Microtel Inn & Suites Tuscumbia/Muscle Shoals

This is my first stay here and I had no issues. It was an unplanned trip. We did a «bug out» tonight to avoid impending tornadoes heading toward our home. We stayed here for a few hours until the wave of bad weather had passed and we were good to get back on the road.
Was the carpet stained? Yes. Was the window seating stained? Yes. Did the arrangement of lighting choices suck? Yes. But, was there a tub with very hot water? Yes! Was the bed clean and comfortable? Yes. Was the hotel pet-​friendly? Yes (for a fee). Was there free coffee, tea, bottled water, toothbrushes and popcorn? Yes. Was there a compassionate and understanding desk clerk? Yes. Were there multiple security door locks to protect you? Yes. Was there free Wi-​Fi? Yes, and it was fast.
Did you have any bad thoughts about the room? Yes… there are ZERO power outlets at the head of the bed so you can’t surf the net if you are low on battery power and the straight-​back chair at the desk area/​power outlet was UNCOMFORTABLE. The tub was narrow (at least in the single room we were assigned).
There was a breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, cereal, juice, pastries and waffles, but we left a few hours before it was available. There was a hair dryer in the bathroom and it worked very well, an iron and full size ironing board and a coffee pot with two packs (1 cup each) of coffee. Tea bags were available downstairs. There is a luggage cart to help you transfer from car to room and from room to car.
McDonald’s is across the street in case you get to needing a snack. There is only a can drink machine ($ 1.00) and ice machine on the floor.

Walls are very thin, and there is no apparent governor on TV volume. The guest in the room next to mine decided to keep the TV on and cranked up all night. Even with the AC fan turned on high all the time, couldn’t drown out the noise.
The room was neat, but the upholstery on the window seat had several really questionable stains. Like what is that white crusty stuff near the edge… do they charge by the hour or something?
I think if the rooms had better sound proofing (or a governor on the TV volume) and they cleaned stains from the upholstery this would be a much better place to stay.

Travel often enough and it won’t take long before you make every possible mistake, and probably invent some new ones. Such as booking your room at the Hilton Garden Inn for the day AFTER you need it, and finding there are no rooms available for someone with no reservation. Next thing you know, yo’re staying at the Microtel down the road.
Which wasn’t an entirely bad experience. The room was very compact, a step up from a Pullman car. Fine for one person. Two would be walking into each other, and four would possibly go mad if confined in there any length of time.
It was mostly clean looking. Cleanliness in hotels is largely an illusion due to hideous, far too commonly used quasi-​cleaning you don’t want to know about. At least it should LOOK clean.
Apparently, the designers figured people like illumination, because the only lighting in the room was an overpowering blaze of white light from a fluorescent fixture on the wall. I think if the curtains had been open my room could have been visible from space. The bed and coverings were kind of on the skimpy side, by my standards.
Amenities? Ha ha. A little bar of prison soap, that’s about it. Glad I brought my own. But, hey, $ 69 a night. Corners have to be trimmed back a little to achieve that el cheapo rate. I can’t recall if the room even had internet.
And then we arrive at the biggest corner to have been cut, the continental breakfast. Actually, this corner was chainsawed. In my prissy opinion, it was inedible. Fake powdered eggs just like they have on an Army base, toaster waffles, mystery meat sausage, nasty looking doughnuts, and other gross stuff, all just dumped out on a counter. There were a couple of guys eating it, but I couldn’t bring myself to touch it. I preferred to skip the breakfast and take pot luck on the road. I would have given this place an extra star if the breakfast had been appealing enough to be edible.
If you’re looking for a cheap place to bunk, and you aren’t too picky about anything else, Microtel ought to suit you just fine. But if not, be more careful making your reservations at better hotels.

I was in town for a little weekend getaway and on the recommendation of others, I decided to give this Microtel a shot. As a road warrior, I normally stay at Hilton, Marriott and the InterContinental brands and I’ve never stayed at a Microtel before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
Booking my reservation was a little difficult. I don’t speak Alabama-​ese, so the girl who answered my phone call had a lot of trouble understanding me (For the record, I speak non-​descript American English. Most people can’t tell where my «accent» is from). After about a 15 minute conversation, I finally managed to get a room booked.
On the day I arrived, I was there early… so I asked if I could check in early. I was easily accommodated, as long as I didn’t mind not having towels right away. Since I didn’t mind, I just wanted to drop my stuff off, I let them check me in. The front desk clerk was friendly and that put me in a good mood. I found it a little strange that in Muscle Shoals Alabama of all places, I had to swipe my room key in order to go up on the elevator. I might expect that in… say, Detroit or Compton, but in northern Alabama? Really?
The hotel was fairly new. There was a faded sign out front advertising that they are «now open». I suspect that they opened several months ago based on how faded the sign was. The lobby was bright and clean and the hallways upstairs were cool (which was nice considering how hot it was outside).
My room was located *directly* across from the elevator… not one of my favorite places to be, but hey… I was checking in early. Once I got inside my room, I was surprised to find how small my room was. The bathroom was of normal sized compared to most chain hotels, but the rest of the room appeared to be sized around my queen sized bed. There was just enough room on either side of the bed to walk. There’s a settee built into the window that I guess could serve two purposes. As a couch and as a place for a shorter person to sleep, if necessary. The room came with a flat panel TV and a small work desk, micro-​refrigerator and microwave. There certainly isn’t a lot of room to stretch out in. I guess that’s why they call it a ‘Microtel”.
My only real complaint about my room was that the bathroom sink faucet handle was broken… it came off in my hand when I went to use it. Fortunately, I was able to quickly figure out how to put back on.
This particular location has a salt-​water pool, which looked inviting, but I didn’t try it out. They also serve a complimentary breakfast which consists of donuts, bagels, other breakfast pastries, biscuits, sausage, and waffles. There’s a place to sit and eat your breakfast right there in lobby, although I ate mine in my room.
The rooms were clean and well-​maintained, aside from the bathroom incident. The staff that I encountered was friendly and overall the hotel was pretty good. At $ 72 for the night, including tax, it was only marginally cheaper than the places I usually stay. Next time I’m in the area, I would at least check my usual haunts before booking here, but this is a good alternative.