We were on our way to visit a graduate school in Tennessee from Iowa and we thought we would drive until we were too tired to continue. That was probably our first mistake. Once the clock rolled past one in the morning, we decided to find the lowest priced place possible in a town called "Mt. Vernon Illinois." We tried a few places and all were either full or just above $60. Determined to find a low priced place, we kept looking. When we reached the "America's Best Value Inn" (ABVI) it was almost 2 AM, and to make it to Nashville in time for our appointment, we had to leave at 6 AM. We decided to take the ABVI's $54 for the night rate without looking at the room.
The building is four stories tall, but they apparently only use the lower two floors. Our room was on the second floor, and the entry was external. To get to the second floor, however, we had to use a common interior staircase. The staircase corridor was disgusting - it was probably not cleaned in months if not years. Graffiti lined the walls and the elevator door. We opted to take the staircase, which was in poor structural shape.
When we finally reached our room, we noticed that the exterior walls were extremely thin and littered with holes. Some rooms were in much worse shape than ours, so begrudgingly we entered the room. The key carded entry was nice, but the walls of the hotel were so thin that we determined if someone really wanted to get in, nothing would stop them. The room seemed nice at first, but after a closer inspection it seemed to have not been used in months. The floors were disgusting, there was dust over everything, the bathroom counters had major burn marks all over them, and the water was orange when we first turned it on. Also the toilet did not flush. The beds were uncomfortable, and when we peeled back the sheets there was feeling of uncleanliness that pervaded. When was the last time this room was cleaned, and the linens replaced? The yellowed pillow covers left much to be desired.
When we awoke the next morning, the sun cast some light on our predicament: there were holes on one of the walls, and the room was a lot dirtier than we thought before. As I was getting up, I dropped something behind the nightstand. When I moved it away far enough to retrieve my fallen item, I saw a dead roach behind the nightstand. At that point we got out of the room as fast as possible.
After checking out, we drove around the building to see what the place we stayed at looks like in the daylight. What a wreck! The building was cut in half at one point in time. The ground was torn up too, so there was obviously another half of the build that had been demolished perhaps months earlier. I wonder why they kept this half? It was in really poor shape.
Avoid this hotel, please. It should have probably been demolished with the other half of it. The people were awfully nice at the front desk, however. The only problem with the building is upkeep. When we arrived in Nashville, the Super 8 we stayed at was quite nice, and we probably should have stayed at one when we were traveling on Interstate 57.
