Despite having a reservation for more than 6 months in advance, we arrived and told they were fully booked. We showed them our reservation with Expedia, but didn’t make a difference. Front clerk said the manager was fired the day before and she was left trying to deal with the aftermath.
She got the owner of the motel on the phone who offered for us to stay at another one of her properties 12 miles down the road. Because nothing else had vacancies, we had no choice but to accept.
“Dancing Bears”, name of motel #2, is a dilapidated ruin found on a dirt road with other demolished buildings next door and across the street. The front clerk was clearly strung out on something and couldn’t string two words together that made any sense whatsoever. He showed us to our filthy room with old bedding, stained frayed towels, and lumpy mattresses. Because we had no other choice but to accept these conditions. we decided to peel off the comforter and sleep on top of the sheets with our street clothes on. As of the roasting train rumbling by at night and the paper thin window “coverings” and light on outside glaring into the room want enough, we could hear and feel rats nesting in our mattress in the middle of the night. No lie. No exaggeration. It was horrific. There was nobody at the front counter to complain to our check out so we just left.