America’s Best Value Inn

A quick perusal of the America’s Best Value Inn will tell you that it’s America’s fastest growing hotel chain having gone from two properties to over 1,000 in North America over the past 13 years. They were apparently also named the highest rated brand in the economy category based on the 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Equity Score.
Apparently, the folks at Harris didn’t go to the America’s Best Value Inn in Decatur, Indiana, a location that is easily on the extreme low end of a chain that I’ve used multiple times before in other locations. To be fair to America’s Best Value Inn, a huge part of my pet peeve here is borne out of the absolutely pathetic lack of wheelchair accessibility throughout the hotel and, in being honest, they don’t actually advertise that they’re accessible.
I get that. I understand it. There’s always a hazard in reserving a room online. When you have a serious disability, it really does pay to try to actually use the phone so that you can ask all the questions you need to ask. Unfortunately, I have a major aversion to phones and tend to reserve my travel online. While the Decatur America’s Best Value Inn doesn’t actually advertise being accessible, the fact is I did specify in my reservation that I needed wheelchair access and I did tell them I’m in a wheelchair. So, common sense would dictate that if you couldn’t meet my need you’d either e-​mail me or contact me by phone so that I could be fully informed. I’ve had hotels/​motels do this on more than one occasion.
Then, there’s simply the fact that these days I expect a hotel/​motel to offer at least something resembling an accessible room. The only other time I’ve been disappointed on this level was at a Motel 6 in Richmond, Indiana.
I arrived at this location, pulled into the parking lot and instantly realized we had a problem. It was kind of funny, because I’d wondered why the conference I was attending had recommended out-​of-​town hotels rather than the 2 – 3 that were in town.
I quickly figured it out.
I chuckled as I pulled in and realized they had one wheelchair accessible parking spot. It was complete with a little aisle next to it to give room for a wheelchair but, here’s the kicker, they had no curb cuts anywhere. Let’s see. Wheelchair parking. No wheelchair access?
So, I had to crawl up a step to get on the sidewalk after parking my car. I then went into the front lobby/​office area and, you guessed it, had to crawl another step to get in the door and then come face-​to-​face with a lobby counter that was immensely taller than am I. While I’d noticed that most of the front row rooms had a step going into them, the exact same situation as the Motel 6 in Richmond, Indiana, part of me just assumed they’d have something somewhere.
I was wrong. So, yes, I had to go back to my car and crawl back down two steps to get my stuff. Then, I had to crawl back up to the sidewalk and crawl into my room. I wasn’t happy.
There were a couple of plusses here that keep me from giving the place a 1-​star rating. First, the room itself was clean and you could tell there had clearly been an effort to spruce up the place. Secondly, the wifi was fantastic and lightning quick. There was no hassle to sign into it and it was definitely on the better end of hotel wifi.
Unfortunately, those two things can’t compensate for all the other hassles. Not surprisingly, the bathroom wasn’t even close to accessible and I could barely get towards the kitchen area. The hotel advertises cable/​HBO, but not a single channel was picked up on my room’s television. Given how much crawling I had to do and the fact that the bed was a tad high for me, I definitely struggled throughout my stay and didn’t feel well by the end. The final kicker, beyond the fact that I’d have had to crawl up the office step again to avail myself of the complimentary breakfast, was the fact that the rooms all have external doors that lead outside and about 2am I had a couple people two doors down who felt the need to sit outside and talk rather loudly. This happened on and off for the next couple hours.
A fairly friendly staff and very good wifi isn’t enough to compensate for an over-​priced room (right about $ 50) with poor wheelchair access, a non-​working television, and disruptive neighbors.
Would I go back? Not a chance.