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Dirtiest Hotels in the United States
Hotels are filthy places. As fellow Gadling blogger Scott recently told us, hotel rooms aren't always cleaned as well as we would like. Imagine how many people have touched that television remote before you arrived. Or, for your sanity's sake, don't. And for the love of all that you consider holy, do not run a blacklight over your sheets and bedspread. But some hotels are filthier than others. And the folks at TripAdvisor have used reader reviews to compile their annual list of Dirtiest Hotels in the United States.
New York City (where I live) is home to two of the "top" three dirtiest hotels. Coming in at number one is the Hotel Carter and at number three is the New York Inn. The reader reviews for the Hotel Carter don't pull any punches.
Roaches, rats, mice, horrible smells, dirty sheets, horrifying bathrooms, outlets that hang out of walls...
This hotel was the filthiest,most unsanitary place I have seen ever. From the smell when you walk into the room to the plastic wrapped around the mattresses.
There are bed bugs in this hotel and you don´t easily see these bugs, but after one night you see the bites and they itch terribly for many days!
Welcome To Hell.
It could be worse than bed bugs, though. You could find a corpse under your bed, which a housekeeper at the Hotel Carter did in 2007. The upside to this story? It proves that they have housekeepers!
Strange Hotels from Around the World
Filed under: North America, United States, Hotels and Accommodations, Internet Tools, Travel Health, Consumer Activism
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)
david Jan 29th 2009 1:28PM
a hint...if the lobby smells of curry sauce and the person behind the desk can't speak english fluently, drive on.
Sandi Jan 29th 2009 2:38PM
Doesn't the Dept of Health inspect these places? Why aren't they shut down and put out of business? I stayed at a Super 8 in Torrington, CT about 5 years ago. It was horrible. The room smelled like cat pee. The carpeting was old and musty, peeling wallpaper, dirty bathroom. I will never stay at a Super 8 again.
Diane Jan 31st 2009 12:03AM
my boyfriend and I travel alot, and i have to say that motel 6 has to be the dirtiest place i've ever had to call home for the night! the sheets had burns all the way through to mattress, the lights flickered which gave the room that "death is coming for you " feeling... i kept my shoes on , even in the shower , my mom did not raise a fool!
brian Feb 1st 2009 4:47PM
Days Inn in downtown Nashville. Absolutely disgusting. We usually stay at the Courtyard however everything was booked and this dump was the only thing available. When we arrived in the lobby I knew it was bad, but the room was unbelievable, everything was outdated and dirty, I was afraid to touch anything. It had mold in the sink and the shower. Filthy, moldy carpets and drapes and when I got up in the morning I noticed blood on the wall. Needless to say I grabbed my bag which I didn't dare unpack and left this pig sty without showering and did not return.
seawitch1313 Jan 31st 2009 6:45AM
and people think my husband and I are crazy for preferring camping over so-called luxury hotels! No thanks...........you can keep your bed bugs, i'll fight the mosquitos LOL
Leslie Jan 31st 2009 6:48AM
In the late 70's, I entered the military service. I was put up in a sleezy hotel within about a block of the Greyhound Bus station in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. That place had to be the worst hotel ever. The sheets on the bed were not changed (judged by the amount of pubic hair still on the sheets), and when you laid down on the bed (on my coat so I wouldn't have to lay on filthy linen), the view was of hundreds of tiny spit balls of paper on the ceiling of the room. Roaches were everywhere, and there was a hole in the door. As disgusting as it was, through the years it has become a favorite story of mine to tell. Some things should be experienced once in a lifetime. Guess this was mine.
pat Jan 31st 2009 7:59AM
I worked at the Atlanta Hilton. I saw HUGE rats in kitchens way above ground level and many times the sewage was so deep in the basement that the garbage stored there floated around in mass. YUCK!!!!!!!!
Ultimate Cheapskate Jan 31st 2009 8:16AM
I stay at the Hotel Carter frequently when I'm in NYC. I don't think it's that bad, particularly for $99 in the heart of NYC. Of course it's not for a lot of people, but if you've traveled in poorer parts of the world, it's on a par with typical hotels in those countries. I always meet a lot of travelers from Asia, Central America, and Africa staying at the Carter, and they don't seem to mind the conditions, even though by America standards it's, apparently, the "Dirtiest Hotel" in the entrire country.
bob Jan 31st 2009 8:54AM
If you think all HYATTS are nice
dont stay in the one in Buffalo New York.
ITS TERRIBLE AND DIRTY....................
William Conklin Jan 31st 2009 8:59AM
The Carter is a "classic" flea bag. As it rises, there are "layers" where it becomes smaller and there is some kind of little balcony around it. They top the edge with this wrought iron spike topped fence to keep you from jumping. So, on day I'm walking and look up to check out the "fuss" and some guy jumped from up high, didn't get out far enough, landed and impaled himslelf on one of those spike topped barriers (you cansee them in the pictures here). He didn't die...they cut the pole, took him pole and all to the hospital. Don't know if he made it but it was (and apparantly is still) a real "Roach Motel". On another hand...if you travel a lot for business....Most of the Patel Motels are pig pens. These are bought by Pakistani's or Indians (Patel is like "Smith", I guess) and they just don't get or don't care about American standards of cleanliness! When I saw Abu at the counter, I just cancelled my stay and left...Yuck
Betty Jan 31st 2009 9:19AM
The ODESSA Motel located on Rt. 70 about 60 miles east of Kansas City MO. This place is not just unclean. It was flat out FILTHY. There was stickie dirt under the beds, scum around the bottom of the bathroom walls... Sheets were thread bare and had PUBIC HAIR STUCK TO THEM. Public hair was stuck on the pillow cases. It was so late and we were so tired we tried to get the manager to just give us clean sheets. He refused! Also the short time we were there, whores were bringing their clients in and out the adjoining rooms every 20 min or so. sick sick... We left and drove into KC to get a decent room.
NEVER STOP IN ODESSA, MO.
William Conklin Jan 31st 2009 1:02PM
Ok..second post but I got a lot of "hotel" stories..lol.
I was in a really remote area outside of Tupelo. The hotels in Tupelo were full from a Furniture Show in town and this was the only one even remotly close to Tupelo.
The place smelled, bathroom was just dirty, had some mold, tile grout was black, smelled, you get the picture. I KNEW there was NOTHING available so, I left my stuff packed in the car and went to the Kroger's down the street. Bought cleaner, tile cleaner, mildew remover, throw away rags, window cleaner and went to work...scoured the bath, top to bottom..it sparkled! took down the bath shower curtain and washed it in the (provided) coin op washer the hotel offered. Went over the room, the windows, polished the furniture..(lemon scent, of course) cleaned all the drawrs. washed the sheets and sprayed the bedspread with a disinfectant spray that had a plesant smell. When I was done..it was still a dump but a really clean dump. I didn't tell them what I did but when "houskeeping" (I use the term loosely) came in the next day, I'll bet it was a surprise! I even told them I spilled something and borrowed the vaccuum cleaner...gave it a good going over. Cost? Still less than the hotel in town I usually stayed at and peace of mind? Tolerable, at least.
Raafia Jan 31st 2009 10:19AM
So all i want to know is if these hotels are so bad, why are they still here? they should be shut down.
moe walker Jan 31st 2009 10:21AM
Do NOT ever open a drain underneath a sink in any hotel. We had tried to get management to unclog our sink and finally my husband did. A syringe hit him in the hand. I'm serious. This at a chain hotel in Utah.
It's true that you don't know who has been in the room before but what is with this meth and crack stuff?
Where do they all get the money to stay hotels all the time.
Long story short. I took him to the hospital with a syringe and reported it to the CDC. Insane stuff going on at hotels.
Nicole Jan 31st 2009 10:27AM
There is a hotel in Birmingham, AL that is NASTY!!!!! I forgot the name, but it's off the exit that goes to Jasper, AL and has a security fence around it.... The floors turned our feet black, and the shower had 2 used tampons in it.... Needless to say, we didn't stay.... It's hidious and needs to be shut down!!!!!!!!
Christine Jan 31st 2009 10:39AM
ME, and my school band, went out to Peoria, IL, for a competition, and we stayed at the crappiest hotel, the Ramada. it was like an Indian hotel, the ladies serving the food were touching it without gloves, the beds where really hard, the pool was in the middle of the hotel, just open, no gates or anything, there where all these flags on the ceiling. the ceiling had no lights, it was like pitch black, there where so many plants, and there where ripped up rooms. that had to be the worst hotel I've ever stayed at. thank god it was one night!
Jo Jan 31st 2009 10:34AM
OMG one of the worst hotel EVER was Motel 6 in Allentown, Pa. We had our honeymoon there it was horrid! The bed broke (just sitting on it) so the manager "upgraded" us to an even worse room. We didnt even take our socks or shoes off. Blech. Then in the middle of the night we heard a train and jumped out of the bed cause it sounded like it was going to come right thru the room-we looked out the window (and btw there were tons of roaches sitting on the sill) and there was railroad tracks less than 40' from us.
And just when you thought it couldnt get worse?
Quality Inn in Sandusky, Oh was even worse. I was mortified when I walked into the room. Carpet and bed were filthy-the bathroom was old green tiles that were all moldy, the sink leaked constantly, the window frame around the shower was all moldy and rotten. I didnt even want to use the potty. No doubt in my mind that you could rent those rooms by the hour, they were disgusting.
The bad thing about that trip was for years I always stayed at another nice hotel (Econolodge) in Sandusky and decided to try some place different and cheaper. NEVER again will I do that.
And for those of you who think getting a room online in safe-found both these gems on Hotels.com
carl angers Jan 31st 2009 10:46AM
Try the Frontier in Edinburg, TX. Half of the motel is single rooms with a carport per room and these are rented in the increments of an hour. The staff will run out between each use and clean the room. The other half of the motel has it's own live in exercise mat. Fine if you like them 5' tall and 225 lbs. with three kds in the room.
Julie Jan 31st 2009 10:54AM
A colleague and I travelled to Detroit to do some work for a University. Our hotel accomodations were arranged by a third-party source who put us in a Day's Inn in Detroit. The hotel was also used as subsidized housing for welfare folk who spilled Cheese Curls and other food in the elevator on a daily basis and went down the elevator in their bathrobes to send their 18 kids off to the school bus. There was profanity written on the doors, filth in the carpet that was sticky, two spiders in my room, and the one blanket on the bed was shredded. Here's the coup de gras: my colleague opened the basket on her in-room coffee maker in the morning and discovered a USED condom in there! - Needless to say, we demanded a better hotel the next night, and if we hadn't arrived lost and after midnight the first night, we'd have run for our lives even sooner!
Ray Jan 31st 2009 10:57AM
The Rocking Horse in Estes Park, CO. gets my vote. I stayed there one night with my family 12 years ago and it still is by far the worst we have encountered. I travel a lot and have run into a lot of bad ones over the years, but The Rocking Horse was by far the worst.