9/18/04
Sandusky,OH
Comfort Inn Maingate.
Dead flys in the sink and very dirty bathtube.

We had to move to another hotel.

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2009 Carolina Cobra Crew
Go Panthers! 4-6: Week 12 @ New York Jets

#6 North Carolina Tarheels 4-1

bgwfreak - You had a bad experience at Microtel?! Wow... that's the usual hangout for employee hotel parties because of the low cost, clean rooms (and the nice jacuzzi rooms!!), and awesome location (just minutes outside of Sandusky in Huron). Hmm, they DID do a major overhaul this year on the location, so it might have changed? I've stayed there many times this season and in fact encourage everyone to stay here. The continental breakfast was yummy too ! As for my worst experience:

Anaheim Fairfield Inn
Right across the street from the Disneyland main entrance on Harbour Blvd...
Feb 2004
Nearest park: Obviously Disneyland and DCA
Reasons why...: #1, the furniture pieces are deathtraps. My friend was just about eaten by the fold out couch. The roll away bed we got for extra price wasn't any better! That thing kept falling apart on him too... Not to mention the beds were lumpy and the pillows were like cloth covered cement blocks. We came back early and passed out only to have fireworks go off 5 feet from the room door. It's nice, but the display is literally RIGHT THERE :/... Not to mention there's this scary mini mart next door, and you can get McDonald's for room service. We could never find the continental breakfast, or the snack bar thing during our multi day stay... The elevators are scary, even worse than the Days Inn hotel we stayed at in Chicago that had a 400 pound, 2 person limit! I mean, they're nice and big, but old and somewhat decrepit... However, the little restaurant they have is pretty nice, and the distance to the park is awesome (just a walk away). But moreso... this Inn sucks... I'm staying at the HoJo next door the next time I'm in Anaheim!

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I second the Sandusky,OH Comfort Inn Maingate. I was there for one night on September 4th. The employees were rude. This is a good hotel to stay at if you want to get back in touch with nature (which I don't know about you, but when I'm in a hotel I don't want to feel like I'm camping out in a tent). My room was infested with mosqitos. We could even open the door cause it was covered with them. I mean COVERED. Spider webs with spiders in each corner of the room and a horrible smell. The breakfast was a joke that consisted of donuts and coffee. Thankfully all we did was sleep in the room so we could drive back. I don't think I could have standed more than one night there. I've been to MANY comfort inns before, and love them. But after this experience, I know to never visit the one in Sandusky.

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Member previously known as daughter_of_beast

Well, it really wasn't me that had a problem, it was one of my friends that was there on the trip.

The trains were going through the area all night long he said.

I slept through most of Hurricane Hugo, so I sleep through anything. lol

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Intimidator Coming in 2010 to Carowinds!

I stayed there 17th and 18th. It was fine to me.

I agree, the maingate does suck. There were many questionable white stains all over the room. We left and we found this great place in huron. I'm actually happy we went there, cause then we found an excellant place to go when we go to CP. The Rivers edge in Huron is great.

HAHA, the infamous Days Inn of SFoG. You pretty much described it. But I'm sure everyone has their own unique story of dangerous tales staying at this place. Here is mine, in an old Trip Report from when I visited Superman: Ulimate Flight on it's opening day. My description of the hotel is in the second paragraph.

http://www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/...ad.php?t=19276

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'09 Area Supervisor, Merchandise, Michigan's Adventure
'08 Area Supervisor, Merchandise, SFoT; '07 Area Supervisor, Merchandise, Cedar Point
'06 Ride Operator, Batman:TR, SFGAm; '05 Front Desk, Disney's BoardWalk Hotel, WDW
'04 Merchandise, CP, Coaster Count: 268

Hotel Name - Days Inn @ SixFlags
Location - Austell, GA
Date of Visit - April 2002
Nearest Park to Hotel - SFOG

This is the first hotel I recall visiting that the floor was not level. It was a rather dirty place inside and out. the swimming pool outside had black water, I kid you not. The room was allegedly non-smoking, it sure didn't smell like it. The hotel wasn't connected to the park, but I expected it to be a lot further away than it was. The continental breakfast was not new that day. Those Krispy Kremes had been around for a while. Ugly hotel, overall, and the service at the front desk is under average.

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In all seriousness I see like 1/4 of thses posts are near SFOG. Almost all of the hotels in that area are cheap, only the Wingate would resemble a nice hotel. You get what you pay for (though a lot of the hotels in that area are even worse once you factor in the prostitution in the industrial community)

If you go to Atlanta, stay in Buckhead or up in Cobb County.

My best advice, stay away from ALL of the hotels on the SFOG exit.

There's one on the right when you're exiting (coming from Atlanta) it says "Stay here and walk to Six Flags". It's bad when you can tell from the OUTSIDE that the place is a Roach Motel.

Don't stay at the exit one exit East of SFOG.

Best places are two exits West of SFOG. I think it's Exit 44. I stayed at a very nice Fairfield Inn this time.

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Intimidator Coming in 2010 to Carowinds!

Well, at SFOG, I stayed at the Wingate, a nice hotel and in ACTUAL walking distance to Six Flags. It also had interior corridors.

Interior Corridors=More Security=No hobos/prostitutes/drugs

And, the hotel was built in 2003, so yea, brand new. I saw the Days Inn and yes, a true ghettotel (Ghetto Hotel, I made up that term, ghettotel).

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Hotel: Family Inn
Place: 15 minutes from BGW in Williamsburg.

Well, to start with, we only got this hotel becuase hubby didn't want to book ahead of time..we learned our lesson! The place was ok.. in looks. The room was also ok in looks. The only problems we had was that the AC wouldnt turn off..now I like the AC but it was FREEZING..in this room not just nice and cool. We called down to the desk for clean towels and ashtrays for the room and they never brought them up. I even went down to the desk to get some and they said we will bring them..never did. We wound up using soda cans for ash trays and would not have had ANY towels at all if I hadn't thought ahead and brought extras. It wasn't as bad a deal as some I have read about here, but when a hotel is SUPPOSED to offer certain things and they don't, it gets irritating. The continental breakfast consisted of coffee and stale donuts. Needless to say when I go to BGW next week, things will be better. We planned ahead this time and booked our vacation. Moral of the story..you learn from your mistakes..LOL!

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Speaking of BGW

Hotel: Best Western BGW

Located about 2 miles from BGW.

The place is an old motel, outside corridors, etc etc.

The beds looked like the 1960's and the rooms not much better.

I would recommend the Howard Johnson down the road before this one.

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Intimidator Coming in 2010 to Carowinds!

The Family Inn has outside corridors too.. I don't like those. I don't know why, but if I am in a hotel like that, I will not go back out by myself once its after dark if I am in a strange place.

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Recently took a trip to Cedar Point 5/2005.
Stayed at the Howard Johnson directly across the street from the entrance. BEWARE hotel is under construction and they do not inform you of that ahead of time! We checked in before going to the park after a 7 hour trip hoping to leave off our stuff before heading to the park. We must have been in one of maybe 3 other rooms that had people staying. They placed us in the back of the hotel in a room that only 1 out of 4 lights worked. When we complained they said it would be fixed first thing in the morning. The whole second floor of the hotel was wrapped in plastic which was blowing in the wind all night long.
After a night filled with the trains rumbling by and whistles blowing, we were woken up at 7am to hammering and people sanding the front of our door. When we walked outside to head to our car, they were painting the railing directly above where the car was parked. We were not happy people and the management did nothing to ease our problems. Luckily we were only staying one more night but to top the trip off the next morning we were woken again at 7:30am to a phone call asking us to move our car because they wanted to move their construction equiptment into place. Needless to say, we will forever avoid Howard Johnson and our next trip to Cedar Point we are staying someplace not under construction.

Hotel Name - Comfort Inn
Location - Anaheim California
Date of Visit - May 2005
Nearest Park to Hotel - Knott's Berry Farm

The entire place was dirty, and there were bugs all over. We had needed a few extra pillows and our AC was broken, so we went to the manager at the front desk was a jerk, and always seemed like he had more important things to do. When we were trying to check out the printer broke and he couldn't give us a reciept, and as he was trying to fix it, he chatted on the phone with a friend for about 15 minutes, while we just stood there trying to leave.
Overall, it was just a bad experience.

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Let's Go! HOKIES!

Days Inn close to Bush Gardens Tampa (this is from a few years ago)

i travel a lot and this is easily the skankiest hotel i have ever stayed at. Sheets were nasty (fortunately i was driving and had a extra set of sheets/blankets in my car) wall paper was coming off the wall, furniture was trashed, carpet was stains, etc etc. TV remote had dead battery, when i went to get new batteries the ones they gave me were ALSO DEAD.

After i checked in i went back to the desk to make sure they knew the room damage existed before i got in ( it looked like a frat party had taken place the night before) and they said 'Dont worry we know all the rooms are like that'.

Also while it may look close to the entrance to BGT it's rally a 30/40 min walk (at least). On the bright side you get 15 dollars worth of vouchers at dennys so you get some free meals .

^ Agreed. I stayed there as well.

A few pages back I mentioned the hotels in front of SFOG, well I found a nice alterntaive... One exit West on I-20 there is a very nice Fairfield Inn.

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Intimidator Coming in 2010 to Carowinds!

For Cedar Point trips, I suggest any one of the many camp grounds in and around Sandusky.

The only rudeness you'll find is ignoramous youngsters you will be pricks and delliberately walk in front of your car when its 1 am and you want to find your spot and set up your tent so you can sleep and go to Cedar Point the next day and be happy. The employees at the camp grounds are great, though. I sadly don't remember the names of any of the three I stayed at... I will try to remember.

But after reading some of these stories, it makes me glad to not choose hotels...

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"For each path you walk down, there are several others you have to bypass. Maybe walking those paths would have made you happy, maybe they wouldn't have. You'll never know. Choose your path, walk it, and make the best of it."

Hotel Name- Baymont Suites
Location- Harrisburg, PA
Date of Visit- July 2004
Nearest Park to Hotel- Hershey
Reason why the hotel was unsatisfactory- Once we walk in, a smell so badly overtakes us. The beds were rock hard and they provided no sheets or pillows for a pullout bed. The room was covered with ants and the AC shot out hot air nomatter what.
Additional Comments- I advise staying at a nearby Howard Johnson or Country Inn for a nice affordable stay.

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Top 3 Hershey Rollercoasters:

3. Comet/Stormrunner
2. Great Bear
1. Lightning Racers

"Hidden Valley" Camp Ground in Mifflenburg PA... I found the campground off the Knoebels website.... the place is 30 miles from the park.... But its an hour drive away... The grounds were dirty staff was unfriendly and the place sucked... They also had a BS rule about only letting one tent per site.... So we had to get 2 camp sites for the 2 tents... The place just sucked... (It was the only under 21 place we could find)

Hotel Name- Econo Lodge
Location- Bordenton, NJ
Date of Visit- May 2005
Nearest Park to Hotel- SF Great Adventure
Reason why the hotel was unsatisfactory- absolute dump, uncomfortable beds, kinda had that prostitue-haven look to it. Something tells me the photo on the site was different than the actualy hotel. Stupid me.
Additional Comments- Unfortunately there weren't many hotels near Great Adventure, but do try to find some better ones. Thank goodness they are building their own

Hotel Name: Cincinnati Marriott Northeast
Location: Mason, OH
Date of Visit: July, 2001
Nearest Park to Hotel: Paramount's Kings Island
Reason why the hotel was unsatisfactory:

The hotel initially told us that they had overbooked and they only had a king available. With a family of four this wouldn't work so then they tried to put us in a smoking room. Again, this wasn't going to work. Finally they told us they could transfer us to another Marriott property 15 minutes away (it was already after 9:00pm) or they could give us a room that had water damage from a window that leaked from a storm the night before.

They ended up having someone go up to the water damaged room and attempt to finish drying the carpets and clean the room while we waited. They did offer us a free dinner at the hotel's restaurant, but we still had to pay full price for the room (around $140).

Additional comments: They did a decent job of cleaning up the damage, although the walls still needed to be repaired below the window. The rooms were very small, only about 2/3 the size of the Country Inn & Suites room we had stayed in the night before in Indianapolis at half the price. This was the last time we have stayed at a Marriott property as we have had problems with them overbooking hotels and not having rooms available when we arrive. If you are going to stay at any of the Marriott owned hotels, make sure that you arrive early so that you get a room and aren't sent to another hotel in the city.

I have heard that calling the hotel directly to make reservations instead of using the nation-wide reservation center also allows them to lock in specific rooms and ensure that you get what you want (2 double beds, non-smoking, etc.), whereas the national reservation center can only make a reservation for a specific # of rooms and enter the requests as comments on the reservation.

Hotel Name: Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Date of Visit: November 27
Nearest Park to Hotel: Lake Winnie
Reason why the hotel was unsatisfactory: The place was an absolute ******* hole. The rooms smelled like urine, giant paint chips were coming on the ceiling in the lobby, the hotel buildings looked like they were meant for prisoners (all slab concrete with a giant number on the side, looked like a cell block number). For some reason, the building we stayed in had an Asian theme too it which was really weird. The shops and restaurants were horrible, and you had to pay for parking at the hotel even though it had a giant lot. We were supposed to stay 2 nights, but decided to make it 1 after walking into our room and being overwhelmed by the odor. I don't think many are going to stay at the hotel for a coaster trip, but Chattanooga is becoming a bit of a tourist destination so if any of you have thought about going stay the hell away from the Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn.

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Ramada Inn near Lake Compounce in Connecticut in August of 2004 was terrible.

There were bugs crawling on the walls, the food was overpriced and terrible, the staff was lazy and unfriendly, hated kids, and the toilet in our room broke (cracked slightly causing leak) causing water to come out and no one came for 1 hour.

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21 wood coasters
59 steel coasters
80 total coasters

Hotel Name: Days Inn

Location: Tell City, IN

Date of Visit: 5/27/06

Nearest Park to Hotel: Holiday World

Reason why the hotel was unsatisfactory:
I don't know where to begin. The place is a rat hole.
Additional Comments. My party had two rooms. Both of them looked run down.

Additional Comments:
I can't say that the employees weren't amiable (the two I interacted with were friendly). I used to think that becaue I was only sleeping for five or six hours, and then bolting that the place didn't matter. I don't think that any more. This trip I stayed at three Microtels and 2 Days Inn. The other Days Inn was in St. Louis (see next post).



Hotel Name: Days Inn

Location: St. Louis, MO

Date of Visit: 5/28/06

Nearest Park to Hotel: Six Flags St. Louis

Reason why the hotel was unsatisfactory:
I don't know where to begin. The place is a rat hole.
Additional Comments. My party had two rooms. Both of them looked run down. Exterior light indoors (Still scratching my head about that). Exposed piping. Electrical Outlet boxes jutting out from the wall, Slow drain.

Additional Comments:
Both Days Inns on this trip were awful, just awful. I'm beginning to think that any hotel that has room doors that open to the parking lot should be avoided.

Microtel (in every instance so far) has provided better, cleaner, aesthetically pleasing rooms for the same price.

Next time you stay in chattanooga try the sky harbor bavarian inn on lookout mtn, great pool with a view of the entire valley, nice locale!

P.S. I NEVER had to pay for parking at the choo choo. Also I have heard the railroad car rooms are nicer than the hotel rooms. I have heard the hotel section is getting very old and in need of remodeling.

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My park review blog.

To keep up with the bash Days Inn I found the Days Inn Fallsview at Niagara falls, Ontario to be the worst hotel experience I have ever had. The first room smelled like wet dog, the second was a cigarette lovers dream, bad smoke smell. The 3rd room smelled fine but wasn't the cleanest, had goldfish crackers in corners of the room the chain on the door was broken. My daughters sheets had red stains on them when she pulled them back to go to sleep, my sons comforter had a cigarette burn in it. This was one of the many things that will probabley keep me from going back to Canada or atleast Niagara Falls, as I here Toronto is much nicer...

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You have to be very careful when picking a hotel in Niagra Falls. Many of them are very cheap and not well maintained.

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The user formerly known as WildeFyre
UOIT Mechanical Engineering Student

I have three that come to mind:

Hotel Name: Travelodge Atlanta Airport

Location: Atlanta, GA

Date of Visit: 4/23/06 during Spring Fling

Nearest Park to Hotel: Six Flags Over Georgia

It was cheap, but not in the best neighborhood. The rooms were OK and clean, but the outside was dirty, including the stairwells. They charged me for 5 nights instead of two, and I had to go through a lot of hell just to get the extra charges off of my credit card. They don't give a crap about their customers. I wouldn't recommend it. The only positive thing is I got 5 nights worth of TripReward points out of it.

Hote Name: Ramada Plaza O'Hare Airport

Location: Chicago, IL

Date of Visit: August, 2004

Nearest Park to Hotel: Six Flags Great America

What a piece of crap. You literally feel like you are staying in a dorm, plus they charge $10 to park your car in their lot. WTF? The rooms were ok, but definitely not worth the money I paid for it. The lobby is beautiful, but once you get out of the elevator and into the hallways you feel like you just entered another building. Maybe the motel has improved by now, but I will never stay there again.

Hotel Name: Budget Inn

Location: Sandusky, OH

Date of Visit: October, 2004

Nearest Park to Hotel: Cedar Point

They may have improved by then, but our stay was anything but pleasant. The hallways were dark from lack of electricity. There were literally ants crawling around in one of the beds. They gave us another room which wasn't better. It's dirt cheap, but you definitely GET what you pay for!

I am sure I can come up with more.

-Tina