I am a 53-y.o. world traveler who’s experienced everything from the cheapest Lonely Planet guest houses to 5 star hotels. This is my first ever TripAdvisor hotel review. Like many, I chose Los Banos as an intermediate driving rest point in this rather desolate part of California. The Los Banos Days Inn disappointed on eight counts. First, the manager hiked the rate $4 over that quoted on the Wyndham website where I made my reservation. While this is “legal” according to the fine print, it is irritating in today’s world of online travel quotes that attempt to capture true costs. Second, my room was 54 degrees when I walked into it – it was a cold Dec evening, the heater/AC was completely off, and the room was basically uninhabitable for the first hour. Third, the TV and an entire bank of outlets and switches in the room kept turning off every hour or so, in spite of my moving around the room, due to some sort of energy savings sensor the manager had warned me about (he blamed it on PG&E). Fourth, the TV was ancient and the remote did not work, so I had to keep getting up to reset both the wall switch and the TV. Fifth, I agree with other reviewers that the room just felt uncomfortably decrepit. I like old hotels and can deal with worn furnishings and older fixtures, but the paint, grime, overall cleanliness, and state of ill-repair here was pretty bad. Sixth, the integrated bathroom light/fan made it sound like I was standing next to 747 turbine when I had to use the bathroom. Seventh, the hair dryer appeared to be a vintage 1981, only the lowest setting worked weakly, and the appliance was hard wired to the electrical box in violation of code. Eighth, the toilet had a blockage that nearly caused it to flood when I flushed. Also, the flapper looked over a decade old, and the tank leaked water all night - this, in a part of California starved for water.
One might ask, why didn't I ask for another room? My answer - I seriously doubt the next offering would have been any better. I just wanted to rest, sleep, and hit the road again in the morning.
To his credit, the manager did not end up billing my credit card the extra surcharges as he could tell I was pretty irritated. He explained that they were for usage of the room safe and unlimited local phone calls – neither of which I used. The place was a ghost town that night, so again, I agree with another reviewer that it was quiet.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC