Best Western Sally Port Inn And Suites

Avoid! Disintegrating Infrastructure

We were initially very pleased to get a rate of $70 for a AAA 3-diamond hotel while travelling on New Year's Eve. Perhaps we should have worried more about the missing ceiling tiles in the lobby, under which were placed buckets, or the multitude of buckets on the stairs leading to our 2nd-floor room. After dinner, we switched on the heat in our room...and after a few minutes, water started gushing from the air vent above the sink. We placed ice bucket and towels strategically, and called maintenance. The maintenance guy said there was a couple of inches of ice on the pipes, and while he *could* remove the ice, it might make more sense to get another room. Room #2 had areas of plaster fallen from the ceiling and painted over, and rust on the ventilation grille above the sink. It also had a fan, but no heat. The maintenance guy said that the heat was kinda iffy--sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. The person at the desk asked us to stay put while she had the maintenance guy look for a room with a working heating system. About an hour later...Room #3 was 65 degrees when we got into it, and the temperature of the room eventually rose to 70 degrees over the course of the 10 hours we were there. (At least according to the thermostat. We had to take the blankets from the room's second bed, eschewing the spotted and stained bedspread as too disgusting for use, to make sleeping possible.) It should be noted that the heating did NOT extend to the bathroom, which had arctic air blasting from its ventilation duct.

The desk clerk noted that the problems had started two days before Christmas and were getting progressively worse; contractors had estimated the cost of repairs at $500K+. Given the extent of water damage, the pastic sheeting strategically placed under skylights by the pool to divert leaks into the "islands" of plantings, and the apparent age of the repairs in room #2, I suspect that what may have occurred is that neglecting to maintain the facility in a timely manner has resulted in catastrophic failure. I'm rather surprised that the hotel has been allowed to remain open.

Unique Quality: Lack of adequately functional heating systems in rooms (100%, based on sample size of 3)--in an area with nighttime temperatures below freezing.