A desperately needed bed -- but understand what you are paying for…read more
This is one of those reviews where two things are true at the same time: I am extremely grateful this motel existed when I needed it, and I also cannot pretend the stay justified the approximately $137 price.
I arrived late after an exhausting day of driving through Wyoming. Other lodging options were becoming unavailable, it was dark, I was tired, and continuing farther into rural Wyoming was becoming a bad idea. In that sense, Super 8 Dubois did exactly what a roadside motel sometimes needs to do: it gave me somewhere to stop.
And I slept. I needed that sleep badly. By the next afternoon I felt like a completely different person. That is why I am giving this three stars instead of two.
But the property itself needs attention.
I am a Wyndham Rewards Diamond member, and this was actually my first Diamond stay. There was no recognition of that status at check-in. I had to ask whether there were any Diamond benefits, and the interaction basically turned into being asked whether I wanted the first or second floor.
After receiving room 115, I walked to the end of the building, put my key near the lock -- and discovered that my room door was already open. That immediately made me stop and wonder whether somebody was inside or whether I had somehow been assigned an occupied room.
The room had a strong musty/damp smell with an old-carpet quality to it. The A/C had been set extremely cold. When I later turned on the heat, the HVAC fan made such a loud mechanical racket that I eventually shut it off because it was disturbing my sleep.
I then noticed numerous dark spots on the artwork near the bed that looked potentially moisture-related or mold-like. The next morning, while looking under the bed, I also found an old dirty sock.
I reported both things at the front desk around breakfast time. The response was simply that someone would look at it. No apology, no visible concern, and I never saw any follow-up.
Breakfast was actually one of the better parts of the stay. There were waffles, yogurt, apples, bananas, instant oatmeal and typical continental items. I appreciated the yogurt because I wasn't feeling well enough for a waffle. The odd part was that I could not find hot water for the instant oatmeal, and I did not see plain drinking water available.
The bathroom continued the maintenance theme. The sink had good water pressure but drained so slowly that it quickly began filling. The shower worked, but there was substantial crusted buildup in corners and other areas. The supplied toiletries were basic bar soap, shampoo and conditioner.
Getting hold of staff was consistently difficult. The front desk was unattended when I arrived. It was unattended again when I tried to arrange late checkout. Calls to the hotel and calls from the room phone went unanswered, and I eventually had to use a text number to get assistance. To their credit, they did give me a 1 p.m. checkout.
At 1 p.m., I returned to the desk to leave. Again, no one was there. I had to use the phone to reach someone just to confirm that they did not need anything from me.
Before leaving, I asked where I could get some drinking water. I was told to use the vending machine.
The walls are also extremely thin. Noise from upstairs sounded dramatically louder than it should have, so light sleepers should be prepared.
This property feels like an old roadside motel that has accumulated decades of wear without a sufficiently comprehensive renovation. Old is not automatically bad. I love plenty of old motels. But old plumbing, aging HVAC equipment, moisture-related spotting, lingering odors, crusted bathroom surfaces and inconsistent staff availability eventually stop being "character" and become maintenance issues.
The frustrating part is that this could be a much better property. Dubois absolutely needs a dependable late-night hotel option, and travelers passing through this part of Wyoming will sometimes have little appetite for continuing another several hours in the dark.
So my conclusion is strange but fair: I am genuinely glad I stayed here. I needed that bed. I needed the rest. I would make the same decision again under the circumstances.
But at roughly $137, the physical product and service felt far closer to what I would expect from a $60-$70 roadside motel. Wyndham should be providing this franchise considerably more quality-control oversight and pushing for reinvestment in the building.
Useful in a pinch? Absolutely.
Good value at the rate I paid? No.