I paid for a room at the location on 1100 S. Fort Hood in Killeen through Hotwire. It cost me $82.00 for one night. Little did I know what awaited me on 3/16/2011.
The hotel is located in a not-so-desirable part of Killeen. I should have known something was wrong when I pulled into the parking lot at 9:30 p.m. and saw two "working girls" leaving the hotel on foot. Anyone can tell they're "working girls." No one dresses like that unless they're in the business.
Inside, the lobby had a bad smell. I don't know what it was. It took about 15 minutes to check in because the lady behind the counter was having problems coding the access cards. Meanwhile a young African-American girl is pacing the lobby. She's holding her little girl by the hand and is talking on a cell phone. Her conversation goes along these lines: "If he ever lays a hand on me again, I will kill him. I am not his possession."
On the check-in counter is a sign that reads: No Refunds WIll Be Given After 10 Minutes. This is their way of saying they will not rent rooms by the hour. That's commendable, but if they have to announce it, it means the rooms are being used to conduct sexual business.
My non-smoking room is located next to another room where I hear children crying and a woman yelling at them to pipe down. I go back to the front desk and ask for another room. 15 minutes later, I've secured another room next to the ice machine at the back of the hotel. This is supposed to be a non-smoking room, but I can tell someone has smoked in this room.
As I'm unloading my car, another vehicle slowly pulls up next to me. Windows are tinted. It sits, idyling for 3 - 5 minutes. Eventually, three rough-looking youths exit the car. They are each holding an open bottle of liquor, and I can tell they've had a little too much to drink. I notice they're eyeballing my worthless littlle car and my bicycle on the bike rack. They enter the hotel through the back door. The card reader at the back door isn't working, so anyone can walk inside.
I took eveything out of the car: luggage, cooler, bike, bike rack, pillows, water bottles -everything. I emptied out the glove compartment of all vehicle registration paperwork. As I'm entering my room, I see that the three guys are visiting someone in the room next to me. They're boisterous and they're in a bad mood. I hear one of them say that if the occupant of the room doesn't open the door, "I'm gonna be all over his a - -."
I'm not a little guy and I'm not easily intimidated, but I was tired and the last thing I wanted was to stay in a questionable hotel with shady characters.
While I unloaded my car and made several trips into the room, I saw a number of people in the parking lot. Some were just milling around. It's almost 10:00 p.m. It's dark outside. It's a little chilly. What are these guys doing just milling around outside a hotel? Maybe they're all nice people, but they sure look suspicious! One guy jumped into his car and drove away with loud music blaring from him car stereo.
When I layed down to sleep, the bed sunk down so that my feet were noticeably higher than my head. I flipped and put my feet toward the head boad. Now my head was higher than my feet.
While most of the night was quiet. I did wake up twice during the night. Once, because someone was playing loud music in their car stereo. The second time because someone in the hall way was holding a very loud conversation.
The room was somewhat clean. The TV remote was sticky -yuk! The bathroom floor felt tacky. Maybe it hadn't been mopped in a long time. The tub had some visible grunge. Enough grunge that I decided not to shower.
I got the heck out of that place at 6:50 a.m. the following morning.
I will never again stay at an America's Best Value.
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