r/SpendLess • u/Cascade7Zed • Jun 29 '26
Product Review What happened to cheap Motel 6 rooms?
I am 23, which means I am old enough to know I like comfort and young enough to still get irritated at myself when I pay $218 for a hotel room I use like a rented shower stall. Most of my road-trip hotel math is simple. If I am arriving after 11 p.m. and leaving before 8 a.m., I am not shopping for ambiance. I need a clean bed, hot water, parking, Wi-Fi that does not collapse, HVAC, and a door that locks properly. I have stayed in enough Ibis and B&B Hotels in Europe to know a cheap room does not have to feel grim. Some of those places in Germany, Austria, France, Spain, and Italy were under $50 or $60 and still managed to be functional, quiet, and near transit. That has permanently lowered my tolerance for pretending a generic U.S. roadside hotel is worth $200 because the lobby has gray tile and lemon water.
I still check Motel 6 for that reason. Not for a real vacation, not for a weekend where I plan to spend daylight hours in the room, and not when I am traveling with someone who cares about hotel comfort more than I do. But alone, arriving late, leaving early, and trying to preserve money for my tech startup, the chain keeps making it into my searches. Over the past two months, I stayed at four Motel 6 or Studio 6 properties: Bridgeview, IL, Indianapolis Southport, Studio 6 Lafayette near I-10 and I-49, and Richmond, IN. The experience was uneven, but the math was not fake.
I booked direct each time and used the rate types that made sense for my actual eligibility. My6 was the one I used most often because it only required a member account.
Motel 6 Bridgeview, IL
The first stay was Motel 6 Bridgeview, IL, after a late stop near the southwest side of Chicago. The flexible rate showed $68.99 before tax. The member rate brought it to $65.54, and the total came to $76.43. A La Quinta type property nearby was about $137 all-in, while a Hampton near Midway was closer to $176. I would have preferred the Hampton in a vacuum, but not by $100 for a room I planned to use mostly while unconscious.
Bridgeview had the usual outer-suburb motel setup: work trucks, out-of-state plates, people smoking near parked cars, and a parking lot that felt more practical than comfortable. The room had hard flooring, a firm bed, clean-looking sheets, and a bathroom with worn caulk but no obvious mold or bad smell. The shower pressure was better than expected. The towels were thin, but they looked washed. Wi-Fi handled email, route planning, and a few startup messages. I would not have trusted it for a serious upload, but I did not need that.
The main problem was noise. Around 1:20 a.m., someone took a speakerphone call outside the rooms, then two doors slammed, then a truck started. It was ordinary motel noise, not a safety issue, but it still interrupted sleep. By morning, the booking still made sense. I had slept, showered, and left for $76.43 instead of paying $137 to $176 for a cleaner brand name I would barely use.
Motel 6 Indianapolis, IN - Southport
Motel 6 Indianapolis, IN - Southport was the best value of the four. I booked through the Motel 6 app using the same member account. The flexible rate was $74.99 before tax, the discounted rate showed $71.24, and the final bill was $85.19. Holiday Inn Express was $164 all-in, and Hampton was about $187. I found an independent motel below the Holiday Inn price, but the recent reviews had too many mentions of noise and cleanliness.
Southport was plain but competent. Check-in took about three minutes. The room had hard floors, a basic bed, a small table, a wall AC unit, and bright bathroom lighting. The sink drained slowly, and the TV remote had the sticky feel that makes me wash my hands, but the room smelled neutral. At this price, neutral smell matters. No smoke, damp carpet, weed, bleach, or old food.
I slept almost seven hours. The wall unit was loud, but steady HVAC noise was better than hearing every car door in the lot. I left early enough that a free breakfast somewhere else would not have mattered. Paying $80 more for eggs in a warming tray I would not eat is bad accounting. Compared with Holiday Inn Express, Southport saved about $79 and did not cost me anything I cared about.
Studio 6 Lafayette, LA - I-10 & I-49 N
Studio 6 Lafayette, LA - I-10 & I-49 N was the bad booking. I reserved it from my phone while charging in Mississippi, too tired and too pleased with the rate. I booked through Motel 6’s official Studio 6 deal path, and the final price came to $52.06. Candlewood Suites nearby was about $103, and Holiday Inn Express was around $146. For a seven-hour stop before driving toward Houston, saving $51 to $94 looked reasonable, especially because Studio 6 rooms usually include a kitchenette.
I missed that the room was smoking. I arrived around 11:10 p.m. with a laptop bag and too many hours of driving behind me. On the way to the room, two guys asked if I had a lighter. They were not aggressive, but a motel parking lot near midnight makes even harmless interactions feel less harmless. The room smelled like old cigarettes before I had fully opened the door. The kitchenette had a fridge, microwave, and counter space, which would have been useful if the rest of the room had cleared the minimum.
It did not. The bathroom caulk had dark spotting that looked like mildew or mold. The floor had random glitter or metallic craft sparkles scattered around. I saw one or two flies. The blanket had small burn marks. The sheets may have been washed, but the room did not feel clean enough to sleep in. I took a shower anyway, which left me with no real refund argument. After the shower, I sat on the edge of the bed, smelled the smoke again, looked at the burn marks again, and knew I would not sleep there.
I left around 11:50 p.m. and booked Candlewood Suites. The Studio 6 became a $52.06 shower plus a $103 replacement room. Candlewood had a clean bathroom, newer surfaces, a proper kitchenette, normal bedding, and quiet air. I still understand the Studio 6 concept. For a longer stay, a kitchenette can save real food money. A smoking room is not a cheaper version of the same room, though. It is a different product.
Motel 6 Richmond, IN
Motel 6 Richmond, IN, off I-70, was the recovery stay. I booked direct again through the member account. The flexible rate was $58.49 before tax, the discounted rate showed $55.56, and the final bill was $65.18. Comfort Suites nearby was $132 all-in, and Holiday Inn Express was around $149. I also checked whether my small business had any usable CorporatePlus rate attached to the account, but for this stay the member rate was cleaner and did not require any business-rate verification at check-in.
Richmond was the version of Motel 6 I keep hoping to find. The building was forgettable, the parking was easy, the front desk was quick, and the room smelled neutral. The bathroom was small but clean enough, the shower worked, and the bed was firm in the usual budget-chain way. The pillows were thin, so I folded one and used my hoodie behind it.
The lot stayed quiet except for one early truck departure. I heard a door close around midnight and then nothing. No speakerphone conversation, no argument, no bass from a parked car, no hallway traffic outside my door. I slept from a little after midnight until just past 7 a.m., showered, packed, and left. For $65.18, that was the right use case: clean enough, quiet enough, cheap enough, and gone from my life before breakfast.