We stayed here on our way back north. We arrived pretty late and the staff was very accomodating. Check-in was quick and we were in our room in 2 minutes. We stayed in room 107, close to the lobby. The room has comfortable beds and pillows. It is a wheelchair accessible room so the bathroom was bigger than a usual room. Because of that, the closet and ironing board was inside the bathroom. The room and furniture was clean and pleasant. Continental breakfast was included in the price. The selection is pretty basic but good enough. We got a great deal from a bidding website and the room exceeded my expectation. Only problem I have was that there were cracked tiles in the bathroom.

This hotel is in a decent location next to a large outlet shopping center and next to I95. Our room needed updating. The darker green carpet was very stained, and was frayed through to the fibers at the bathroom door. The walls needed repainting. An overstuffed chair was dirty and stained. The room was "freshened" with some kind of deodorizer that was very strong and annoying no matter how long we were in the room. When combined with the frayed carpet, we had the sense that pets had been confined to the bathroom and chewed the carpet and pet smells needed to be masked. Linens were clean, but some had that too gray look that comes to whites in need of replacement. Hotwire had this rated at 2 and 1/2. I can't see anything better than a 2.0. On the plus side, the staff was friendly and helpful. There are a lot of other choices here that may be better for the same price.

My family and I like to stop in Smithfield on our way back home from Hilton Head Island, SC every October so we can shop at the outlets. We have stayed at Sleep Inn and Best Western on previous occasions and they have been just fine. There is also a Super 8 among the hotels by the outlets, and it least looks promising as well. I thought Jameson Inn should be pretty similar, since they are all rated as two star properties, are similar in price, and all have good ratings on travel sites.

I should point out that I didn't actually choose Jameson Inn, it was selected for me when I bid on a hotel room on a certain travel website- my criteria being 2 stars or more in Smithfield. Having seen the Jameson from the outside on my previous trips, it looked nice enough from a distance, so I figured it would be fine.

For starters, I was disappointed that this was more of a motor lodge than a motel-- two stories, no elevator, with direct access to the room, not through a lobby. I realize that some travelers prefer this because of the convenience, however I don't like this setup because of the increased noise, safety issues, and lack of an elevator. I would have thought that this alone should have put this motel in the one-star category, more along the lines of an Econolodge, but apparently it still qualifies for two stars.

Having bid on the room through the website, I was likely given one of the least appealing rooms-- a second floor unit right next to the stairs. It was small, with two double beds and the a sink/vanity in the main room, while the toilet/shower was in the bathroom itself. It did have a refrigerator, small microwave, coffee machine, and hair dryer.

There was an older television in the room (not the current flat screens that are in the other hotels the Jameson competes with). The available channels were listed on top of the TV but some of them didn't tune in for some reason, including the one I wanted to watch. I would say it tuned into 15-20 channels in all, far fewer than most hotels.

There was a very offensive smell in the room - the air was thick and stuffy with it, in fact. After discussing with my wife, who was experiencing allergies shortly after arriving, we realized it was likely an abundance of carpet deodorizing powder-- I suppose this was an attempt at freshening the carpet (in dire need of replacement) that backfired. The linens weren't great, to put it kindly-- there were cigarette burns in one of bedspreads.

I have stayed in Smithfield half a dozen times before and don't remember this being an issue before now, but it turns out that trains pass through multiple times every hour. Boy, was it loud! Other noises included people tromping up and down the stairs next to my room throughout the night and people talking/hanging out outside. Suffice it to say, I got a terrible night's sleep- although the bed itself wasn't too uncomfortable (too hard for my taste, but I've slept in worse).

There was a breakfast included with the room, which matched my low expectations. There were oatmeal/grits packets, bread products, packaged muffins, dry cereal, a basket of oranges and inedible looking apples, and a waffle machine. There was coffee (I didn't try it) and juices dispensed from a machine that were super watery. There was a small outdoor pool and I'm guessing there was no fitness room, although I don't know that for sure. On the plus side, there was wi-fi in the room that was perfectly adequate.

In terms of the staff, the lady who checked me in was just plain indifferent. When I asked if there were other rooms available that weren't upstairs next to the stairs, she simply said no. When I checked out, there was someone else working who had a bit more pleasant demeanor.

Overall, considering I could have spent $20-25 more to stay at Sleep Inn or Best Western, I can say that I really made the wrong choice. This experience has opened my eyes- I need to be much more careful when using the bidding website in the future, although they've always done right by us until now. I'm giving one star based on expectations- Jameson was billed as being equivalent to the other properties near the outlets, but was not even close. I haven't had previous experience with Jameson Inn, but based on this experience, I will avoid the chain. I would not stay in this property again, probably even for free.

Rooms are in need of updating. Carpet is worn and needed cleaning. Hotel is conveniently located to I95 and there are both fast food and sitdown restuarants within walking distance. Plus is they accept small dogs for a small fee.