We stay there for 6 nights end of august, the only thing that I could say about this place is the location and the price. For the rest the breakfast that we had was the cheapest >i had in a choice hotel. No bread, no waffle, no milk only brioche and muffin, coffee and juice. No table and chair to have our breakfast. One day the clerk was sleeping in the lobby at 7.00am and doen't have the key for the machine. A few time we had to ask for towells they were missing. Next time better try another place.

I stayed at this hotel for a 1 day 1/2; when I arrived at my room it had a mildew/dank stintch to it. The rugs felt sticky under foot. If you have allergies, please stay somewhere else. I tried to put up with it along with the uncomfortable bed, but I became so congested, eyes burning, my symptoms just became too unbearable. I checked out early. I prepaid in advance for this motel, so I couldn't get my money back. The motel was cheap, staff was friendly, but the rooms are just not up to par. To imagine this was my vacation. Now I know that you get what you pay for. One last thing, they say that you get a contenintal breakfast, well you don't; it was coffee or juice. I went out to buy my breakfast for my family, four blocks away.

I barely know where to start when I begin to describe my experience at this A.C. hellhole to people, but I tend to focus on one incident in particular, as I think that the experience itself and the way it was handled by hotel staff, hotel ownership and Choice Hotels in general speaks volumes.

My wife and I planned a 3 day, 2 night mini vacation to Atlantic City because that’s about as much time off as I could get, being in restaurant management. We were there Saturday through Monday. It was Sunday evening and my wife and I were about to go out on the town for the night to hit the casinos and overindulge on booze and food, like anyone spending time in A.C. would be doing. Since this was OUR FIRST VACATION SINCE OUR HONEYMOON (I want to emphasize how important this little time we had together was), we began to “get intimate.” In the midst of said intimacy, a noise came from the doorway and a mere second or two later, before we could cover ourselves or hide in the bathroom or even switch to a less compromising position/try to strike our best poses, a total stranger and his wife KEYED INTO OUR ROOM!!! My wife screamed in terror and attempted to cover herself with her hands, the stranger and his wife said “Oh boy!” and slammed the door shut, and I stood between them in all my natural glory, dumbfounded.

My wife ran to the bathroom in tears. As I tried to tend to her and deal with the fact that this Judd Apatow cinematic moment had actually occurred in my reality, my room phone rang, and it was THE GUY AT THE FRONT DESK ASKING WHAT I WAS DOING IN THE ROOM!!! This had just happened to me, and I was getting yelled at and questioned by the front desk. For serious.

I threw on clothes quickly and marched to the office with all of my reservation and check-in paperwork in hand. Of course, I got to stand awkwardly next to “the stranger” and his wife, unsure if I should ask them to pay for the show they got or maybe to get naked and return the favor. I was, understandably I think, furious with the hotel and the clerk already, but it got worse. He informed me that I was not in the computer as being checked in, and that there was no paper filing of me being checked in, despite the computer printout I had IN MY HAND from when I checked in as well as another slip signed by hand by the clerk with whom I had checked in. The attending clerk said that the paperwork must have been misfiled by whatever clerk had checked me in, hence the room registered as vacant in the system and key cards were issued to the couple who had entered my room. I explained what had just happened again, that two strangers were given access to my room and had seen my wife and I naked, and that my wife was in the room crying and saying that she wanted to leave Atlantic City altogether not more than 32 hours after we had arrived.

His solution? He would refund our money for THAT NIGHT ONLY, and we could check out and be free to FIND OURSELVES ANOTHER PLACE TO STAY FOR THE NIGHT. At 9pm on a Sunday in Atlantic City, we could pack up all our stuff, check out, and go find another room somewhere else. But the $200 plus we spent on the room for Saturday night? That was not changing.

I am a pacifist for the most part. Most men, most people in general, may have sprung to violence over this or gotten the A.C. police involved or something. I had to walk away from the office at that moment because I was literally ready to hospitalize the clerk and I didn’t want to cap off this magical evening by going to jail. I went back to my wife instead to try to calm her down and convince her to stay the night so our “vacation” wouldn’t be TOTALLY ruined. She didn’t really want to go out anymore, nor did she feel safe in the hotel OR safe leaving our belongings in the room while we were out, but she eventually conceded that she didn’t want to have to look for a new room at this hour or get on the highway for the 4-hour-plus ride back home. The night was ruined, however (obviously). She made a half-hearted attempt to walk the boardwalk with me, we slept with every lock on the door set, and she wanted to leave FIRST thing in the morning for home.

I contacted Choice Hotels corporate about the matter that next day, and I was informed that they do not deal with claims themselves, but rather would forward the issue the owner of the hotel and that he would have 14 days to respond to me. That was all they could do.

The owner did respond in writing about 2 weeks later, but I think that the response made things worse for me. He stated that all of this was the fault of the clerk who checked me in. The clerk was new and he had been reprimanded (not what I was looking for). I was refunded for the night in question only (which was about $60), and again, Saturday’s $200 charge remained. I was also invited to come back to Atlantic City for ONE FREE NIGHT, provided that it was MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY and that I did so WITHIN A MONTH.

Some/most people probably would have called Choice Hotels corporate back and demanded a full refund, screaming and kicking it up the ladder until they got justice. Others would have called their bank, explained the situation and disputed the charge (my wife works for our bank, so I’m sure that we could have dealt with it that way). I considered all options and more. Honestly, the whole thing made me so disgusted (not to mention that I was back to work and had no time to deal with it) that I opted instead never to stay at a Rodeway Inn or any Choice Hotel property again if I could avoid it. If this is how they do business, they won’t be seeing my money ever again.

Plainly put, the ONLY advantage to this place is that it is almost directly on the Boardwalk (maybe 2 minutes walk, tops) and pretty much right in the middle of the Boardwalk as well. The prices the casinos are charging for rooms are the same or less than this place, though (specifically the Tropicana and Resorts, the latter of which is RIGHT on the Boardwalk and RIGHT next to this hole!), so you’re better off just staying there and probably even getting a meal or something included in your stay. I didn’t realize how cheap it was to stay at the casinos when I booked my trip. Even if the casinos were more expensive, though, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!

Forget about someone seeing my wife and I nude. What if someone keyed into our room and robbed us blind while we were out? What if someone keyed in and attacked us in the middle of the night? Whatever “value” you might feel you are getting by booking a room here is negated by the generally poor conditions of the place and this lack of privacy/safety.

The room smelled like a cat's litter box. The toilet ran all night. We had to buy cans of Lysol and keep spraying all night to try and kill the smell. Needless to say we didn't get any sleep. I wouldn't stay there again even if they paid me!!!!