Traveling? Don’t Stay Here

It was 1 a.m. and I'd driven ten hours or so and was dog tired. Looking for a motel at one in the morning can be a challenge, so imagine my surprise when I saw a flashing "Motel" sign ahead. As I drove in, I noticed how cheap the advertised rooms were. . I checked in, and had a great nights sleep. When I awoke, I found out why the rooms were so reasonable. The motel was located on a Pig Farm. The smell was terrible!

We've all had hotel/motel rooms that were less than expected. Check the list so you don't have a bad experience.

Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

"The Smoky Mountains hotel tops TripAdvisor's sixth annual list of the 10 dirtiest hotels in the U.S., based on travelers' cleanliness ratings posted to the popular review site.

The Grand earned thumbs down from 87% of more than 200 reviewers - including "JordynC," whose scathing critique of a stay earlier this month ("chewing tobacco spit oozing down the hall;" "carpeting so greasy and dirty you wouldn't want to sit your luggage down") ended with "the best thing thing that could happen is that a meteor fall from the sky and reduce it to rubble."

PHOTO GALLERY: See TripAdvisor's 10 dirtiest hotels in America

The Grand Resort Hotel Group has already begun taking the steps necessary to restore this once great property." A new CEO took over the hotel in December, and he has replaced the general manager and heads of housekeeping and maintenance, she adds. Also new: "a different sanitizer and cleaning product."

Other properties on this year's dirty line-up:

2. Jack London Inn, Oakland, Calif.

3. Desert Inn Resort, Daytona Beach, Fla.

4. Hotel Carter, New York, N.Y. (The infamous Carter, where I spent the night two years ago, returns this year after a short-lived hiatus. It was crowned "dirtiest hotel" in 2009, and the former Times Square tenement has been on TripAdvisor's list five times in six years.)

5. Polynesian Beach & Golf Resort, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

6. Atlantic Beach Hotel, Miami Beach, Fla.

7. Rodeway Inn, Williamsville, N.Y.

8. Super 8 Estes Park, Denver, Colo.

9. Palm Grove Hotel and Suites, Virginia Beach, Va.

10. Econo Lodge Newark International Airport, Elizabeth, N.J."