Days Inn York

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Member

• Aug 6, 2007

• #1

Had a great tournament experience in York, PA this past weekend. Great teams, well run tournament! One thing put a damper on our stay. The Days Inn on Arsenal Rd. DO NOT stay there! We had no towels, no maid service, toilets that didn't flush, showers that didn't drain, room doors that wouldn't lock, a deluxe breakfast that was anything but deluxe. Too many things to list here. The worst part was the fact that management didn't seem to care! All we heard were excuses. Unfortunately there were no other hotels that could accomodate our ten families, or we would have checked out the first day. Just wanted to save everyone else the trouble we had!

 

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Member

• Aug 6, 2007

• #2

I think there ought to be more posts like this, so that people know what are and what aren't the nice hotels at the tournaments run year after year. If you are new to a tournament, you may have no idea. You look online & the hotel seems nice enough, but then get there and find out differently. It all depends on the hotel management.

You can't always go by name either unless you're staying in a pricier hotel like the Hilton. Some Days Inn hotels are nice and some are total dumps. If a hotel is new or has been recently remodeled then that's a good start. I look at the opinions that are listed on the travel sites before I book any hotel. If a hotel is super cheap, then that's usually a bad sign.

 

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Member

• Aug 6, 2007

• #3

I agree 100%. ?We need to give eachother the "heads up" on lodging in these towns. ?The Days Inn in York did look like a decent hotel, but it was anything but. ?It advertised a swimming pool, which in the 95 degree heat, was something the kids looked forward to after they finished playing.....BUT THE POOL WAS CLOSED! ?We found out after we got there that it had been closed for over a year! ?WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL US THAT? ?Trash was piled up inside and outside the entry doors. ?The "deluxe breakfast" was literally bread, milk & muffins (on a good day) and it was all gone by 8:30 am. ?The hotel was dirty and the overall conditions were unacceptable. ?Literally, the worst hotel I've ever stayed in. ?We attempted to get into another hotel, but as dclady said, we couldn't find enough rooms in York to accomodate us all. ?So we stayed, made due and learned a valuable lesson. ?Hey OFC.......a hotel rating category would be a great addition to this site! ?Something to think about.

 

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Member

• Aug 6, 2007

• #4

try this.....don't stay at a Days Inn! Has anyone ever actually enjoyed staying at a Days Inn?

For a few dollars more find a Holiday Inn Express or something like that. They actually care that you are there and there are reprecustions if your stay was unsatisfactory. Not to mention you will feel smarter in the morning.

 

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Member

• Aug 6, 2007

• #5

Not quite that simple.........I stayed in a Days Inn on more than one occassion and have to say that the accomodations were fine, clean rooms, comfortable beds, nice breakfast. ?I've also had the experience of staying in what was relatively safe to assume as a "nice hotel" due to the reputation of the name, and it was a huge dive! ?Dirty, smelled like pee........not good. ?Since most of us aren't "hotel gurus" I think posting comments on hotels is a great idea. ?Its impossible to truly know the conditions of a hotel property unless you've been there, or get an opinion from someone who has been there. ?Would help save alot of sleepless nights and aggravation. ?Something else, most of these ball teams are on a BUDGET! ?They don't have money to burn and traveling is expensive. ?Unfortunately, forking out the money to stay in the nicest hotel to assure good conditions is not an option! ?You have to save pennies where you can and finding a comfortable hotel at the best price is a priority to everybody! ?

 

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• Aug 6, 2007

• #6

sorry to hijack your hotel thread but wanted to ask about this being a "really well ran tourney" --I was not impressed, the 4 plus hour delay on friday nite was a very bad ordeal for our team , it was one of those hour by hour delays , you will play at 7;30 , now it's 9;30 , then it was 11;15, ended up at 10;15pm for a 6pm game. Heard an 18u coach forfeit a game because of long delays. They did have about 45 min of lightning. But the fields we played 4 out 5 games on were way below average. And there just did'nt seem to any "pomp" for this being a national event. Great teams ---I agree.
PS the holiday inn across the street was'nt great. Clean but no frills at all. MD

 

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• Aug 6, 2007

• #7

like the idea about a hotel rating system here.....have learned to avoid Days Inns, majority are aweful, love Hampton and Holiday Inn Express, but remember with big ASA tourney the teams go where ASA sends them....and for the most part you have a pretty good chance of that being a dump....good luck in the future.....LOL, you should have seen the hole they sent our team to in Owensboro last year....coach change rooms a couple times and one family had the maid and her boyfriend let themselve into their room for a little "afternoon delight"...unfortuanately the room was still occupied, LOL.
AHHH travel ball the excitement!

 

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• Aug 6, 2007

• #8

There are a number of hotel rating websites - the best, in my opinion, being tripadvisor.com. Choose any hotel/motel and you should find numerous reports on recent stays.

 

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• Aug 6, 2007

• #9

Quality Inn in York was pretty filthy too...we thought the whole ordeal was less than it should have been. From the Hotel stay, to opening ceremony, to the field conditions. Just not a real great experience for the girls.

 

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• Aug 6, 2007

• #10

We had a bad experience at a Days Inn in Cincinnati - this is what prompted certain questions. We checked into that hotel, were there approximately an hour, demanded refunds because of the filth and none of us received refunds. Needless to say, we had to go to another hotel and pay for the same night.

After that experience, I started booking hotels for the team's families. One question I learned to ask was if it was franchised out. Apparently if this is the case, a lot of times they do not have to abide by the chain's standards. You may also want to ask how old is the hotel. Another thing to watch for is if everytime you call, you get someone other than an "American".

 

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• Aug 6, 2007

• #11

Good suggestions! I know we will be willing to pay a little more for a reputable corporate hotel from now on. It wasn't worth the few $$ we saved!

 

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• Aug 6, 2007

• #12

Softballmom,
I wonder if you tried your credit card company to stop payment and credit you back it might work if they haven't processed it already, but for the future you could try that. Working in that industry, I know there are many so called lower quality tiers out there.

When people ask me if I ever go camping, I say nope, when I rough it I stay at a "Holiday Inn"

Booking almost all the rooms for our organization with our regional sales offices team, who market specifically sports teams, we stay at our quality tier select service, extended stay or full service products for anywhere from 79-110/ night I believe was the highest we paid and we spent about 12-15K this summer.

Now the American comment could have been left out as even though they may be foreign speaking doesn't mean they are not American as we have many dialects in many of our markets at the Luxury tier hotels as well.

Also with ours, Franchise, or Corporate managed should be seamless to the customer.

 

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Member

• Aug 6, 2007

• #13

days inn in maumee was not too hospitable either. checked out and went to the hampton inn.

that was really a nice place. just a little expensive, but there was no way we were going to stay at that other place. (Days Inn) :-X

 

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Member

• Aug 7, 2007

• #14

I agree with so many of these comments. I've had good luck with the Hampton Inn, even though it's a little pricey - $200 for a 2 night stay (that includes tax). One of our parents wanted to save some money & stayed at a Knights Inn, but ended up not staying there because it was dirty and there were bugs in her room. Personally, I'll spend more on the hotel and save money by not eating out for every meal during the trip.

I found out this year that the team fee is usually the cheapest part of travel ball ;D

 

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Member

• Aug 7, 2007

• #15

We stayed at a Hampton Inn during PONY Nationals in NC. We got a decent room rate of $95 a night (won't go into the "rules" for booking hotels at PONY Nationals here...). Hampton Inns are part of the Hilton Inn chain. If you get a Hilton Honors card you can accumulate points to get a free stay at a Hilton or DoubleTree suite, or any room in the Hilton chain.

Would be nice to know all of the hotel chain info and "points and rewards" systems--travel families could reap a few benefits from "life on the road."

 

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Member

• Aug 7, 2007

• #16

Rule Number One- You get what you pay for. I know there are many social economic backgrounds involved when you book for 10-12 families for a tourney. If you are going for price, more often than not, you'll get Dirty/Noisy/Low Frills type of Hotel. Generally if you spend in the $69-$89 range you run that gammit.

Rule Number Two- Let your parents know that you are going to stay at a "little nicer" hotel and it'll cost $10-$20 more, but the continental breakfast is included and the rooms are nice. If they still want to spend less, than that is THEIR option.

My personal preference for Softball is Hampton or Holiday Inn Express. Clean quiet rooms and good breakfast. Not too pricey $79-$99 what we spent this summer.

Next Grouping of had alright stays- Comfort Inn, Quality Inn :-/

NO WAY STAY Hotels- Motel 6, Days Inn, Knight's Inn, "Not So" Best Western :-[