Super 8 Motel – Sturbridge, MA

So we stayed at this place over the weekend, when we went out there to go to the St. Patrick’s Day festivities at Old Sturbridge Village.  I was afraid that it would be as awful as the Motel 6 in town, as it is owned by someone with the same family name as said Motel 6.

We were very pleasantly surprised.  For a place that is at the same price point as Motel 6, it looks like it should be much more expensive.  Sure, we got an AARP rate, but still.

We requested a non-smoking king bed room.  We got a non-smoking room as requested, and were pleased that they have a rule about charging $250 to a guest’s credit card, for a cleaning fee, if it is found that they smoked in a non-smoking room.

The room was very nice and clean, and it had a sliding glass door with a little balcony, which would be nice for when the weather is warmer than it is now.  The picture above is the view from said balcony.  It’s pretty now, but imagine it in the spring when the green leaves are starting to come out, or in the fall, when the foliage is at peak?

Check-in was very professional, the guy who owns this place had the good sense to hire desk clerks who speak English.  At the Motel 6, they had Indian members of the family who did not speak English very well.  Nothing against Indian people, but if you are going to be in the hospitality business in the United States, the people who deal with the customers need to speak English, well enough for the American customers to understand.

The free WiFi didn’t work, but that could hve been for one of two reasons.  One could be that we were put in a room at the other end from the office, and perhaps too far away from the router.  But I am not sure if that was the case, because although I got the signal, I still could not connect to the internet.  This is the exact same problem I’ve been having at home when trying to connect this same laptop (Mike’s work-issued one) to our home DSL connection.  So I think it’s something in that laptop that I cannot fix.

The room came equipped with a small refrigerator and microwave, both of which looked new.  There was also a coffee maker with a small selection of coffee and tea, but when I tried to make a cup of coffee, it didn’t work.  However, at the time I wanted coffee, they had some available in the office area, along with a free continental breakfast.

There was also a hair dryer, and iron, and even an ironing board.

But everything else worked as it should have…the bathroom was small, but nice, and they provided more toiletries than expected at a place of this price point.  The bathroom vanity was nice, I don’t know if it was an undermount sink, but it worked and looked nice. The lighting and electrical worked, unlike at the Motel 6.  Even the toilet paper was better than I’ve used in more expensive places.

Sadly, our trip was ruined because Mike got sick.  You can read all of the sordid details HERE.  But the next time we want to stay in Sturbridge for a weekend, we would definitely stay at the Super 8 again!