Cascade Inn

Where to begin with this place? We were visiting Bellingham during an apparently very busy weekend so we could move our son into the dorms at Western Washington University. The hotel was only about 5 minutes from campus, and was the only one we researched that still had vacancies, so despite the negative reviews, we gave it a try. In retrospect, we should have taken our chances driving around and looking for a room. Some of the issues:
— The «non-​smoking» room they gave us smelled strongly of smoke
— No shampoo provided
— Shabby carpet
— Hard, uncomfortable pillows
— No coffee in the room
— GIANT spider in the bathroom
— WAY overpriced for the area (not the nicest neighborhood)
It was very disappointing, and though we planned to stay two nights, checked out after one. Can’t recommend it at all.

Not the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in — at least there were no cockroaches, though I’m still keeping a paranoid eye out for lice — but definitely in the bottom five. Sketchy neighborhood (but with no peephole in the door), «non-​smoking» room that reeked of cigarette smoke, broken furniture, etc. We were desperate or we would have turned right around and left. As it was, we left somewhere around six AM.
The two actual pluses — not too much street noise, despite being right next to a fairly busy one — and directly across the road from some damn good Thai food.