Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All

This post is now a part of the first edition of the Food and Travel Blog Carnival.

In a recent trip to visit the Dearborn, Michigan, area, I stayed at the Sleep Inn for a total of four nights. Their Henry Ford vacation package seemed like the best deal, but I cannot wholeheartedly recommend them to other future travelers.

I have a high tolerance level when it comes to hotel stays, and my experience obviously did not annoy me to the point of changing hotels. If I were ever to return to the area, however, I would take my chances by booking somewhere else.

First though, there are many positives to the property.

1. The free breakfast is great—hot sausages, hard boiled eggs, make-your-own waffles with optional strawberry topping, cereal, danishes, bagels, etc. The woman taking care of the breakfast area is fantastic.
2. Excellent sound-proofing—no conversations, TVs, alarms from your neighbors
3. Good hot water and water pressure
4. Free wifi, parking, and pool
5. Courteous and attentive staff

Now here are the reasons that I cannot recommend staying here.

1. Highway and train noise—I’m a city girl so things like this usually doesn’t bother me but it will probably bother a lot of other people. The train tracks are right outside the window. Plus there’s an ungated crossing at the corner of the hotel so the trains have to blow their horns. Then right after the tracks, it’s the highway.
2. Cleanliness—For the most part, nothing was really dirty but there are scuffmarks on the walls and residue in the corners that made it seem dingy and well used. The fan vent and the hair dryer in the bathroom had a lot of built-up dust on them. Little details like a missing sink stopper and loose threads on the bed cover detract from the overall presentation.
3. Overall noise—Because of the pool and the more reasonable rates, there are going to be families with children. While the rooms are well insulated for air noise, structural noise is another matter entirely. This factor is going to be hit or miss depending on how lucky you draw your neighbors. For two out of my four nights, the upstairs room contained kids making a lot of noise late into the night. The floorboards creaked with footfalls, and any heavy footsteps or jumping created thuds that shook my room and bed. In both instances, I had to make a visit to the front desk. On the second occurrence, I had to follow up with a personal visit upstairs.

Tags: Travel //