For my wife, 2 daughters under 2 years old, and I, it was our first trip to Glenwood Springs for pleasure.

Searching through the various hotel options, the Starlight Lodge caught my eye for location [it's within easy walking distance of what's perhaps the town's main attraction, the hot springs pool] and for price [it was at least $50 less than the next comparable room I could find].

The pictures on their website looked great- clean, bright, vaulted ceilings [we were getting a room with a separate bedroom for the girls]- but when we arrived we found something quite different. Before going on, I want to say the desk clerk was super friendly, helpful, and pleasant. The room, though, not so much...

It turned out that the pictures from the website were from the room above us. On the ground floor the ceilings were low, the carpet, fixtures, and beds ancient [and I do mean OLD], and the feel was a little basement-like.

If it were for these things only it wouldn't have been a problem, really- the room was cheap [we know there're trade-offs with lower-cost places] and we're not snobby- but there were other troubles...

The walls were scuffed and stained, the floor in the bathroom torn, the carpets worn and not especially clean, and overall the room was not particularly clean. Especially with babies in tow- and even without- one wants a clean room.

A previous occupant's shaving stubble graced the sink, there were hairs in the tub- and the tub itself had built up dirt which made it clear it wasn't one lazy or harried cleaning which just didn't go well- it was a regular thing. The shower curtain also had several grime and mold spots. The alarm clock was, for lack of a better description, grubby and grimy, and there was a faint mold smell througout the rooms [especially strong in the bathroom]. The window in the girls' room had a broken lock and, if not for my jerking/pushing on it from outside [took a good 5-10 min to work on and figure out] it would've allowed anyone to come in. The bathroom window didn't lock, either, and it featured sheer, see-through curtains [not a problem in the daytime, but at night, when lit from within...].

Some other little things that bothered me included the fact there was no peephole in the door, it was a non-smoking room [I didn't smell any cigarette, to their credit] but each room was supplied with its own ashtray and matches, the shower handle was really weird and hard to operate, the bathroom was TINY [seriously, probably 30 square feet or so], there was a cobbled-together hatch/cover on the coat closet's floor which led to a creepy crawlspace under the room [my problem with this was the uneven, non-sealed or locked cover, not the existence of the crawlspace itself], and it was supposed to be a 3-queen-size bed room, but it actually had only 2 queens and a full [turned out not be a problem for us, as we all ended up sleeping in the same room, but still...]. Finally, some of the doors operated very noisily [which was a problem with sleeping infants and toddlers].

When we go on vacation, we'd like to stay in a room at least as nice as our home [it's not a mansion and, with 2 babies, not always all that clean], or maybe nicer. This room was far worse than our home. It was kinda stressful to stay there, honestly, and we won't be back.

I think some of their other rooms [like the ones pictured on their site] might be better, and, again, the clerk rocked it. Our room, though, was not good. We'll be paying the extra $50 or $100- heck, whatever it takes- to not be in the room I'm reviewing the next time we visit Glenwood Springs and, unfortunately, cannot recommend the Starlight Lodge based on our experience.