Sudbury Court Motel & Rv Park

The Sudbury Court is a Classic Mom & Pop motel.
As the director of the Route 6 Tourist Association, I have occasions to travel two lane highways many times per year. We sometimes do classic car tours across Iowa along America’s longest highway, and the Sudbury Court is one of my favorite stops.
(Before I go any further, I pay full price for my rooms, and they are not currently members of the association. So my review is neither biased nor solicited.)
My wife and I, along with several other couples on our tours have stayed there many times over the past 4 years, and have enjoyed reasonable rates, clean rooms, and great hospitality.
While the amenities are not fully up to some modern standards, the rooms are clean, well maintained, and comfortable, and do feature Wi-​Fi, AC, and cable. Sure, a mini fridge would be nice, but you also don’t find those in rooms that cost a great deal more every time.
Besides the great rates and comfort, you also can’t ignore the «cool» factor. How many motels these days have a neon sign? The Sudbury Court is a good old fashioned, well kept up, American owned piece of history. It’s hard to ask for more than that.
And here is the clincher. Because they are locally owned, and not part of some big chain, the money you spend with them stays in the community and benefits people near them. This is not only good for Marengo, Iowa, this is good for America.
Whenever you travel, try and do business with locally owned. It’s win-​win.

It’s cheap — and you get what you pay for.
The positives: the rooms are tidy, adequately spacious, and don’t smell weird. The owners are nice people. The bathroom (in my room at any rate) was recently redone. The setting is relatively quiet — there are literally corn fields across the street. And while it sits at the intersection of two highways, traffic on those highways is pretty light; plus the intersection is a four-​way stop so the cars are slowing down on their approach, meaning there’s much less wind, tire, and engine noise than if they were roaring by at full boil.
The negatives: the walls are thin enough that you can hear neighboring rooms’ televisions and/​or conversations fairly clearly. Décor is way outdated. There was no mini-​fridge which I consider a must even in the most base-​rate motels. For that reason alone I’d be hesitant to book a room here again.
The clincher between a 2-​star and a 3-​star rating was being woken up at 7:50am by the staff to retrieve a package they had delivered to my room while I was away but was intended for the next room over. For one, I had no intention of being up before 10am, needing desperately to get caught up on sleep. So much for that. For another, it also meant they had entered my room without my knowledge or permission. If they had something for me, they should have kept it at the front desk and left me a message. When I pay for a room, I also pay for privacy — whether I’m present or not. I’m sure they meant well enough but I was not pleased.
Bottom line: if you just need a clean, cheap, no-​frills place to crash at night after a hard day of… well, doing whatever the hell people do out in the middle of Iowa, this place has you covered. Just be sure to bring earplugs in case the folks next door aren’t the quiet type; and if you value your privacy, be sure to remind the owners to stay the hell out of your room.