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As a company – any company – goes on, it changes. It can be as tiny as this blog (does anybody remember when we used to have our “Daily Deals?” or weekly “Contests & Sweepstakes” posts? Anybody?) or as huge as McDonald’s, which used to sell McDLTs in a 2-sided styrofoam clam shell (to “keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool“), and had commercial characters like the Fry Goblins and Captain Crook.

Trip Advisor was founded (are you ready for this?) TWENTY FOUR YEARS AGO (yep, February, 2000) and has also changed with the times. Years ago, when they didn’t take themselves quite so seriously, they made annual lists, such as the best and worst hotels in the world, based on the rankings of the hotels they featured.

In the very early years of Trip Advisor’s existence, they also used to have an annual “America’s Dirtiest Hotels” list. As Trip Advisor put it, it was part of “…their promise to deliver the whole truth about travel – the good, the bad, and the ugly.”

The “America’s Dirtiest Hotels” lists appeared to have begun in 2005, and continued until 2011 (which was also the year they were sued for $10M for defamation by an owner of one of the hotels on the list. Eventually, the suit was thrown out of court, with the judge saying it was a First Amendment right). Some of the lists had vanished from the internet (heaven knows I looked, but I apparently was not one with the Google this time), but 5 of the 7 survived in some form or another.

I’ve listed the names and locations of the hotels on each available list. If the hotel in question closed (as it should have LOL), I noted that. Those with links are still open (and, depending on circumstances, may or may not still be getting really crappy reviews).

2005

List is nowhere to be found (but 5 of the 10 were reportedly in New York City)

2006

1. Tropicana Resort Hotel – Virginia Beach, Vir. – Closed in or sometime after 2010. It’s now the Aqua Vista hotel that gets an average of 2 stars.
2. Hotel Carter – New York, N.Y. – Built in 1929, Hotel Carter was so popular for its seediness (and deaths!) that it has its own Wikipedia entry. It closed in 2014 and although the building’s garage is still in use for hourly/daily/monthly parking, the hotel space is still sitting there, languishing.
3. Days Inn – Downtown/Port Miami, Fla. – There are several Days Inn in the area, so it’s hard to tell if this particular one is still open or not. There IS a Days Inn at Miami Airport North that gets 1 star…maybe this is the one in question?
4. Budget Inn – Knoxville, Tenn. – There’s more than one Budget Inn in the area. It may have closed, or perhaps not? This Budget Inn in Knoxville gets 2.5 stars, but its last few, circa 2015-2016 were 1-star reviews.
5. Red Carpet Inn – Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – Still open. Average of 2.5 stars.
6. New York Inn – New York, N.Y. – Still open. Although not on TripAdvisor, it can be found on KAYAK.com. It’s still rated as “Poor.”
7. Poindexter Ocean Front Resort – Myrtle Beach, S.C. – Resort closed and turned into condos.
8. Days Inn – Lancaster, Penn. – there are several Days Inn in Lancaster PA. All of them 3 stars on TripAdvisor. So perhaps the filthy one either shut down, or has new owners and is doing better?
9. Ramada Inn Miami Airport North – Miami, Fla. – Like most chains, there’s more one Ramada Inn in the area. The ones currently on TripAdvisor all have at least 3 stars.
10. Sea Club Resort – Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – Still open. Averaging 3 stars nowadays.

2007

List cannot be found.

2008

1. Hotel Carter – New York, NY (See #2 of 2006)
2. Ramada Niagara Falls – Niagara Falls, NY. There are several Ramada Inns in the Niagara Falls area, but all of them appear to be on the Canadian side. It’s very possible this one, on the U.S. side, has closed.
3. Days Inn Vanderbilt / Music Row – Nashville, TN – there are several Days Inn listed near Music Row, but none specific to Vanderbilt. This location may have closed.
4. Red Carpet Inn – Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (see #5 of 2006)
5. Regency Inn & Suites – New York, NY – the address of this location mentions a Capital One bank and a Planet Fitness, but no hotel. The hotel may have closed.
6. St. Augustine Beachfront Resort – Saint Augustine, FL – It looks like this resort closed in or around 2011 and turned into an Embassy Suites that gets 4.5 stars.
7. Travel Inn Civic / Medical Center – Miami, FL – Property closed and rezoned for retail.
8. Eden Roc Motel – Wildwood, NJ – Motel closed sometimes around 2012. It’s now the Dolphin Inn and gets 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor.
9. Days Inn Lancaster – Lancaster, PA (See #8 of 2006).
10. Pacific Sands Motel – Santa Monica, CA – Hotel closed and eventually reopened as the Shore Hotel. It gets 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor. An interesting review on Yelp, from Rick L.:
    The Pacific Sands Motel was built, owned and operated by my grandfather, Joe Len. He opened it in June 1957 (on my birthday) , and sold it early ’70s. Until selling in the 70s, the PSH was well loved, cared for and kept spotlessly clean. I spent many days learning to swim in the front pool.  I have a number of good childhood memories visiting my grandfather, breakfast at the iHop up the street, and fishing off the Santa Monica pier. My Aunt and Uncle built, owned and operated Habers Juvenile Toy Mart on the Santa Monica Mall (promenade). I visited the hotel and toy store building around 2015. While the buildings were physically still standing (good construction), they’d changed many times over and were hard to recognize. I believe the toy store building was sub-divided, one side was a trendy army surplus clothing store.  ‘If memories were all I sang I’d rather drive a truck’

2009

1. Hotel Carter – New York, New York (See #2 of 2006)
2. Continental Bayside Hotel – Miami Beach, Florida – Hotel closed in or around 2012. Eventually turned into the YVE Hotel Miami and gets 4.0 stars on TripAdvisor.
3. New York Inn – New York, N.Y. (see #6 of 2006)
4. Eden Roc Motel – Wildwood, NJ (see #8 of 2008)
5. Days Inn Cleveland Airport – Brook Park, Ohio – Closed at some point and became a 1.5 star Travelodge, which, in 2016, also closed (authorities said the hotel was a nuisance and a breeding ground for drug and human trafficking. Lovely). Based on GoogleMaps, the property may currently be part of a construction project.
6. Days Inn Airport/ Stadium Tampa – Tampa, Florida – This location closed and is now a Honda dealership.
7. Travelodge Bangor – Bangor, Maine – Poperty was eventually sold and turned into Queen City Inn. It gets 2 stars in TripAdvisor.
8. Velda Rose Resort Hotel – Hot Springs, Arkansas – Hotel closed and is currently for sale or rent as office spaces. Here’s some interesting history on the place.
9. Ramada Plaza Hotel JFK International Airport – Jamaica, New York – Another hotel that has enough history to merit its own Wikipedia page, AND a byline in Untapped New York, it closed sometime in 2009 or 2010. The building still stands, abandoned.
10. Days Inn & Suites Gatlinburg – Gatlinburg, Tennessee – There’s currently only one Days Inn & Suites listed in Gatlinburg. It gets 2.5 stars and lots of complaints about cleanliness.

2010

1. Heritage Marina Hotel – San Francisco, California – Property closed sometime in or after 2019.
2. Days Inn Eureka/Six Flags – Eureka, Missouri – After getting sued by Six Flags in 2010 (they never had permission to use Six Flags in their name), the hotel eventually closed down. The property is now the Victorian Gardens Retirement Community…which sounds lovely, but it still looks like a Days Inn.
3. Tropicana Resort Hotel – Virginia Beach, Virginia (See #1 of 2006).
4. Super 8 Virginia Beach/At the Ocean– Virginia Beach, Virginia – Was still there, as #108 of 116 hotels in Virginia Beach. In the past year or two, it’s turned into the Aqua Vista Resort Hotel. Still gets 2 stars, and is #113 of 113 hotels in Virginia Beach.
5. Quality Inn – Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania – Hotel closed at some point. Is now a FairBridge Inn & Suites Poconos and gets 2 stars on TripAdvisor.
6. New York Inn – New York, N.Y. (See #6 of 2006)
7. Parisian Hotel & Suites – Miami Beach, Florida – It’s still open and also advertises itself on Airbnb. Gets 2.0 stars on TripAdvisor.
8. Capistrano Seaside Inn – Capistrano Beach, California. The property was considered a nuisance and got a new owner in 2017. It still had 3+ years of problems but after some heavy duty construction, finally reopened in 2020 as a 4.5 star resort.
9. Continental Oceanfront Hotel South Beach – Miami Beach, Florida – Property was sold and now operates as the 4.5 star Nautilus Sonesta Miami Beach.

2011

1. Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center – Pigeon Forge, Tennessee – This is the hotel that sued TripAdvisor for including it in their Dirties Hotel list. The hotel managed to stay open until sometime around 2019 or so, when its 1.5 stars got the best of them. The property is now the 4.5 star Black Fox Lodge Pigeon Forge, part of Hilton’s Tapestry Collection.
2. Jack London Inn – Oakland, California – It’s still open. It gets 1.5 stars on TripAdvisor.
3. Desert Inn Resort – Daytona Beach, Florida – The hotel, built in the 1950s, closed in 2013. It was reimagined into the 4.5 star Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach. Fun Fact! The same year the Desert Inn Resort made the Dirtiest Hotels in the U.S. list, the son of the former owner was sentenced to federal prison on a child pornography conviction.
4. Hotel Carter – New York, NY (See #2 of 2006)
5. Polynesian Beach & Golf Resort – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – At some point the name of the hotel changed to Polynesian Oceanfront Hotel, although I can’t find anything that suggests the hotel changed hands vs. just changed names. That being said, the reviews on TripAdvisor go past 2011, when it was (obviously) still the Polynesian Beach & Golf Resort, so I suspect it was just a name change. So we’re going to say it’s still open, and, as the #34 of 38 resorts in Myrtle Beach, is now getting an average of 2.5 stars, instead of 1.5 stars.
6. Atlantic Beach Hotel – Miami Beach, Florida – This hotel closed up shop circa 2016. It’s now a Best Western Plus Beach Resort and gets 3.5 stars on TripAdvisor.
7. Rodeway Inn – Williamsville, New York – This hotel closed and turned into a Home2 Suites. It gets 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor.
8. Super 8 Estes Park – Denver, Colorado – This hotel has changed hands a few times since making TripAdvisor’s Dirtiest Hotels list. It eventually became an Econo Lodge, then was known as the Estes Village Inn. It closed in the past year or two.
9. Palm Grove Hotel and Suites – Virginia Beach, Virginia – The hotel closed sometime around 2013. It’s now a Super 8 by Wyndham and gets 2 stars on TripAdvisor.
10. Econo Lodge Newark International Airport – Elizabeth, New Jersey – I know that part of NJ…it’s more “EWR adjacent,” and it’s NOT in a good neighborhood. Anyway, the Econo Lodge closed and turned into a Motel 6. It gets 1.5 stars on Trip Advisor as the #4 of 4 hotels in the area.

Fun Statistics

Years TripAdvisor listed the 10 dirtiest Hotels In The U.S. = 7 (2005-2011)

Years we could find = 5

Number of different hotels = 39 (out of a possible 50)

Number of hotels listed in more than one year = 6 (Eden Roc Motel x2, Days Inn Lancaster x2, Hotel Carter x4, New York Inn x3, Red Carpet Inn x4, Tropicana Resort Hotel x2)

Number of hotels that are definitely still open under the same name = 7 (slightly less than 20%)

Number of properties that are languishing = 3

Number of properties that are no longer hotels = 6

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