i drove to panama city beach a couple of days ago just to get away. it was a last minute decision and i knew not making hotel reservations was probably not a good idea. i was on a limited budget and stopped at the holiday inn sunspree (across the street from super 8) since i had stayed there a couple of months ago and loved it. they wanted $115 for one night. that was a little out of my price range (but still a good deal, the hotel is nice and all of the rooms have a view of the gulf)

so i decided to hit super 8 across the street. i was tired, it was 11pm. i pulled in and almost lost control of my vehicle at 5mph from the huge drop off and potholes. i walked into the rather small area where the front desk was and i got a room for $49. i got my room key and parked next to the elevator. i was the only car in the parking lot. there was absolutely no one staying at the hotel whatsoever, i felt kind of creeped out. from the looks of the elevator itself and its surroundings, i didn't feel like dying so i took the stairs. paint peeling off the walls/steps... paint was faded on the hotel room doors. i got up to the third floor and entered my room.

the a/c was on full blast so it felt like i was walking into a freezer. upon sitting down my bags the smoke alarm kept chirping every minute or so. i had to remove the battery. the room itself was pretty clean, but visibly old and worn. the ceiling had previously been a popcorn ceiling, but obviously had been sanded and plastered sloppily. the walls were a nauseous green color and in bad condition. the toilet had old urine on the side of it and acted like it was going to flood over before finally deciding to flush. the shower looked to be from the 60s with old hardware and took literally 10 minutes to warm up. the walls around the shower were falling apart and cracking. the bathroom door did not close properly. the corner of the vanity had been sawed off to allow for the bathroom door to even open.

at 5am, i was shaken awake by what sounded to be firecrackers in the parking lot next door. i did have an ok view of the ocean from the third floor, only seeing it between the two buildings across the street. later that morning i turned in my room key only to be presented with "thank you"... no receipt, nothing.

for $49 across the street from the gulf, it was an okay deal. i wouldn't stay here again though, i didn't feel safe, the room had that creepy feel to it (similar to the movie "vacancy"), i felt more like i was staying in the middle of an old country town instead of on a beach.

The first problem was when I went online to book the room. Every time I hit book it, it told me that i needed to come back later. When I called to confirm and make sure all was well before we left, they had booked me for 3 rooms. Then told me they could not cancel the 2 extra rooms and that I needed to go back online and cancel them.
When we arrived at the motel, the first odor to hit us in the lobby was cigarette smoke very thick. My husband asked if they had a rest room in the lobby and we were told no. We went on up to our room and it was horrible. It had a perfumed over stale cigarette smoke odor. The microwave refrigerator coffee pot was sitting under the rod that should have been used for our clothes. There were cigarette burns in the carpet. We were in there less that 10 minutes and the three of us walked out feeling very sick. Physically sick. We all three had headaches and were very light-headed. We left to find another room in another motel. When my husband told the clerk of the condition of the room, he only said that it was a non -smoking room. Well my husband took pictures of the cigarette burn in the carpet so we know someone broke those rules. I will never stay at another Super 8 and will write to the various motel services and ask that this motel be taken off their list so as not to ruin their reputations, If you read the other reviews on this site you will see that most of the reviews are terrible. They even had the gall to take my money for the one night. I wonder how many other people get taken by this motel in a years time.

I stayed here with my family 2 years ago. Walked into the room, and first thing you smell is urine and mold. Bed sheets were stained, bedframe was broken, bathroom was extremely dirty - couldn't sleep because of the putrid smell. Staff was not friendly about it. Don't stay here if you are allergic to mold.

I thought that this hotel was wonderful. Not only did it have a homey feel about it, the staff was excellent. Yes we did find a few beer cans under the bed and we had to change our sheets when we got there, but it was a beautiful oasis-like resort.