Foster Lake Inn

If I could give it 0 stars to rate my stay at The Foster Lake Inn it wouldn't be low enough. In thinking about my stay this week, I am overcome with a mix of disbelief, frustration, and an overwhelming urge to warn others about this dreadful excuse for a hotel/Inn. Never before have I encountered such an abhorrent display of rudeness, unprofessionalism, incompetence, disregard for guests, and sheer lack of basic hospitality. I had previously stayed at this Inn approximately 5 years ago and back then it was pretty nice so I wanted to stay again but wow it has changed for the worse. The journey from the parking lot all the way to my room was reminiscent of navigating through a maze of disrepair. Outside, worn out peeling paint wood scattered everywhere and piles of construction materials strewn along the walking paths. Inside the ancient furniture covered in stains and scratches appeared to have survived countless generations of guests and the dimly lit hallway upstairs reeked of stale air and dampness, a steep and rickety, slippery wooden staircase adorn two lose stair banisters, on each side and the stairs emit disconcerting creaks and groans which added an extra layer of anxiety to the already unbearable experience and served as a reminder every time you used them of the hotel's neglect for basic safety. Little did I know that this would set the tone for the entire duration of my stay— added with a continuous display of apathy, rudeness and unprofessionalism. As I reached my room, my enthusiasm for respite quickly transformed into dismay. I was immediately struck by by an aura of neglect and decay. The stench of mildew made me wonder if the room had been as neglected as the rest of the place. One window that actually worked had dirty and tattered curtains, the other set of curtains hung over a window that is blacked out and useless and the bed resembled a sagging carcass, devoid of any semblance of comfort or support. The threadbare sheets, sporting suspicious stains, were a testament to the hotel's indifference towards basic hygiene. The bathroom was an odyssey of horrors. The teeny tiny shower with very little hot water and no water pressure, the broken toilet paper holder, the bathroom mirror that is mounted so high on the wall that you cannot see yourself in it, knobs broken off all of the cabinets, the cracked tiles and mold-ridden grout revealed the long history of neglect and poor maintenance. The water pressure in the shower was a pathetic trickle, and the temperature oscillated between freezing and scalding, leaving me with a half-finished attempt at personal hygiene. To add insult to injury, the so-called "amenities" promised by the hotel were nothing short of laughable. The advertised Wi-Fi connection was as elusive with a signal so weak and intermittent that even carrier pigeons would have delivered a more reliable internet service. Also the cable television signal kept going in and out. When the cable doesn't work, they

This isn't a cookie-cutter chain hotel, but you get everything you'd get from a place like that (good bed and bathroom, microwave, fridge, etc) plus a warm, welcoming, family feel. We only stayed one night, as we were driving through on I-5, but it's definitely worth the 20-minute drive off I-5 to get a bit of relaxation. There's a great breakfast, lunch, and dinner restaurant (The Point) right next door.