Motel 6

5592 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard. San Diego, California 92117

After doing painting all afternoon at our place, it was time to get away from the paint fumes for a night.

They have an option to book your room in advance online, which is what I did. When we showed up I was so glad that I reserved my room as they were turning people away because they had no more rooms left.

The friendly staff person gave me my room key and off I went to my room. Upon opening the door I was shocked to find two people sitting on the bed conversing and one person doing her makeup in the mirror by the sink. They seemed unsurprised to see me. I assumed the staff must have either given me the wrong key (unlikely) or these people were not supposed to be in this room.

A bit shaken I returned to the front desk and told him what happened. He excused himself, then returned with the person from the room. This person (who had the room previously) had not paid for the room and just stayed there. Unbeknownst to the staff apparently. The front desk person told him the room had already been rented. While this conversation was going on the front desk guy gave me a new room key and a different room. Yay.

My only suggestion for this problem is hiring one security guard to make sure people don’t take advantage and attempt to get a free room. Which is exactly what they were attempting.

After all the excitement, we went to our room with doggie for one night. The room was very clean and the bed was comfortable. The pillows are super flat, so I suggest bringing your own if you can. They have a nice grass area out back for your doggie’s needs. He enjoyed sniffing around and going for short walks. They also have vending machines for your snacking needs. We loaded up on chocolate of course. Handicapped parking is available, but they only have a few spaces. More parking farther in.

In the morning I was surprised to find a person (with a backpack) hanging out by our front door. Which happened to be at the top of the steps. Lucky for him my doggie liked him as it easily could have gone the other way. I kept expecting him to leave, however he was there until we checked out that morning. 

Again, I suggest a security guard to address these problems of people hanging out in places perhaps they should not. I’m thinking this is why the screen on my front window was bent. They did install two latches to keep the window locked. I kept the window locked all night after noticing this and again when we left.

In the future if we need a room for the night I’m unsure if I would go back as the whole incident made me very uncomfortable. Since my dog was with me I felt safe. Daughter has stayed here before with no problems.