Eibhlin Morey MacIntosh
Google
The location of this hotel is both ideal and... not ideal at all. It's convenient to I-95 and US Hwy 1-Bypass... but it's also directly next to the very busy Hwy 1-Bypass.
That's the #1 problem with this hotel: You can hear traffic - night and day - inside most of the rooms, and that can be very loud.
Our first night in this hotel - in room 311 - was nearly sleepless, due to the roar of cars and motorcycles throughout the night. That, combined with a blaring TV in the next room... Let's just say it was not a great evening. (I finally called the front desk around 2 AM, and the neighbor's TV was soon silent. Yes, I should have called sooner.)
I think much of the latter issue was soundproofing between the rooms; during the day, the room next to us had sounded like a daycare center, with at least three children's loud voices, and repeated sounds like a ball being thrown at the adjoining wall.
However, compared with the highway noise...? Annoying but not nearly as much of a problem.
The next morning, I spoke with Robbin at the front desk, and he was sympathetic, understanding, and tremendously helpful. He immediately moved us to a room on the other side of the hotel. That room seemed far more up-to-date, which made a huge difference. There was a better sense of space and cleanliness. More importantly, though we could still hear the highway traffic, it wasn't loud enough to keep us awake at night.
Robbin's efforts prevented us from cancelling our second-night stay, and saved this from being a wholly one-star review. We were very impressed with his professionalism, and how quickly - and effectively - he responded to our request.
Both hotel rooms were adequate, in terms of quality, but both rooms - like much of the hotel - seemed well-worn or even tired. The beds felt somewhat uneven. The elevator did a small jump every time it started, and shook a bit as it moved between floors. The carpets in the hallway probably need replacing.
In our first room, there were no hooks or towel racks in the bathroom, so the only option was to leave used towels on the counter.
In our second room (304), the king size bed's metal support (the box base) squealed - almost hilariously - every time I got out of the bed on the right side. On my husband's side of the bed, the noise wasn't quite so bad... but still reminiscent of "The Addams Family" TV series.
In the latter bathroom - which did have hooks for towels - the shower's water pressure and temperature seemed to vary widely, from lukewarm to comfortably hot and back again, no matter what setting I chose. It was not a relaxing experience.
There was no vent or fan in the bathroom, which almost made me glad that the water wasn't very hot. Even so, the room felt stuffy and steam-filled quickly.
The good news...? The refrigerator in our room worked well, and the microwave in it seemed superior to the one in the breakfast room.
Speaking of breakfasts... this hotel's food and beverage options were very good. Oh, the breakfast room is far too small for more than a few guests at a time, but the food was tasty and well-chosen with a wide range of yogurts, breakfast sandwiches (for the microwave), juices, cereals, and more.
In my opinion, this hotel needs a thorough update and renovation. However, unless that renovation could mitigate the noise from the highway just outside its windows, I'm not sure it'd be worth the cost.
Robbin and the staff are doing a great job with what they have. It's the hotel's noisy location and lack of overdue updates that were the problem.
If the price is right and you're a very sound sleeper, this hotel might be fine.
We're unlikely to return to this hotel again, and we'll be cautious about booking a room at other Howard Johnson hotels.