the day I arrived after reading the reviews. I was half expecting to be eaten by cockroaches and swallowed up by slime. The reviews are full of crap and couldn't have been more incorrect. The room was spotlessly clean. The shower was great. Enough hot water. Comfortable bed. I stayed for 4 days and at the beginning of my second day, I was going to give it a ten star review; and then the second day happened. When you arrive, you pay for a room and a parking space. I paid for both and they do not tell you OR put in writing that you MUST put the pass hanging from the mirror (and my mirror won't allow one to be hung from it). And because my pass wasn't hung from the mirror, the manager had my car towed. So at ten pm when I needed to run out to get my first meal of the day, my car was gone. Thinking my car was stolen, I called the police. Fortunately, they found the report that showed my car was towed and gave me the tow truck company number. That's when the fight started. First the HJ told me to walk to the towing company and pay for my car but the tow truck company agreed to let me have my car without paying if I walked the 35 minutes to the lot. At the same time, the manager of the HJ said I had to pay for the tow both ways (it was my problem.) I "EXPLAINED" to him the error of his ways and he finally relented and took care of the towing bill. Also, on the same (second) day, they turned my keys off (Yes I paid in advance for 4 days). I saw a maid in the parking lot and asked her to let me into my room. She had no idea who I was but opened the door for me anyway. Just a tip, they probably do that for everyone so don't leave valuables in your room. Then on the third day, the smoke alarm battery went bad and the alarm chirped every 20 seconds 24 hours a day. That did not get fixed. My wife would have burned the place down but fortunately I can sleep through anything and she was safely at home. My last note is that room service never showed up and I looked for them on day 3 for a while as my two TINY towels were getting kinda bad. I never found room service (house cleaning) and just used my same two washcloth sized towels for 4 days. All in all, other than the not so nice manager who tows cars, doesn't know his own written policy on parking, and tells you that "you are the problem," the stay was actually pretty nice. I'd recommend staying there. Outstanding value for the money and an adventure...