This motel was just fine EXCEPT for the smell - whew! Although it's a non-smoking, no-pets motel, we walked in the door of our room and went right to open the windows (we had reservations and arrived at 3 a.m., or we most likely would have moved along). It seems that the use of highly-scented cleaners, "deodorizers", laundry detergents/dryer sheets, etc. have reached a saturation point.
I'm not allergic to scents and don't necessarily consider myself overly sensitive to them, but the smells in our room were overwhelming. We immediately took the bedspread off the bed and stuffed it in a corner of the room, because it, especially, seemed soaked in perfumed cleaning products. As it was, I kept being awakened during the 2 nights we stayed in the room by its strong odors.
We stayed the second night because of plans in the area, and because our friends in the room next door had already paid for their second night. They were not put off by the smell (their room smelled just like ours); in fact, they didn't even notice it. That being said, a week later, when we had been home for a few days from our trip, I picked up a pile of clothes to put in the wash and thought "Wow, what is so pungent?" It was the pajamas that I had worn in the bed in our room at the Fossil Butte Motel. They had been away from the room for 7 days, and out of my duffel bag for 3 days.
Other than the odiferous nature of the room, we had absolutely no complaints. The bed was fine, the linens soft (yes, though smelly) and everything seemed clean. For many people, the motel will be quite a find, but not for those with a better sense of smell. read more