Econo Lodge Williamsburg Historic Area — Hotel in Williamsburg

Update: I stayed here last year and was rather impressed (see below) so I stayed here again when my job brought me back this year. It didn't seem like the same place.

I knew I'd be there a while, so I paid for a weekly rental. They showed me 2 rooms on the back of the hotel that were available for long-term rentals. Both had dingy-looking old carpets instead of clean tile, but they couldn't be that dirty if they were getting vacuumed every day. But they weren't. I had to go ask when my room would be cleaned, and the manager told me the weekly rooms were cleaned once a week. Oh, and the maid was new, so I should tell him if she forgot something. I'm pretty sure she always forgot to vacuum, and that wasn't the only issue. I always had to empty my trash because she "forgot," and I even had to go to the office to ask for trash bags and toilet paper.

The fridge wasn't working well when I got in. I had to crank it up to the coldest setting for it to be refrigerator-cold, and the door was stiff. My second week, I got fed up with it and complained, and the manager said he'd get me one of the new fridges they'd ordered... when they came in a couple days later. I was ready to leave if I didn't have a new fridge by the end of the week, but it came in and he replaced the old one himself. The old mini-fridge was so rusted out that the entire bottom came off in a mess of rusty fragments. He swept up the fragments, but I had to ask him to vacuum up the smaller pieces. Even after he finished, that entire area had a rusty sheen from the fragments that were left. It was all very depressing.

The only nice thing I have to say about the place was that the family running it were very pleasant and seemed to try to be accommodating. But that only gets you so far when they lost their only excellent employee and have rooms that they don't maintain.

Last year: I was traveling to Williamsburg on a work trip and was on a tight budget, which is why I chose this hotel. It was the least expensive one that showed up on Google. But it was far better than I'd expected. The rooms are old but well-maintained. The staff seems to be an extended family and are very friendly and welcoming. There's even a pool, nice but smaller than the standard backyard pool and with only enough room for one table and one deck recliner in the pool surround. They have a guest laundry, though the washing machine wasn't working when I was there. Aside from that, my only complaint is that the mattress seemed old and was much firmer...

I wish I could give this place negative stars. This stay was by far the worst experience I've had in my life.

We travelled from New Jersey to visit Busch Gardens for the day and needed a place to stay. Little did we know what we would encounter at EconoLodge Williamsburg.

As soon as you opened the door to enter the room you were greeted with a disgusting smell of MOLD, the ceiling looked like it had a major leak and was just painted over to cover up, one the plugs had short circuited and there was evidence of burn marks on the casing, the charging dock looked like it had never ever been cleaned and was sticky, the ‘clean’ bed had a variety stain marks, along with hairs from various parts of the body, not to mention the burn marks from cigarettes. It was truly a NIGHTMARE.

We thought to ourselves ok we’ll just shower and sleep for a bit and check out first thing in the morning (keep in mind it was well past midnight by this point), that’s where it gets even worse. The bathtub was clogged up and the shower was leaking, all the dirt you wanted to wash off your body would literally fill up the basin, you ended up having a bath in what you wanted to remove from your body in the first place. We were DISGUSTED.

Next morning, we went and spoke to the manager who had the audacity to tell us that we created the mess and did not even offer a refund for the absolute HORROR SHOW of a room they provided.

By the way we were travelling with friends who had a separate room and they had the exact same issue in terms of DIRT, MOLD and overall cleanliness.

Do not make the same mistake we did, avoid...

This Econolodge is a real gem. The bath was finished in marble. The shower curtain was completely clean, and I mean completely clean. (I can't even say that about the Doubletree I stayed at last month.) The entire property is meticulously maintained. Every time I visit, it looks brand new.

When I visit Williamsburg, I just want a clean, safe room close to Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg. I want a good bed, clean air conditioning, and a decent bathroom… and I want it at a great price so I can afford my vacation in the first place.

This Econolodge offers all that and more at the best possible price. Seriously, you are not going to find a better deal, and you will not sacrifice quality as a result.

The televisions may not be flat screens, but all the channels tuned in with great clarity, you can surf the channels without waiting 5 seconds for each channel to load, and the sleep button on the tv remote is so easy to use.

You will likely have only 1 outlet electrical available, so if you have more than 1 electronic gadget to charge, bring a power strip. This is good travel advice regardless of your lodging choice. Many rooms far more expensive than this Econolodge have the same minimal electrical outlets offered.

Oh, and speaking of being close to where I want to be in the day, it is less than a mile to the Colonial Williamsburg visitor center. (You could even walk there.) It is less than 5 miles from Busch Gardens. This Econolodge...