Beckley Travel Plaza — Local services in Beckley

This place is a complete embarrassment for the state of West Virginia. It looks inviting from the road, but the layout is a complete disaster. I spent 30 minutes here just to use the restroom and pay $15 for a grab and go sandwich, because getting in and out is a nightmare.

After exiting and travelling down the long hill, I came to a 3-way intersection and it’s unclear where to go. Small parking lot on the left, gas pumps to the right, the building is straight ahead but there’s a pickup pulling a camper coming toward me. Stop and wait. Go towards the building, stop to let cars come out of the fuel area. Go 10 more feet, wait for pedestrians crossing in front of me, going to what they THINK is the front entrance. (It’s not) I keep traveling to find parking and had to stop 3 more times to let cars back out of their parking spaces.

Once I’ve parked in the back, I walk the entire length of the building back to where everyone else was coming in. I didn’t notice passing the main entrance in the center of the building. The glass above it is covered in plastic and it doesn’t even look finished. The corner entrance leads pretty much to the gift shop and a cashier. The food court is behind a wall of refrigerator cases that look empty and I’m really just looking for the restroom, so I walk through all the people standing in line for Wendy’s and Popeye’s. The line snakes among the tables, so people sitting and eating are eye level with everybody’s backside. Nice.

The restrooms are located in the center, directly across from the main entrance that I missed. Finally, something about this layout makes sense. The hallway is wide, the restrooms are spacious with lots of stalls but a few of them are out of order. Didn’t this place just open 2 weeks ago? The sleek built-in soap dispensers don’t work so there are yucky pump bottles of pink soap scattered across the counter. The hand dryers are also built into the sinks, but the blast of air splatters soapy water back in my face. Didn’t anybody test these things?

The “fast food” lines are long, so I opted for a pre-made ham & swiss on a croissant with a bottle of water. Where’s the water? The coolers are fancy, with digital signage that is supposed to display what’s inside them, only all but one of them are dark. I peeked inside one door and the racks were completely full of product because nobody bothered to look in. They probably won’t sell much Coca-Cola today, and I wonder how much those stupid refrigerators cost and how often they will need to be repaired.

I walked around the counter to pay for my food and I find 3 self-serve kiosks, one was out of order. They are spaced too close together so even though one was not in use, I still had to wait for the people in front of me to finish. They took forever to check out, and so did I. The sandwich wrappers don’t have bar codes so you can’t scan them. Instead of figuring out the kiosk, I went to the solo cashier. She was friendly and acted like she wanted to be there, which was a relief. West Virginians are great people and they deserve much better. Glad I wasn’t low on gas. Princeton is just up the road and I’m stopping...

I have been here many times before the fire and after. Today was the first time since the reopen.

Here are the facts. The building, amazing... parking, awesome as always. I don't think they took any spots away for drivers. The food options, several. Restrooms clean and really nice. There is a Tamarack Art Store inside so you don't have to walk the hill to get a taste of it and purchase items. Great decision. I think they had something like this in the place before but not as big. They have the latest technology to run the place. Very modern. Love it!!!

Now for why the 3 stars and not 5. The restroom sinks don't work right, there are soap dispensers on each one, there are downed toilets. I feel they should have gotten the kinks out before opening, but what do I know?! I've literally never had to open a business before. And honestly, this alone wouldn't have factored into my rating.

But this did...I got a stuffed butterfly, granted, great quality and posable, a 12oz Topo-Chico can water, a slice of iced marble cake, prepackaged, and a croissant ham & Swiss sandwich, granted it comes with lettuce, tomato and onion and is the size of a whopper. $40.30!!!! The food was amazing and super fresh. But idk if it was worth $15!!!

Another thing that hella annoyed me... there are self check out kiosks, right?! When you go to pay, THEY ASK FOR A TIP!!!! Are you freaking kidding me?! FOR WHAT?!

This tipping culture needs to STOP and NOW!!! These workers need to get paid a livable wage, and not be our responsibility. I am to the point I'm not going to tip anyone anymore, PERIOD!!! (I lived off of tips for 15 years, so don't come at me with that.) Simply put, it is wage theft for establishments not to pay their employees a proper wage and expect the public to!!! Idc if it is legal, doesn't make it right!!! It needs to stop!!!

I will include photos of the items I bought. (I apologize for the fact that the actual product is missing. I didn't think to take a pic...

Excited to see the new place. I visited twice in 2 days, had purchases I wanted to make, was at the register to do so, but ended up not spending one red cent. I have rules about who gets my money. I spend $4000 a yr. at Starbucks across the south. That # will be less than $500 in 2025. 1st visit to the new plaza and I encountered a barista that was not Starbucks material so I cancelled my order and left. But that's a Starbucks issue that's ubiquitous across the Earth.

Next day Second visit, lets give Starbucks another shot at my money. Hmmm, they're the only place not open. Which is another common issue with them. So Red Bull it is. Hmmm, they're out of stock in the size I need, but I can see it in the back of the cooler. Folks who care know that's lost sales. So I grab the smallest Red Bull that pushes $6. At this point, I'm fine with it. I'll ask the cashier about the other size. Oh, it's self checkout only. I hate self check out and when it's the only option it screams out from the business "We couldn't care less about our customers, except for your payment card" Still ready to make the purchase though. I'm ready to overpay for an item I had to settle for. I scanned it, got a total, and wait for it.....the folks in charge of receiving my money decide to ask, via the machine, how much of a tip I want to leave. No tip and no sale. Plenty of people tolerate this level of laziness, mediocrity, and couldn't care less attitude. I wish they didn't because they are part of the problem. To the consumers of this review, make them earn your money, where ever you may be and together we can "Make Customer Service...