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SUPER 8 - MARION IL
I found this one
as the highest rated 'mid-range' motel on TripAdvisor. It turns out there
'walk-in' price is better than any corporate or coupon pricing. We could have
saved a few dollars by staying at the 'new' Days Inn (former Motel 6) but I
have stayed there when it was a '6 and across the street at America's Best and
nothing in my memory was calling me back.
No big rig parking but there is
a truckstop one building away so that could be an issue with future stays.
The person at the front desk was 'chatty' making sure we know everything they
offered, even after we had signed in. Room was clean, quiet and cool. Basic
Super 8, nothing extra.
McDonalds was next door, Subway at the truckstop
next to that. After that it is a couple of blocks to anything else. We ended up
at Ryans.
RYANS - MARION IL
When the desk clerk at our
motel told us there was a Ryan's within walking distance, one co-worker
couldn't stop bragging it up. His family had even taking an overnight trip to
IA to eat at the closest one to him. When he texted his wife, she was jealous
he was going.
But that all changed when we got into the place, and by the
time we left this same co-worker said he it wasn't worth walking the couple of
blocks for this one.
I had to ask for a different glass for water (don't
ever remember having to do that anywhere before,) my first one had a strong
taste of tea. The baked potatoes were cold to the touch, only ate a couple of
bites of the steak.
One co-worker I was with at one point said they were
going back for 'fried chicken, that is one thing that is pretty hard to mess
up.'
After trying a few items, I ended up sticking to the salad bar.
Everything there was fresh and well kept up … often items from one bowl
end up in another, did not notice any of that here. The whole food area did
seem clean and well cleaned up.
Another 'down side' for me, was that the
night I was there was their 'fish/seafood' night, and I am allergic to those
items. It seemed only about a ¼ or 1/3 of the food was labeled and when
I asked the staff is something was seafood, they poked at it and said 'it
doesn't look like it.' (Sorry, with food allergies, I'm not going to eat
something just because it doesn't 'look like' fish. This is a general problem
with buffets, not just this one.)
If I return will depend on if I am in
the mood for the salad bar next time.
SUPER 8 - VALDOSTA GA
Because I was traveling over the 4th of July I called ahead to make
reservations, found out they had a good price but wasn't sure enough on how far
I would get so still ended up as a walk in customer.
At the GA Welcome
Center we picked up a 'Travel Coupon' book / ( www.travelcoupons.com ) which
got us in the room for $44 and tax. I have stayed at the '6 next door but they
don't have 'big rig' parking so it was a tight fit there. Here at the Super 8
they have a dozen dedicated parking spots (I just counted them on Google Maps),
plus a lot of open car parking between the '8 and the Days Inn.
The
closest food is the Waffle House or IHOP, both right across the side street.
This place isn't anything to really brag about and NOTHING to complain
about. It's a simple, clean, quiet and cool (AC works) place to stay.
I
see no one else has posted 'personal' photo's, mine are from July 2013.
I'll be back … very likely as I expect to be doing a number of runs this
direction this summer. |
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