KA
Kool Acclaimed
Jul 29, 2026
I was in town for a concert and normally stay at 4- or 5-star hotels. Unfortunately, because of the event, most hotels were fully booked, and Best Western in Gardendale had a few rooms available. I decided to take my chances, and it turned out to be one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve had in a long time.
The night concierge wasn’t particularly welcoming, although he did check me in fairly quickly. After finally getting to my room, I discovered that the keypad on the door wasn’t working. At first, I assumed there was an issue with my key card. One thing I noticed immediately was how slow the elevator was, which made carrying several bags and clothes even more frustrating.
I went back downstairs to let the front desk know about the problem. The concierge made me a new set of key cards and walked back to my room with me. After trying the new keys without success, he confirmed the keypad itself wasn’t working and had to manually unlock the door for me.
The room initially appeared clean, but I found ants crawling inside the bathroom sink. I flushed them away with hot water and tried to settle in for the night. Shortly after lying down, my sinuses started acting up.
I stood on the bed to inspect the top of the headboard and found it covered in dust. My nose immediately started running, my eyes became irritated, and I developed a headache. I am hearing people on then third floor constantly walking and sounds like they’re running, doors opening and closing, and noises that sounds like bumping near my room door.
The tub is filthy and has hair inside it and housekeeping apparently didn’t clean it correctly. I highly do not recommend this hotel for any reason unless you like allergies, ants, and dirty tubs.
Overall, this was an extremely disappointing stay. Between the malfunctioning room door, the ants, the excessive dust, and the lackluster customer service, this was easily one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve had in a long time.