So you found yourself in Alma.
1.) Are you lost?
2.) Are you sure?
3.) Did you follow the road signs for "hotel" and end up in this parking lot, having second thoughts and Bates Motel flashbacks?
Cast your trepidations aside, my friend, because I have it on good authority (read: my mother, who stayed at the Comfortable Inn down the road and camped with a colony of ants) that this is the best motel in town.
The most notable feature of this motel is: it is spotless.
Sure, it's a little...Soviet...on the outside, and the beds are small (my sister and I had a room with one full bed and one twin. She's a sucker for letting me walk in first.), and the bathrooms are miniscule, but I didn't find one speck of dust, dirt, or decomposition on any inch of this hotel. That's a major win.
Our room also came equipped with a fully-functional fridge, a microwave that went untested, a flat-screen, and a fly swatter.
Rooms are $55/night AND they come with a free fountain beverage or coffee from the Citgo located conveniently across the street for each night you stay. Score!
Protip: the motel is only 10 rooms, so if you're in town for a wedding, bat mitzvah, graduation, etc., attempt to rent out the entire motel for friends and family. It totally mitigates the Bates-esque vibe for those whose last hotel review was a NYC Hilton.
Other perks: great lawn for tailgatin', barbequin', brunchin', and loungin' (there are even a few chairs and a charcoal grill provided, but best to bring your own if you're more than two people) AND The World's Best Bar just a short drunken stumble across the grass.
BONUS REVIEW FOR THE WORLD'S BEST BAR: Because it doesn't have a Yelp page, and it is 3am and no way I am creating that right now.
Crossroads, AKA TWBB, is not labeled. You'll mistake it for a maintenance shack for the auto-supply down the gravel path. You would be mistaken. If you dare to enter, you'll be greeted to retro-rad black-and-white-tile floors, an appropriate amount of wall kitsch, pool tables, regular tables, something blinky (my apologies, I was already severely drunk by the time I arrived from a family wedding. Pinball, maybe?), and a stage/dance floor.
If you're a family of Ds, or just extraordinarily lucky, you'll be treated to no cover and a ROCKING (not just the alcohol talking! I have video!) band. We heard Potter's Swamp (soon to be known as Faze 5) and they serenaded my family and I with such gusto that we were all sore the next day from dancing (we got jiggy with it. It was unbecoming). I somehow managed to convince a bartender to sell me two Bud Lights, and I was only charged $5! On a Saturday night! Somewhere long after midnight!
The regulars were great fun, and if I was in Alma, or hell, Michigan, for any reason, this would be My Place. read more