Bayview Inn

A man was hiding behind a building. I let the staff know, and they took care of the situation.

The toilet in 253 leaks behind it and runs out onto the floor

The building was in disrepair. There were cobwebs in the hallways. The stairs were falling apart. The walls had holes in them and the room was fair. The floor was new and not carpeted but the bathroom was very dated.

No elevator

Little high on the price.

Nothing

The room did not match the pictures. It does not have a kitchen or kitchenette, that was one of the reasons why we booked here. Also not having a deadbolt on the door was a little concerning. Seeing is how the room is on the street side.

The paper thin walls, the people smoking right outside our door,

Some hotels have broken AC — that happens. This is different. Let me be fair to the Bayview Inn in Crescent City: they do have air-conditioned rooms, in the newer building, built maybe 30 years ago. The original three-story building — the one with the check-in lobby — was never equipped with air conditioning. Guess which building they put me in. AC is listed as an amenity on their Booking.com page, with no mention that whole buildings don't have it.

My wife and I were on a coastal road trip from Vancouver to San Francisco with our senior service dog, Pork Chop, and needed a place to sleep for the night. Third floor of the original building. When I asked about the AC control, she very courteously handed me a box fan; when I asked about the open window, she produced the little screw-in clamp locks. That's when I understood. AC aside, the place is a rat's nest: the most run-down, filthy room I've ever paid more than $29 for. Even the lobby has no AC — I felt bad for her working all night in that dreary place.

It was a holiday weekend and every hotel in town was sold out, so I had no choice but to stay. The heat that night was miserable. Their state-of-the-art climate control: the box fan, and instructions to open the window. Their state-of-the-art security: the little screw-in locks. The windows were cheap vinyl builder-grade sliders — a stiff breeze would've knocked those locks off track. Some ground-floor rooms open onto the US-101 sidewalk, with nothing keeping anyone off the property. I chose the window and hoped for the best.

No refund from the property. When I messaged them, their entire reply: "I'm sorry, but I cannot respond to this question." Booking.com's resolution was a $28.61 travel credit. Zero stars for everything else — the stay averages 0.8, rounding up. I've stayed at roughly a thousand US hotels; this is the first with no AC that wasn't off-grid. No AC. A rat's nest. No refund. No accountability.

Everything was wonderful.