I haven't stayed at a Howard Johnson for many years because I had the impression that their motels were old and rundown. Well, not this one! My husband spent several weeks in the hospital recently, and I was driving 60 miles round trip every day to be with him. One night the weather was so bad that I decided to stay overnight in Traverse City. I went online to look for a hotel and decided to try Howard Johnson because of the great price, which included breakfast. I enjoyed it so much that I stayed 3 more times. Whenever the roads were "iffy", I gave them a call and reserved a room. Every staff member I met was just wonderful--so friendly and helpful. The rooms are a nice size, well-lit, and very clean, with plenty of towels and free WiFi. The breakfast has a good variety of food (cereal, bagels, etc.), hot drinks, and juice. I feel like I found a terrific bargain!

Our stay at HJ in Traverse City was wonderful. Our room was reasonably priced, spacious, clean and included Coffee and breakfast. If we are ever in Traverse City and need a room we'll check with Howard first.

Very good bang for your buck. Clean rooms, nice bed and shower. Nice staff. Would stay again. Breakfast only consisted of bagels, cereal, and doughnuts

We were told that they were overcharging their customers because of demand that evening and wanted $224 for one a one night stay.

The clerk told us that a price reduction would be approved by management and asked us to wait, as he would be back in a few minutes. We waited and waited and waited… Management never arrived and there was no attempt by the desk clerk to establish contact. When I stated my concerns, the clerk’s demeanor changed as she crudely asked us to leave. I contacted customer service and during my telephone conversation with the representative, the clerk persistently yelled at me from across the lobby. Among other things, she yelled that the room was no longer available, and at one point, threatened to notify the police. Is it policy to notify police when a customer is placing a telephone call with customer care? We were treated like criminals and don’t wish for this to happen to anybody else. This stop was supposed to be part of our anniversary getaway.

We later attempted to raise the issue with Head Office, who simply told us that this is a privately owned location and that nothing could be done for our case. The are several terrible reviews on this Howard Johnson, and we paid the price for not informing ourselves first. Don’t make the same mistake we made.