My husband and I recently had a wonderful trip to Scotland and Ireland. Our last stop on the two week trip was two nights at the Best Western in Galway Ireland. The Galway Races were in town resulting in higher than normal hotel prices and hoards of people of all ages. For an average of $300 dollars a night we were able to get a room at the Best Western—about a 20 minute walk to city center.

Upon our arrival at the hotel we were greeted by friendly folks at the reception counter and a nicely kept lobby—simple but nice—what I would expect from a Best Western. However, the room we were given was an olfactory disaster. The hotel is a bit older and has an “older” smell about it but the room was just awful. The fact that the bathroom was the size of an armoire and smelled of mold… fine; the bedspreads, while dated, fine; the cramped size of the room, fine; the fact that the towels are balancing on a bar next the toilet paper resulting in them falling into the toilet, fine. The room was dingy and unclean. I’m not sure if the carpets were old, the mattresses were past their prime, or someone had previously heaved on my pillow and the floor, but it was a smell we couldn’t sleep with. At first I thought it was just me being over-sensitive to the musty smell of old pillows, but when my husband (who’s not critical enough about some smells) said something about the stench of the pillow I knew it was bad. We threw the pillows in the hall and used the other two provided, but the smell persisted; it was lurking elsewhere within the room.

We are not a high-maintenance couple, we aren’t demanding or looking for luxury—just a clean bed and shower.

I was so disappointed with the cleanliness and overall maintenance of the room. It was stuffy and dated and sickening. For being our last hotel on a wonderful trip, we were very diappointed. We slept with our heads where our feet should have been for two nights; still miserable. I wouldn’t have paid $50 for that room let alone $300—a three star hotel, are you kidding me!? I also wondered if all the other guests of older age and dressed to the nines were given a similar-type room. Or were we the young couple tucked away in the “rowdy” corridor. Given the widely mixed reviews, I’m guessing there are drastic variations on the rooms and the price you pay isn’t the only determining factor on which room you get. I’ve never been so grossed out.

We left a comment card with the reception desk—not sure that will do anything so thought we’d write as well. I felt cheated. The rooms aren’t anything like the pictures on the site—not the one we were in, anyway. And the service and facilities weren’t anything like what we would expect from a Best Western. Very disappointing. No way a three star hotel--worse than some roadside motels in The States!