Capri Motel

They found a dead body rotting for days at this motel. Guests kept complaining about the smell but they did nothing.

Do you have a tolerance for…
… coin-​operated ice machines?
… a landline phone that says «Fairfield Inn,» even though this is NOT a Fairfield Inn?
… rooms that smell like a million cigarettes?
… cinder block walls?
… a TV without a remote control?
… strange divots/​burns on the carpet?
… another person’s shaving stubble in your sink when you arrive?
… exposed wiring?
… the sinking feeling that the entire building is structurally unsound, held together by a million tiny patches of cement and plaster?
… hard core pornography running non-​stop on channel 22?
… a comforter with a cigarette burn hole?
… harsh fluorescent lighting?
… furniture that looks like it lost a knife fight?
Then the Capri Motel is right for you!

We stayed here when visiting KC to see Radiohead at the Sprint Center. Upon arriving there was some trepidation, as the place appeared to be fairly run down and there was a metal box drop-​off window on the exterior of the office that looked like a self-​defense setup. The building is intact but crumbling a bit, there is the remnant of a swimming pool in the parking lot that is now filled with cement, and there were signs in the parking lot that said ‘no visitors’ quite ominously. We thought about staying elsewhere, but after considering it, we decided to confirm the reservation we had made via priceline and go ahead with it. The location is spot-​on if you need access to downtown KC, and the sight lines from the second-​floor rooms of downtown is quite striking, actually.
Our first foray into the room yielded the discovery that all electricity had been cut to the room. We had to go back to the office to have the guy turn on the power, we had to retrieve some toilet paper as well, and the TV really didn’t work at all at first. This place is cheap, and you get what you pay for. The interior of the room kind of resembles a college dorm, with brick walls and a small bathroom and sink area flanking a large bedroom. The beds themselves were pretty comfortable, although I wished I’d brought an extra pillow. The room has a large fridge and a coffee maker (coffee was good the first morning but was not replaced with a new packet during the day). The TV was a problem, for sure, because while I didn’t expect much, it seemed like the TV was one thing that would be easy to get right and it wasn’t, with no remote and basically it would cut out to blue screen and flicker; it just didn’t work well at all. Also, beware of channel 22.
The thing about the Capri and the surrounding motels is that they’re in a bit of a shady area on the outskirts of downtown that’s kind of run down and displays a level of nuisance crime. There were glimpses of youths hanging out loitering, possible drug dealers, stumbling drunks, and arguments between the owners/​managers and a guest involving ‘visitors’. All of these things combined to provide a feeling of slight unease about the guests in the hotel and what they were up to, and the place had an attraction of people who were perhaps up to no good. Still, although there were certainly some weird things occurring from time to time, the owners or managers were really friendly people, and they seemed to have things under control. We chatted with one of them during his rounds and he was a very kind guy who answered our questions about transportation and neighborhoods, etc.
There was a diversity of people staying at the Capri, from fellow Radiohead-​goers to what could be nearly permanent residents, etc. The place is old and dingy, but maybe in its heyday it was quite nice. The Royale Inn across the street looked a little more well kept, while the Admiral looked similar to the Capri. The location of these places is great, though, as we were able to take a cab very easily into downtown and back, for under $ 10 one way most of the time. The Capri has its issues, but its proximity to downtown and the freeway is very convenient. The price is certainly right, as well, compared to most other places in the downtown area. Overall I would not recommend this place to folks who are freaked out easily or older people, but if you’re up for a cheap stay in a base motel that might give you occasion to laugh or raise your eyebrows more than a few times, this place hits the spot.