Super 8 Motel Santa Rosa, NM Review
Current mood: disappointed

One of the most important parts of long distance traveling is the hotel room. Finding a good hotel is sometimes harder than the driving. I never make reservations because I never know how far I’m going to get before I’m too tired to go on. So I have to choose from whatever I come across. On this particular journey, I stopped in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Santa Rosa is about half way from Albuquerque (civilization) and Tucumcari (they don’t even have a Starbucks!) on the 40 Freeway. After my first choice of hotel was sold out, I headed over to the Super 8.

I used to work at a Super 8 when I was younger so I thought it would be all right. It even looked nice on the outside and in the lobby. Even though the Internet access computer was down and I couldn’t check my email (I had been stuck in the land of prehistoric dial up service for Thanksgiving), I paid the $55 dollars and took the room anyway. The only rooms left were smoking rooms, but I didn’t think it would smell like an ashtray. I was wrong, and it only got worse. After unsuccessfully trying to get information about where anything was out of the incredibly unhelpful desk clerk, I unloaded the car and made my way to the room. I am very picky about where I sleep at night, so I always check the beds first thing. The sheets were clean and the bed was decent, but there were burn holes in the blankets and comforters. The chair and carpet were also burned and stained. Had it not been a smoking room, there still would have been mold in the shower and gross yellow stains on the wall behind the bathroom wall. Not to mention they provided the cheapest, one ply kind that hurts to use toilet paper that has ever been made.

In the morning I filled out the comment card and gave it to the much nicer dayshift clerk and ate my continental donut and drank my complimentary Folgers. If you happen to stop in Santa Rosa, NM, I suggest reserving a room at the La Quinta down the street.

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Jeney Kingsbury