Pete

Member since July 2021

Reviews Bone icon(11)

Almost Heaven - Western Inn

Western Inn

I stayed here twice in two weeks, with Peeps, my oldster longhaired chihuahua, on a road trip from Northern Kentucky to Portland, OR, and back again. I liked it enough to recommend to BringFido that they add it to their listings. The staff is incredibly welcoming and friendly and the rooms are very spacious, very clean, and very comfortable. The rooms for travelers with dogs also feature metal food and water bowls on a sturdy plastic mat. There's a *lot* of space around the hotel for dog-walking; unfortunately, it's all pavement or gravel, except for some small grass borders around the Denny's next door. I suggested to Western Inn that they convert a part of their huge area to lawn, and to add a ramped curb to their rear entry; with these improvements, I'd give it a solid 5-bone rating. Even so, I definitely recommend the Western Inn for their clear commitment to serving their guests.

Oct. 28, 2021

Friendly Staff, Decent Accomodations

Baymont by Wyndham Galesburg

Staff was friendly and welcoming. Room was convenient and clean, though I was reminded that "economy" hotels/motels always feel like they were quickly and shoddily built: baseboards aren't finished, bathtub/shower faucets are wobbly, etc. Still, everything worked, and my dog seemed comfortable enough. Breakfast offering was good, including prepacked breakfast sandwiches that are easily nukeable to warm them up. A good place for the tier it competes in.

Oct. 07, 2021

Good Staff, Dismal Facilities

AmericInn by Wyndham Lincoln North

Check-in was fine, but I was immediately struck by the long, dark interior hallways with massively stained carpeting. The room smelled like many a pet had stayed there, maybe going back decades. (My dog, an oldster long-haired chihuhua, probably sniffed every square inch of the carpet in that room.) A housekeeper at the end of her shift right outside my room kindly gave me a can of Febreze Heavy Duty; I think I used it up in the room. To be fair, the housekeeper also notified the front desk staff who had checked me in, and that staffperson offered to move us to another room. Since our stay was just one night, and with the luggage we had, I thanked her but declined. The exterior of the hotel is well painted but with minimal landscaping, adding to the forlorn vibe. As someone else has posted, the hotel is surrounded by car dealers, but there's a DQ and a Cracker Barrel nearby. I went local, and hit the "King Kong" drive-thru for a Chicken Gyro that turned out to be very good. The breakfast offering was weak - no hot foods except DIY waffles - and the coffee was weaker. Not a disaster, but I don't think I'd stay there again.

Oct. 07, 2021

Comfortable, solid place to stay

Baymont by Wyndham Portage Indiana Dunes

Stayed here on our last night of a two-week cross-country road trip. Clean and comfortable room, spacious grounds (lawn) surrounding. Had already eaten dinner before we got here, so I don't know how convenient it is to dining, but it served our needs fine.

Oct. 28, 2021

Decent place in a dismal part of town

Econo Lodge Inn & Suites Fairgrounds

Friendly staff; manager upgraded us to a suite. Facility is fairly large, and seemed better quality than a few other locations I've tried with this chain. A couple of lawn areas outside for dogs. Don't know if there are any decent restaurants or shopping nearby; I had leftovers to make a sandwich for dinner and breakfast the next day.

Oct. 28, 2021

Fairly good old-school roadside motel

Circle S Lodge

Friendly staff, if somewhat unorganized. Chose this place because it's close to the Scott Bluff Monument, which I wanted to visit. This far west dirt and gravel parking lots are common, and it was hard not to track the same into the old-school motel room. The room was fairly well rehabbed and comfortable enough, but there's no grassy area for dogs: just gravel and dirt - and hard, spiky thistles in the scrub around the property, if your dog is unlucky enough to step on one (as ours did, with a shriek). Good intentions, so-so execution.

Oct. 28, 2021

If I could give this joint a zero-bone rating

Econo Lodge

Well, maybe a one-bone rating is fair. Staff is friendly, but the facility is gross. It doesn't help that the town of Rawlins - or at least this part of it - stinks like an oil refinery; but that's not the hotel's fault. The hotel itself is quite large and contains fairly spacious grounds (lawns and an outdoor pool), though its glory days are clearly past. That said, forlorn facilities aren't the same as "gross," and I careened from a potential 3-bone rating when I noticed the black mold and severely chipped plaster in the bathroom ceiling when I was showering. Yuck. Their "grab-and-go" breakfast was a plain paper bag packed with a sealed cup of orange juice, a sealed cup of fruit cocktail, and a grain bar. Probably 100g of sugar and half a gram of protein in the whole thing. I cancelled a second night I had booked there and switched to a Days Inn across the street.

Oct. 28, 2021

Solid place

Holiday Inn Ontario, an IHG Hotel

Staff was friendly enough, and the room was comfortable. Plenty of grassy landscaping around the hotel for dog-walking. The hotel provided a coupon for a free hot breakfast from the restaurant attached: a nice touch, and the omelette I selected was good. There are other restaurants and shopping very close by, though I didn't avail myself of them.

Oct. 28, 2021

Pet-friendly and nice old-school motel

Ontario Inn

First night on a return trip from Portland OR to Northern Kentucky. Staff here was welcoming; room was arguably a bit small but solidly renovated. Large lawn areas for dogs with grass that seemed remarkably lush and healthy. I don't recall very many restaurants nearby, aside from the usual rash of fast-food joints, but by this point in my roadtrip I was buying my meals in supermarket deli sections, so the nearby Albertson's was fine. Overall, a solid if modest place to stay.

Oct. 28, 2021

If you're stuck in Rawlins, Wyoming

Days Inn by Wyndham Rawlins

Well, yes, I clearly have no good opinion of the town itself, but our room at this Days Inn was cleaner and more comfortable than another place I had tried in Rawlins about two weeks earlier. The room was spacious and clean enough; outside, though, virtually no grass, just a vast area of dirt and gravel all too common in this region. I took our dog to Rob Roy park, a municipal park about a mile away that was nice. A smattering of fast food joints stand near this hotel, but also a City Market (good quality) supermarket with a deli section.

Oct. 28, 2021

Great place (if you don't mind minimalist decor)

Studio 6 North Platte NE - East

Wasn't sure what to expect with this Motel 6 offshoot, and was very pleasantly surprised. The manager told me this location opened about 18 months ago; it certainly looks new and very clean. Nice grassy areas around the hotel - in fact, the back of the hotel borders a 9-hole golf course (with no fences). The room decor is definitively Euro-minimalist, mostly gray tones, and with somewhat stark lighting. Personally, I like that style, but some might find it cold. Still, the room was spacious (and, again, very clean). Best of all for people like me, it happens to be next door to Peg Leg Brewery, which I discovered makes excellent craft beers and serves surprisingly good pizza. As a retired marketer, I was glad to see the arguably tired "Motel 6" brand doing something fresh and contemporary.

Oct. 28, 2021

Photos Photo icon(9)

Peeps at the Econo Lodge Des Moines Fairgrounds
Peeps chillaxin at Studio6 North Platte, NE
Peeps relaxes at the Clarion Inn Ontario OR
Peeps at the Econo Lodge
Peeps at the Circle S Lodge
Peeps sniffs around
Peeps at Baymont Inn & Suites, Galesburg IL
Sniffing Past Visitors
Peeps at the Baymont Inn & Suites
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