Well... we decided we needed a relatively inexpensive place to stay as we were in the area of East Lyme for a week. We checked out a few hotels and stayed at others in the area including Quality Inn in Groton and the Griswold Inn in Essex. Well.. we arrived and the hotel had not changed much since I was a child in the 70s. New hotels and newly renovated ones surrounded the old 70s hotel. The restaurant formerly a HOJOs was now closed as well. The entry was updated and the entire place appeared to be in the long process of renovating, one room, one door at a time. The price was 40 bucks a nite which was was cheap. Our rooms.. were out of the 1970s and although on a non-smoking floor our rooms smelled of heavy smoke. The floor below had smoking and this had leaked through the floors. Bathroom was clean as was the room but dated. The pool formerly indoor was exposed and frozen. Ok it was the winter. There appeared to be some full rooms, mostly of construction workers and some migrant... more