Our stay at Econo Lodge Airport in Duluth Minnesota was short as I was worried about the weather taking a turn for the worse and we would be stranded at the hotel. So we scooted off back home as quickly as possible. The weatherman had forecasted a huge ice storm and I did not want not to be able to make it back home. I was taking a friend to the airport and seeing her off. We decided it best to get a hotel room for the night instead of driving to the airport at 5:00 AM. Not knowing the area and not having a reservation presented a problem. So we decided to go to the airport and look for hotels closeby it. The first hotel was booked up but we luckily were able to get a room at the Econo Lodge Airport one. Well, lucky is not the word I would use now after the fact!
Driving up to the hotel, we could not find a way in to the parking lot. What we thought was a car lot turned out to be parking for the hotel. The parking lot was in disrepair with huge potholes full of muddy water. It was so dark that we wondered if the hotel was closed down. There were hardly any lights outside of the hotel and the lights we did see were very dim. I was worried about leaving my car sitting outside in such a place! Walking in, we saw carpet dirty and fraying. Checking in took only moments at 8:00 PM.
The room was in worse shape than I had ever seen in a hotel. It was ten degrees or so outside with frigid winds….being inside of the room should have protected us from the cold but it did not. A breeze blew in from the old air conditioning unit! The heat barely worked and we froze all night long. It was a tiny room with two queen sized beds. A small television had static lines running through the few channels we could get on it. The carpet was dingy and old. A musty scent permeated the whole place. If that was not bad enough, we could hear noises through the walls and had a hard time sleeping. The bedding was worn thin from over-use, even the blankets were very thin and did not keep my daughter warm. I had to break out the army blankets from our winter pack in the trunk. The door to our room did not look that secure with 1/2 an inch open space when we shut it so we put a chair up against it.
I kept looking out checking on my vehicle and even walked out a couple of times to make sure no one had broken in. There was no hot tub in the room and the tub was very small. My friend had been unable to get a smoking room so she had to keep going outside to smoke. We left before the free continental breakfast (you would have too). We did not use the pool but saw it, it looked clean and had many people in it. Free local calls were available and came in handy to check and see if the airplane would be on time or delayed. My friend used the exercise room and when I peeked in, I saw three treadmills but not anything else. It is very close to the airport and the hotel has a restaurant and lounge which we did not see while there. We were able to use the senior discount since my older friend booked the room. As soon as she boarded the plane, my daughter and I headed home. We could have went back and slept a bit but did not want to return to that hotel room!
What was available that we did not need: free tea and coffee, high speed internet access, AAA discounts, guest laundry room, game room (did not see this at all), fax and copy service, and pets can stay for a fee. I would not recommend renting a hotel room here. An older hotel in disrepair does not do a great job of letting travelers rest! $100.00 a night is definitely not worth it here.
