My husband and I rolled into the Dumas Comfort Inn early one November evening on the home stretch of a challenging Texas camping vacation. I chose the hotel because I'm familiar with the brand and have had good experiences with it.

The exterior of the property was clean and well kept, with a fresh and inviting appearance. Parking was plentiful and convenient to the building, with separate spaces for large trucks in the back. The entrance to the lobby was equally clean and up-to-date looking.

The lobby was homey and nice, with black leather or naugahyde seating, a large flat panel television and cherry credenza. There were also attractive and modern furnishings for the breakfast service. I spied a small well-set-up meeting room off to the side. Most important of all, the black-marble accented lobby was absolutely spotless and fresh smelling. Lemonade and cookies on the breakfast counter provide a nice welcome after a long drive through cotton and oil country.

Desk staff was very polite and efficient, with a friendly smile on her face. She was also well-groomed and dressed nicely. This is not always the case in some moderate motels. Although she was in a bit of a crush with a number of people checking in at the time, the staffer took her time to handle each transaction carefully and made sure to provide all the needed information about breakfast and pets (not really allowed, but a small dog would be tolerated).

As rooms were filling up quickly, we accepted the last king-bed room which happened to be the accessible room. Being accessible, it was larger than the usually good-sized Comfort Inn room, with a cavernous bathroom. It was the second room away from an entrance, but very quiet nonetheless.

The room was also spotlessly clean and fresh-smelling without the nasty stench of carpet freshening powder. The color scheme was shades of beige, gold and russet in up-to-date styles. Amenities included a microwave, mini refrigerator, mini coffee pot, iron and board and a clock radio, all newer and in good repair. The desk chair was plush and very comfortable. Unfortunately, it was the only chair in the room.

The bathroom was faultlessly clean right down to the tasteful tile floor (a burnished beige-russet ceramic). Fresh, unstained soft white towels were within easy reach of the tub-shower. The shower curtain was fresh and unstained. A nice, clean non-slip mat was at the ready in the tub. Chrome gleamed. Not a hair was found anywhere. A couple of cosmetic items were noted but not of any real concern: a crack in the outer part of the tub where a wheelchair may have hit it and a chip near the faucet. I appreciated the curved shower curtain rod and the many handles for getting in and out of the tub. The adjustable shower head was also a plus. Hubby wished for somewhat hotter water, but I thought it was perfect.

The king bed was very comfortable with just the right firmness. The white sheets were all clean and tightly spread, topped by a thick acrylic blanket and a gold-colored jacquard-stripe heavy bedspread. The five little pillows were a bit of a novelty, but actually quite sensible for arranging them for sleep. They were a mix of soft and medium-firm.

The carpet in the room was a nice russet color with a leafy design in gold and brown. There were two burn spots from someone having broken the non-smoking rule and an odd cut out piece under the desk. Corners and edges were clean and I felt safer than usual walking on it barefoot.

The room had individual wall-mounted HVAC accessing outside air. Although it's not as attractive as other systems, I prefer this as a means of avoiding germs, odors and sounds from other rooms. The heat worked quite well, we were toasty warm all night long without undue noise from the heater's operation.

Breakfast was good! There were some odd egg slabs (imagine a scramble that wasn't scrambled around while cooking) that tasted good, sausage patties, fluffy biscuits, cream gravy, bake-it-yourself waffles as well as the usual breakfast goodies, cereals, fruit, yogurt and juice. Fresh fruit was also on hand! The coffee was good and like everything else, plentiful. I was grateful for that because the in-room coffee is horrible. The pleasant attendant kept quite busy stocking the breakfast bars.

The Dumas Comfort Inn was a good choice and I'd go there again.