Suburban Extended Stay Bay Meadows

1. The smell was nauseating. I reserved a non-​smoking room. They lost the reservation, I ended up in a smoking room. But it wasn’t just cigarette smells… it stank of dog, pot, mold and mildew.
2. Toilet randomly would start running, and would spray the lid and slowly wet down the floor (maybe this was a smell culprit?).
3. The staff were hit-​and-​miss. One girl, though nice, was obviously on drugs. I had the power go out in my room (lost all I had in the fridge), notified them as I was leaving in the morning, eight hours later and a) it wasn’t fixed and b) the maintenance man was gone. I had to teach the man at the desk how to reset a circuit breaker. I changed my own light bulbs that blew.
4. I specifically told them the date I needed to check out when I arrived (since they lost my initial reservation). Get back to the room the evening before, I’m locked out… they put in my new reservation correctly, but allegedly didn’t charge me through the final night.
5. There is a lot of obvious drug trafficking happening here.
6. Overall the hotel looks good… on the outside. The rooms I saw inside (two besides my own) are dirty, in very poor repair, and stink.
7. The telephone in the room never worked, though I mentioned it to them several times (starting with the second day I was there).
8. It is a franchise… calling the corporate offices is useless, they just refer you back to the local manager (who is rarely on the premises and is not interested in customer service in any way).
Avoid this hotel at any cost. It is a drug/​lowlife/​prostitute infested pit, it stinks, it’s filthy, and I’m sorry I ever booked it. Don’t believe the website photos… it is nothing like that in real life. The only hotel I’ve been in that was worse was one I was shot at in, and this is a very close second.

My husband and I stayed here for one night on our way down to Miami. For the price, you really can’t beat it. Our room was clean, and had a fridge, microwave, and TV so we were fine for just one night. The only thing I can complain about is that the water in the shower the next morning only got to be lukewarm, and it took about 10 minutes. It’s not the Ritz, and I’d never go here for a vacation, but for one night it was perfect for us. Also, the location is great – lots of restaurants close by and even a dollar tree which was great for picking up some bottled water and a couple of other things to get us through our trip.

What a filthy, run down pit! Holes in the walls, barely running water pressure, dirty, stained carpet, sticky floor, and I’m praying my body isn’t covered in bedbug bites in the morning. ChoiceHotels should be ashamed of this brand and Jacksonville should condemn thus property.

*PART ½ (character limitations!)…
RAT TRAP ALERT! I’ve stayed in many «budget» hotels, but this… THIS WAS BEYOND PATHETIC. I’ll TRY to keep this as somewhat brief as I can, but fair warning, it’s gonna be a long one. We were at the rear of the motel, 3^rd floor (a somewhat sketchy area). A letter to the hotel chain is in the works since the local mgmt doesn’t give a damn. And one quick note before getting started: This is labeled as a HOtel. Incorrect. This is a MOTEL in every sense of the word. All EXterior entrances. Thin walls. NOISY. Large crack between the door & wall (enough to see through & slide papers through) at the bottom (the door was not hung properly/​evenly).
We booked a QUEEN NON-​SMOKING room. We were given a TINY, ‘FULL’ room & were nearly knocked over by the loathsome smell of cigarette smoke upon entering the room. Gag (that scent triggers migraines for me, so that’s why a n/​s room is important). For this to be an «extended» stay establishment we were appalled at the miniscule size of the room. Barely enough room to move around once several bags were in place, and a Full room is CLEARLY not designed for two people. The reason for not being given the Queen room that was «CONFIRMED» was that they only have «like five in the entire place» (per the front desk) and the one that was to be ours, the last person didn’t check out — so we were stuck w/​this.
Upon unpacking and beginning to inspect the room, we noticed how utterly FILTHY it was, from the dingy walls & doors, to the dirty shower stall, to the sticky crud around the cook top/​backsplash & vent hood, to the dirt on the shower head. How long had it been since this room was CLEANED??? Just take a look at the pics I’ve attached. The shelf beneath the sink was brown, literally, from caked on dirt that had somehow been overlook (obviously time & again) by the cleaning staff. The silverware caddy had dirty spots on it, so thank God we brought disposable cutlery; we weren’t ABOUT to use their dishes. All of the shelves had a brownish-​orange film on them… something a swipe of the Clorox wipes we bought remedied… so why couldn’t THEIR CLEANING CREW do that???
Now more about their «cleaning» policy — rooms are cleaned once weekly. My partner stayed at another Suburban Extended Stay (same exact chain, part of his rewards program) in Richmond VA and their rooms are cleaned DAILY. Here, you must PAY… yup friends, PAY to have your room cleaned more often (see pic). WTF? At least they do provide one «regular» size trash can in the room to hopefully accommodate one week’s worth of trash. They also provide a spare bag; that way you can take your own trash to their dumpster if necessary before your once weekly cleaning… at least that way it remains free. Nice perk.
The bed had a blue fleece blanket on it under the main comforter w/​these odd «spots» on it that were «tacky» to the touch. When was the last time it was washed appropriately? We went to Wal-​Mart and purchased a set of sheets to use since we weren’t’ comfortable sleeping on theirs. Oh, BTW, that same comforter was on the bed AFTER the so-​called Wednesday cleaning. Hmmm…
There was supposed to be an iron & board in all rooms, which I needed. Of course this room did not. We also noticed that we needed addt’l washcloths & pillows (the 2 on the bed were like pancakes), so I called down to the front desk to ask for these. NO HELP THERE. They were «out» of ALL OF THESE items. Seriously? Pretty sure that was a lie & a case of too LAZY to help. This necessitated yet another purchase from Wal-​Mart to get a cheap pillow that I could actually sleep on.
And now, the bugs. What would a 5-​star room be without the tiny little bugs? Noticed those crawling on the wall next to the a/​c unit, all gathered in a line. Teeny tiny little brown bugs. GROSS! Called the front desk to ask if they could spray since we were under the impression the place was full. OF COURSE NOT. They would have to call an outside vendor and just wait on their schedule. There was an offer to move us, but we were hesitant since the entire place looked so bad & it was a 1^st floor room, which I loathe, ESPECIALLY in a motel like this. But we had to wait for him to call us back since he was checking someone else in. That call came just after 11pm, conveniently when the office closes. ONLY because we had to be up at 5am the next morning to make it to my appts, we declined his offer to «look» at the room, potentially re-​pack, then unpack again (9+ bags total). We didn’t suffer any issues w/​these again, but they did reappear at the end of our stay. I called the desk again & advised the room needed to be bombed & cleaned thoroughly before letting anyone else stay in it. Don’t think they cared though.