My husband and I were with a group of friends on a Motorcycle ride and due to circumstances we ended up changing our route and ended up in Kelso. The whole group wanted an inexpensive hotel with a pool and hot tube. Well it wasn't exactly inexpensive, it was moderately priced. The room that we had smelled weird, I couldn't exactly place what the smell was but it was weird. The hot tub was fine as long as the jets were going otherwise you could tell that it had a lot of oils in the water. There was absolutely no ice on any of the floors. On the plus side the beds were pretty comfortable and the we had a pretty good time regardless or the things lacking in this hotel. The front desk clerk was very nice and helpful.

We arrived at the Comfort Inn in Kelso at about 11:00 PM. A cheerful young female desk clerk greeted us. I asked her for a room where I was able to see our car, since we were unable to lock the trunk for some unknown reason. We were given keys for two different rooms and asked to check which one we would prefer. I checked Room # 120 and it was perfect. The room is very large with a high ceiling. It had been totally renovated wit new carpet (could still smell the seaming tape), furniture, wallpaper and bedding. The room and linens were extremely clean. The towels in the bathroom were very soft and the amenities were of the regular type with soap, shampoo and conditioner. The internet speed was first rate. Room 120 faces the Interstate and we were amazed that we could not here the traffic. As a matter of fact we both slept so well on the new mattress that we nearly overslept the breakfast. In the morning we had the excellent complimentary Continental Breakfast including scrambled eggs and sausages. Upon check-out I spoke to the Front Desk Manager and he informed us that all rooms had been totally renovated and the last pieces of furniture to arrive were flat panel televisions. This Comfort Inn should be on your list if travelling along the I5. It is excellent value for money, very quiet, well run and friendly.

Got the last room, then, as we were all geared up on motorcycles, went out for dinner. When we got back and went to the room, it was in desperate need of updating, and stank of cigarette smoke. Complained and got a "Sorry about that". That's it. Room had been 'steamed cleaned' that day, which I believe brought out the smell.

Went to the Comfort Inn's (Choice Hotels) web site and complained about the smoke and lack of concern on the part of the staff. Received an email that I would get a response in 72 hrs. After two weeks still nothing.

Received a customer satisfaction survey from Choice Hotels: told them problem and that I had no response. After one week I have heard nothing.

Everything else at the hotel was fine, and the problem could have been easily resolved with a good discount for the inconvenience of putting up with the smell, but Choice has decided not to respond.

Room was number 201. Stay away from it.

Ask for a room NOT on the highway side.

Breakfast was decent, get there early for better selection.

We stayed here this past weekend for a baseball tournament. As my titled states, these were the 3 main problems I had, therefore won't be back. Check in is at 3:00. We got there at 3:45. I then requested a room on the opposite side of the freeway and was told that there were not any rooms available on that side of the hotel, so we had noisy freeway traffic during the day, of course, and most of the night (loud semi trucks especially). The next morning, the bath towels (not all of them, but some) smelled like stale smoke. Since this hotel isn't 100% smoke free (which I knew ahead of time and should have booked elsewhere), I'm sure all of the towels (smoking and non smoking rooms) are washed together. In my opinion, there is no way to really ever get that stale smoke smell out; including in the hallways and rooms. The 3rd issue is the inconsistent room temperature. We were all up in the middle of the night both nights, since the room was either too hot or too cold changing the switches from "low cool" to "fan only." The only plus to this hotel was the good breakfast which included cereal, yogurt, instant oatmeal, toast, pastries, waffles, scrambled eggs, sausage, potatoes, juice, and coffee from 6am-9:30am. The hot tub was too hot and they had 2 pieces of exercise equipment inside of the hot tub/pool area. It was so muggy and hot I couldn't imagine working out in there. I am canceling my reservation for this coming weekends baseball tournament and will be booking for just a little extra money ($7.00 more/night) to stay a little farther away from where the tournament will be held at a 100% smoke free hotel not right off of the freeway. I guess I should have known better before booking this hotel. Live and learn!