I'm a huge supporter of independent, local businesses and have never before written a negative…read morereview of a hotel or Inn, but my young son and I were made to feel like an inconvenience at the Ashwood.
We received a text saying that contactless check-in (due to Covid, even though it's March 2023), meant the door to our room would be left unlocked with the key inside. Given that this is a pitch-dark country roadside motel (under the guise of the name "Inn") , I felt this was creepy. Anyone aware of the check-in system could have been waiting inside the room. I'm a woman, and was travelling with my child.
As we approached the suite, we noticed a huge can of cigarette butts perched on the windowsill. The door from outside turned out to be locked, so we entered through the deserted lobby. We found the inside hallway door to our room unlocked. The outside door was jammed.
On our second trip though the lobby to bring our luggage inside, two women emerged from behind the front desk (from what appeared to be their home) and announced (in a friendly way) that we'd need to come and go via the outside door to our room because the front desk and entrance were closed 8pm-8am. It was around 8:45pm at the time.
I explained that the door to our room was jammed, but they did not offer to check it or put us in a different room, even though we appeared to be their only guests for the night.
Next, we discovered what appeared to be a blood stain on the quilt, right where a person would sit. Because we'd been informed in no uncertain terms that the front desk was closed, we simply removed the quilt and turned up the heater, which was extremely loud and smelled of hot dust. There were no extra blankets to be found.
When I politely brought these issues to the Inn's attention at check-out, the response was defensive, implying I should have contacted the front desk or done a better job of searching for blankets (apparently housed in the TV cabinet, the drawers of which were also jammed -or painted- shut). Apparently, everything is the customer's fault at the Ashwood.
You're probably thinking, why didn't you just cut your losses, run screaming from this apparent dive and find a good, safe hotel? The answer is, freezing rain.
I recognize that it's low season in a beach town, but under no circumstances in any season would I be okay with finding a stain like this on a bedspread, with being made to feel unsafe and unwelcome from the moment of arrival or with having to deal with broken/jammed door locks.
Before leaving, we walked past the advertised indoor pool, out of pure curiosity. It was out of order, and the hallway leading to it smelled strongly of mold and mildew.
The Inn had every opportunity to make this situation right for us. I provided honest, polite feedback. Instead, they took no responsibility, offered no refund, discount or even future stay (as most respectable hotels would have done). My follow-up text (still polite) went undelivered (I assume my number was blocked - they already had my money). This is why I'm choosing to post a public review.
Do not be fooled by the cute, beachy-vibe photos of this place. Apart from the stain, it was relatively clean, comfortable and quiet. However, the service we received was nothing short of abysmal.
The baby muskrat was cute and harmless, though.