I've spent the past couple days looking up hotel reviews in Niagara Falls, with an interest in just how far up or down the quality of those hotels have gone since my 2003 visit. I know most of these hotels/motels from nearly three dozen prior visits there.
Even before the recent hotel building splurge surrounding the casinos there, the inner city always had the best hotels because, obviously, the Falls are there. Once you get three miles west of the city, for instance, they become your average fare, like you'd find in suburban Detroit.
The Arkona Motel is on the extreme outskirts, and thumbing through AAA travel guides of the past, it was never one of the best. Neglect from potential customers has made the neglect of that facility worse. But isn't there a silver lining to everything?
Here is a post from the site, tripadvisor.com, that was meant to be fed into a sarcasm meter. Even if it's a prank, I found it funny because I know the area so well:
"Their pool was filled with nice water. I've never seen such a black parking lot with lines so straight before, it was quite attractive. The room had a bed, with a mattress too; I couldn't believe it. The yellow tint to the walls gave an antique look to the room. Once the black water from the taps was done running through and the smell had gone away, the cold water in the shower was really refreshing... Overall, my experience was amazing; I can't wait to go back and bring both my friends!"
And the "prankster" had the gall to give the motel a five-out-of-five rating! I wonder if the innkeeper let it go to his head.
What I can't believe, though, is how some of those motels manage to function. They're in a bad part of town, and many people report actual bedbugs in the furniture, filthy carpet, black mold in the shower, and awful stenches. It makes me wonder whether the Ontario Board Of Health is even interested in these outskirt motels.
Or are they worried about chips in the paint at the Casino hotel? With a roll of the dice, I'd probably be proven correct.
