It's a small & nice Hotel, with Fitness Center, swimming pool end jacuzzy (only for summer). In the rooms you have high speed wifi connections, small fridge and microwave. The staff was very nice and helpful. They have a shuttle service which will help me a lot.

We booked a room at this hotel at the last minute when we lost power (and water) to our house in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. We received a decent AAA rate (100/night plus a $25 pet fee). The room was cramped but comfortable with two double beds. Further inspection did notice a few things that one wouldn't expect to find in a Best Western "Plus" facility: a very small bathroom with signs of past water damage near the floorboards; wallpaper bubbling from the wall at the seams, and spiders.

The most disappointing thing about this hotel is that it is laid out in the style of a motor inn with entrances on the exterior (I suspect it used to be a HoJo's because there is a former HoJo's restaurant next door, now the Hollywood Grill). This is fine if you have one of the rooms facing inwards towards the pool area, but we were relegated to the outside of the hotel facing the parking lot and very close to Route 202. Consequently, noise from the parking lot and 202 were not insignificant. It wasn't enough to keep me awake at night, but it was more than I would have expected. There was also a huge puddle of water in the parking lot right outside our door from all the rainfall - I guess they were having drainage problems.

I do give the staff kudos for finding us a room that we could take occupancy of many hours before the official check-in time so we could all warm up and shower. That was much appreciated.

The hotel does offer a free continental breakfast catered by Manhattan Bagels with plenty of food and drinks.

In summary, this hotel is an interesting hybrid. It bills itself as a hotel for business travelers and those wishing to see the sights of the Brandywine Valley like Longwood Gardens and Winterthur, but in places it seems like a $45/night motor inn a trucker might stay in. Apparently the hotel does offer more luxurious rooms, but that was not what we were looking for that night - just a warm place with running water to sleep.

It's seldom that I would write a bad review, but my impression was the management doesn’t really care about the property. My coworker booked this place for $100/night on Priceline. The staff was very friendly and the morning breakfast was okay…but that’s about it. For a business traveler, the room was a total let down. It was cramped, this internet was slow, the bathroom was extremely small, the room had extension cords scattered about, the carpets were dirty and it just seemed like management did a shoddy job at keeping up the room &property. The worst part: I left the “do not disturb” sign on my door intentionally, but someone came into my room during anyway. All front desk could do was apologize and let management know. I would not recommend this place to anyone, period.

Like Capistrano sparrows, we return annually to places we like. Actually, we find the Best Western Plus Brandywine Valley Inn so convenient, we sometimes return two and three times in a year.

Located just off I95 in the outskirts of Wilmington, DE, it's convenient to Brandywine Valley cultural attractions (think Hagley, Nemours, Winterthur, Longwood Gardens) and to the art museums in Philadelphia, Wilmington, Chadds Ford, and Baltimore. And for us, it's a convenient stop-over for friends at the Delaware beaches, in Maryland, and northern Virginia.

It's often booked weeks and months in advance -- corporate business travelers for Astra-Zeneca, Ashland, and Dupont, and railroad, utility and construction crews find it handy, too -- so don't wait until the last minute to make reservations.

We think the Inn and the no longer associated diner next door used to be a Howard Johnson property, which accounts for the 1950's style motel construction underlying the Best Western Brandywine. The upshot? First floor rooms can be noisy, so book second floor when you can. We particularly like the suites (standard twin bed room with attached "living room" with fold-out couch, bathroom, and desk) when available.

The Best Western Brandywine has been renovated twice since we began staying there, the last time about five years. It's probably not ready for a major renovation: today it's clean, functional, but tired. It needs fresh carpet, paint, ding and dent repairs, and bathroom spruce-up. In short, it's clean, working, but stale.

Unfortunately, the staff is stale, too. No one's nasty or difficult, but from front desk to housekeeping, the staff is just going through the motions. Time for a new manager. And a fresh cup of coffee.