Travelodge Athens

It was the last available option in Athens for the football game if I’d known how bad this place is I’d stayed home to watch it on tv. It’s Dirty. Don’t come. Nothing is clean. it is really really bad.

Absolutely disgusting… I mean beyond nasty. Rooms say they are non-​smoking, but after walking in and leaving, you smell like you’ve been rolling in an ash tray. Greasy hand prints on the walls and linens that look filthy. Needless to say… I didn’t spend the night there. I asked for a partial refund from the morning manager who didn’t seem remotely interested in the fact that she runs a cess pool. Of course I didn’t get it which is what it is. However, as a citizen of the great state of Georgia and a proud UGA alum, I would be doing a disservice by not trying to warn you away. It doesn’t matter how drunk you are… it’s intolerable. You’d be better off cuddling up next to Rack’em Willie downtown.

This is when I wish Unilocal had a zero rating. Second worst hotel I’ve ever stayed at, and considering I had extremely low expectations going in, that’s saying a lot. We stay at this Travelodge for a UGA home football game and paid $ 100 more per night than some 4-​star hotels I’ve stayed at. At least they have perfected the art of price gouging because they certainly haven’t figured out how to clean. There are too many issues to list here, but the main problem is the smell of cigarette smoke. If it hadn’t been August and 100 degrees outside, I would have just slept in my car. Had we paid the normal rate of $ 40 – 50, then I wouldn’t have much room to complain, but we paid the equivalent of a 5 star hotel and got the world’s largest ashtray.

I agree with the the majority of the reviews here. This hotel is now known at the «Travel Inn.» I’m giving it one star because I can’t give it 0. This is probably the worst hotel I have ever stayed at. The rooms were not remotely clean. The towels were completely inadequate to dry oneself. There was an absurd amount of noise at night (and throughout the day) that there basically weren’t walls on the hotel. The «breakfast» was inedible. I asked for an itemized (day by day receipt) so I could get reimbursed, and was denied one. The showers took 20 minutes to get working properly because they were so old, run down, and outdated that there was no knowing what it would take to get them to work. The wifi was not protected and worked well, albeit sporadically.

Stayed here because I got to town late on New Years Eve and there was nowhere else to stay. I should have slept in my car instead. My hotel room had nasty looking stains on the walls and bed spread. I slept in my sleeping bag, the bed was too nasty to think about getting in to it. The bathroom was dirty, stained, and had a hole in the wall. I decided to skip taking a shower as the tub was really gross. I doubt the broken electrical outlets and funky wiring I saw are up to code. Other guests were really trashy and loud, I got to hear two fights, and I’m pretty sure I was sharing the hotel with at least one drug dealer and two hookers. The city of Athens really needs to shut this place down, it’s a public nuisance and health hazard.

My wife and I booked a room here months in advance, as we were coming in for a wedding. There was a UGA football game that weekend, so we still paid a pretty penny. After arriving at 2am, we were catcalled by drunk guests out on the second level. We buzzed to be let into the lobby (that’s right, they don’t consider it safe to leave the main lobby door unlocked), checked in with the desk clerk (who was polite and respectful) and headed to our room.
First and foremost, the door didn’t close properly– I didn’t need my key to open the room. The room was dim, dark, and dirty, with cigarette burns on the bedding and stains on the carpet. The air conditioning unit was partially ripped out of the wall. The bathroom had mold in the shower, mold on the toilet, and mold along the caulking of the tub.
The condition of the room, combined with the safety concerns of both the door and our lovely «neighbors» upstairs, we refused to stay even one night. We immediately called other hotels in Athens, and found a wonderful spot for the same price as the Travelodge. Trouble was, they only had a room for the next night.
The Travelodge room was so bad, we drove to the other hotel, parked in the garage, and slept in our car rather than spend any more time there. The desk clerk had no real authority to issue refunds, but he was kind enough to call his manager and get us a refund for at least the second night. We still had to pay for the first night. While I appreciate that it’s impossible to fill a reserved room at 2am, and it’s in keeping with company policy, I feel a little cheated. We paid good money with the expectations of a clean, safe bed for the night, and we got none of that.
We received an email from the general manager a few days later, acknowledging that we had checked out early, and were unhappy with our stay. The email was, to be blunt, garbage. Had I not been expecting the message, I would have assumed this was someone trying to scam me. There was no company information in the email. No letterhead, no address, no phone number. There were spacing errors, and English was very clearly not the GM’s first language. I don’t begrudge him that at all, but in business communication, you need to be able to clearly form a sentence. If you can’t, then hire an office admin to take care of your official correspondence.
Don’t waste your money here.

Yes, this place really is quite awful. No one seems to care that it’s a nonsmoking room. It reeks of cigarettes. The thin bedspread was so wrinkled that we laughed and promptly removed it. The toilet had what appeared to be coffee grounds, dirt, or something worse in the bowl. Fortunately it vanished when flushed. The carpet felt oily. The tv looked like it had been mauled by a greasy auto mechanic, but it worked. Outside, after we checked in, a guy with a truckload of metal and other recycling junk set up camp and commenced to unload some of it out onto the sidewalk and maybe into his room. Who knows. It was alarmingly loud, whatever he was doing. There were a couple of noisy fat girls in the parking lot who appeared to be «regulars».
Good news: the wifi signal was good. The AC was cold. The sheets seemed clean. The few guests who were staying were quiet the night we stayed. There was no drama. I don’t think we we were bitten by bedbugs.
I can’t say I’d recommend staying here unless you just don’t care. It seems to be a place for traveling contractors and other folks down on their luck.

How on earth is this place allowed to stay in business? We booked here due to last minute plans to attend a football game (and other hotels having no vacancy). We read the reviews first, but thought «how bad can it REALLY» be? There were a few not SO bad reviews. Believe me, read the worst review on TripAdvisor and then exaggerate it. That’s how bad this place is.
Upon trying to check in, we were met with the stench that could only be described as a fetid baby diaper left to bake in the hot sun. The front desk attendant would not even get up to greet us, my friend had to call out to her 3 times. We should have just thrown in the towel at this point. After checking in, we headed to the room. On the way, we had to step over a knee high mound of trash blocking the whole walk way, and a shoeless housekeeper. Right past that was a hallway of sorts with a particle board floor and MORE trash piled in it. Luckily, our room was across from that spectacular view.
We opened the door and we were met with what could only be described as some sort of crack den, and again we were punched in the face with a big stinky fist, although this time it was of cigarette smoke. There were insects, dead and alive. The bed was covered with a thick layer of dust and cigarette holes. My friend lifted up the edge of the comforter (with his foot, yes, it was that dirty) and exposed the soiled sheets. The light fixtures were hanging off the wall, and the window was so dirty you couldn’t see out. In the bathroom, there were rags that hadn’t been washed. There were holes in the door and walls.
We walked back to the front desk and checked out. This must happen a lot as the front desk attendant didn’t bat an eyelash. Then again, that may have been too much trouble for her.

I posted a scathing review of this property last night.
In the light of day, I’ll try to be more fair. Rest assured, my rating won’t change, but I’ll try to be more objective.
The best thing about the entire «experience» was the check in. The clerk was friendly, and got me checked in quickly, without any issues.
From that point forward… it was… bad.
The room was unkempt. The door didn’t close properly; even when latched, locked, and bolted, light from outside was clearly visible on three edges of the door. The room was supposedly a wheelchair accessible room, and it –did– have a roll-​in shower, but anyone in a chair likely would work up a sweat just trying to GET to the shower after circumventing the obstacle course of furniture.
Not that there was a lot of furniture. A chair. A bed. A nightstand. A mini-​fridge, complete with someone’s leftover chicken dinner.
The gauntlet completed, the guest discovers a shower with broken and cracked wallboard, and an unidentifiable film best left unquestioned.
In the end, I just needed a room for one night; I just needed a horizontal surface, and a blanket, and maybe a pillow.
It was cheap, and that’s what I was after, and what I got. This room helped me realize that I’m worth more than that.

Reasonably priced… but what do you get for the $ 45? We got loud neighbors fighting, wifi that doesn’t work (complete with apathetic service response), tiny uncomfortable bed, and a slew of other minor annoyances.

Came in late, very reasonable rates and prompt attentive service. I was so happy to find a place for the evening that was reasonably priced, clean and took my cat for only 10 dollars. The young lady at the desk was also very helpful.