This past (memorial day) weekend was my first visit to Charlottesville. I wanted a decent priced hotel, but being a holiday weekend my choices were limited to the Red Roof Inn and a few other hotels/inns which were not in a convenient location. I first booked at the Hampton Inn on India Road, but not really knowing the city, I didn't want to risk having to be reliant either on public transportation or taxis. So I switched to the Red Roof Inn. After reading the reviews on this site and another site I was seriously tempted to switch back however the Hampton Inn was not available. I was so scared that I brought my own sheets and pillowcases, and my own towels. What a relief it was when I got to my room, it was clean and neat the linens were impeccable, and the bathroom was really clean. For $95 bucks a night it was so worth it. One of the reviewers wrote about the lack of TV stations -- there was basic cable and several HBO channels available in my room. However, my husband and I spent most our nights walking around The Corner -- where the Red Roof Inn is located and just taking in the sights. The location of the Inn is awesome, UVA and The Corner are just aroung "the corner" and there are some great restaurants. We had dinner at 'basil' -- a Mediterranean restaurant and burgers at Jabberwocky and breakfast at The College Inn. Great service and food. We walked down West Main to Historic Downtown, which took about 15 minutes, and just walked around the various neighborhoods. We took the bus to go back to the Red Roof and it cost us just $1.50 -- for New Yorkers that's quite a deal. The Red Roof Inn was great and for the price, you already know that it's not the Ritz, but for the price conscious it perfect!

I was 'put up' at this hotel for a job interview. I stayed with my husband and my dog. The staff was very nice and the hotel was quiet; HOWEVER:
I requested a non-smoking room and the room they gave me was designated non smoking but it STUNK like smoke and mold. It was on the top floor and every time the coal train across the street came by the whole place shook. It was so bad, we left and stayed at another place. I wouldn't even touch the beds they looked so dirty. How could I sleep when the trains rattled the place all night and the room smelled so badly? There are much nicer hotels in town.

The Red Roof Inn is staying upon while renovating, but they are not taking adequate steps to protect their guest's safety.

When we arrived, we had to navigate around huge piles of construction debris in the parking garage.

The fire alarms sounded at 11:30. The fire department responded and found no fire. Sprinklers kicked off in the basement, seriously dousing several cars and flooding part of the lower level.

When exiting from the 7th floor, we found that the stairwell was strewn with construction debris, pizza boxes,paint cans, and innumerable cigarette butts from renovation crews. The crew had actually BLOCKED the 5th floor landing with yellow caution tape, which we removed in order to further descend. Upon exiting the stairwell at the top portion of the parking garage, we found a huge 6 foot pile of debris just feet from the stairwell door, which we had to walk around to exit the hotel.

The alarms sounded again at 4am. The night clerk told guests that this was a mistake, and to avoid further alarms, the system was going to be disabled by ADP, the fire alarm contractor, for the remainder of the evening.

Upon checkout, we asked to speak with a manager about our safety concerns. None ever called back.

Red Roof may well maximize its profit by staying open during renovations, but clearly does not care enough about the safety of its guests.

Maybe my biggest problem was that I had previously stayed at the (new) Hampton Inn about two or three blocks down the road.

In any case, I stayed at the Red Roof Inn because it has - without question - the best location in terms of UVA and the nearly village shops. Unfortunately, location is all that this hotel has going for it.

The room was basic - think "Motel 6." While that was disappointing, I was still OK.

I tend to go to bed late -- around midnight or 1:00 a.m. I had chosen to watch a Hollywood blockbuster on the hotel's pay per view system, and I intentionally had kept my tv volume low to ensure that I was not disturbing my neighbors.

Imagine my shock when I heard a knock at my door. A hotel employee informed me that the front desk had received a complaint from another room that there was a "party" going on in my room.

Huh??

I stood at the door, in my boxers (the employee and I were both males), dumbfounded. Door wide open, I pointed to the empty room behind me and said, "I'm the only person in the room...I'm watching a movie...and the tv volume is so low that I can barely hear it."

"Well," the Red Roof employee said, "like I said, we have been notified that there is a party going on in this room. If we receive another complaint, you will be asked to leave."

?!?!

The entire experience was absurd and surreal. Even as I sit here and type it for Trip Advisor, I'm shaking my head in disbelief.

On future visits to Charlottesville, I will never stay at the Red Roof Inn. What a joke this hotel is.