Hotels/Motels to stay AWAY from on the plains

[Scott Weberpal]

Had to have been the Lamar Inn. I've heard countless horror stories from other chasers about that place (mice, bugs, etc.).

I do hear the Blue Spruce motel in Lamar comes highly recommended, and is a wonderful ma and pa place.

Speaking of however, while doing a tour last June, we did have a rather memorable experience at this dive in Lamar, CO. Thanks to us arriving ten minutes behind the V2 armada, we sat watching helplessly as Bill Reid booked the last respectable-looking place (the guy ahead of us in line). So we found this place (I don't remember motel names) that had a teenage girl managing, who was fighting with some 20-something guy who was either a guest nextdoor to us or some late-night maintenance guy. The highlight of the stay was the bathroom door falling off the hinges when I walked out after my shower. The experience was topped-off by a 10:30am check-out time.

But, we did nail the storm of the day inside a 13Z no-risk SPC outlook zone ;-)

 

[Shane Adams]

I dunno if it's the same one Mike is talking about, but we stayed at a place in Shamrock, well in town south of 40. It wasn't too bad overall, until the next morning when our showers only produced ice-cold water. That was fun. No coffee needed that day, thanks. The date was June 11-12, 2005.

 

[Jay McCoy]

Amarillo had a nice "Camelot Inn" me and some chasers stayed at in 2001 that was "interesting". Not sure if that place is still there or not. That one I wondered not just where the hell any toliet paper was...but where it would even be hung. There was none of either. It was the threshold of a bad motel stay up to that May 23, 2007 stay in Shamrock. It was a HILTON! compared to that place I got in Shamrock.

I highly recoomend chasers avoid the Camelot Inn in Amarillo. Not only has it burned twice in the past 10 years. It has been shut down about 5 times for health reasons and also for nuiscance laws (drugs/hookers/renting to minors). They even used to rent rooms by the hour but that has changed. The health reasons were sanitation and bedbug outbreaks. It may look all cute outside like a castle but its more like a dungeon. The hotel across the highway from it right beside the Quarter Hourse HQ and the Cracker Barrel is owned by the same folks and has also had major bedbug issues so avoid it too. I cant think of its name right off hand. Also avoid ANY hotel along Amarillo Blvd. Nothing but drugs/hookers/gangs. Stay along I-40 only. Mostly west of the interchange is best but a few good ones around Ross st. just east of interchange. I wouldnt stay anywhere further east than that.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

I dunno if it's the same one Mike is talking about, but we stayed at a place in Shamrock, well in town south of 40. It wasn't too bad overall, until the next morning when our showers only produced ice-cold water. That was fun. No coffee needed that day, thanks. The date was June 11-12, 2005.

Jay commented a bit on the Camelot. It's 1000 times worse than the Camelot was. The sheets and pillow case looked like something from a garage sale. And they were from the 70s too, not even remotely close to new. I was like, what is that about. And they were very soiled looking, looking almost like oil was on them.

I'm almost doubting any chaser has ever stayed at this place. It was really that bad. Seems if one has enough to spend on gas to chase storms around, they'd find *something* instead of that. I know if there was a "we" as in more than one person, it wasn't the same place lol. It would take some convincing to get more than even one to go in and then stay in those rooms lol. I mean I had the flags and I'm pretty dang open to cheap places to stay...and was going forward with it. Then I was in there just long enough to be intrigued by what the bathroom must look like, then flew out of there. I can only imagine what has probably stayed on that bed since the last time the sheets were washed. I should have taken some pictures as I know no one will get what I'm talking about.

 

[Bryan Stokes]

Man, reading this thread is giving me the creeps. I think I may be paranoid this chase season when looking for a motel!

Bryan

 

[Marcus Hicks]

Glad I learned how to sleep in a car. I don't stay in a motel/hotel without my own pillow and stuff anyway. I always have pillows and blankets in the car. Ya just never know if and when you'll be stranded somewhere. Not having a shower sucks. But wet ones work handy for about 2 days but then you have to shower.

 

[Mark Blue]

The Safari Inn in Chanute, KS wasn't super bad as far as the beds and what not are concerned, but I'm positive they have a spider infestation there because two or three unusual red and gray spiders crawled into our stuff while we were there and the few days after we got home these unusual spiders were appearing in our house in Colorado. I managed to put them all outside and I took a couple of pictures for the memories, but I'd recommend staying away from this place if you can.

The Motel 6 (Motel Sucks) in Manhattan, KS is another place to think twice about. While we were there some dumb drunk guy kept appearing every time we went to our car. It's like he was watching for us because he had nothing else to do. When we were unloading our car he was digging for empty beer bottles in the trash can on the walkway above us and he let one roll off and smash to the concrete about 3 feet from us. The next morning when we were packing up he was mumbling something about a "bitch" out in the parking lot, so I confronted him and asked him what he said (because my wife was there) and he launched into this story about the front desk clerk locking him out of his room and that she was a bitch. I was like, take it up with her - there isn't much either of us can do to help you. Other than the "blanco basura" they let stay there the rooms are really dinky so I'd pass on the Motel Sucks in Manhattan if you can.

 

[Jordan Bell]

I really dont have any bad experiences as I have not chased all that often, but I was thinking of a possible idea. If someone had the time, if I wasn't a full time student I would, but taking the motels/hotels in this thread and in the ones in the good motels/hotels and putting them in a single excel spreadsheet that the chasers can load on their computers are are sortable by, name, city, state, problem/positivity. Just a quick thought

 

[Chris Wilburn]

This is my 7th year chasing and I can honestly say I have never stayed in a bad hotel. I have stayed in several while chasing throughout the years so I am sure my good luck will run out soon. Some of the details in this thread are creepy for sure. I will definitely make a mental note, esp. the Camelot Inn in Amarillo! lol Thanks for the heads up Jay. I have to agree that if a place rents by the half hour or hour stay away!

 

[stephanieschweitzer]

Motel 6 off I-70 in Salina. 2009-Bed sheets stained yellow and the entire room reeked of urine. Made reservations online, they were booked and would not move me to another room. They did however provide me with clean sheets.

 

[Dean Baron]

MODS: Could we get this thread and the thread with the hotel suggestions stickied? I think they could both be useful threads and don't want to people to have to dig through 10 pages to find them.

 

[Bryan Stokes]

I stayed in the Goodland Motel 6 on my way out to this year's National Storm Chaser Convention and it was pretty bad. The room was really run down with mold in the bathroom, torn carpet, and two holes in the wall. They advertised wi-fi, but there was no wi-fi to be found. When I asked the clerk about it, he said they've never had wi-fi even though it's advertised on their website.

The worse part of all: no hot water. Not good in February (or any time for that matter).

I definitely won't be staying there again...

Bryan

 

[Lisa Post]

I know this thread is for recommendations for places NOT to stop at, but I just wanted to take a minute & let all you chasers out there know that if you ever end up in Sioux City, IA or if you're traveling thru the area via I-29, you're all more than welcome to come stay at my hotel =) I'm the night auditor for the Hilton Garden Inn in Sioux City. We're right on the Missouri River (literally, I can throw a rock from our back door and have it land in the water), we are extremely clean here, and I will give you my chaser's discount Granted, it's not as cheap as say a Super 8 or Comfort Inn would be, but we do have free DEPENDABLE wifi throughout the hotel, a great breakfast, and check-out isn't until noon. There's also a great view of 3 states just outside your window! On top of all that, you would have a fellow storm-enthusiast to talk to in the middle of the night if the urge hit you... so stop on in when you are in my neck of the woods!

 

[davecarlsen]

Lubbock Inn.
Here's a quote from one of the chasers in our group, and I can personally attest that every word is true:
"When I stayed in the Lubbock Inn this past week, I was appalled to say the least. The bath tub's drain was plugged so you were standing in a foot of water by the end of your shower, the toilet would not flush, the sink leaked, our phone was not working, no sprinkler system, air conditioners were not turned on prior to our arrival so it was at least 100 degrees, no roll away bed available so 1 of us had to sleep on floor. They told us they didn't have any extra towels so a room of 5 women would have to share 2 bath towels. When all of this was brought up the next morning to the manager, all they could give was an insincere apology and say there was nothing they could do. They refused to give us our money back, refused to give us a reduction in room rate, not even a free breakfast! Their exact words were, "it's not that bad!" I will never stay at this hotel again and hope no one else does either!"
In addition to the air not being on when we got there, even when we turned it on it didn't really do anything. By morning the room might have cooled down to about 85 degrees. It was brutal. Never again.

 

[Damon Scott Hynes]

Memphis, anyone?

http://tinyurl.com/yk2dadg