E-Z 8 Motels

DO NOT STAY AT THIS MOTEL. I would give it a 0 if I could.
I originally wanted to stay at the E-​Z 8 in Old Town, but when I went back to book, all the motel rooms were sold out. I noticed that this motel had rooms for around the same price and WITHOUT THINKING, booked it.
They pride themselves with being «pet friendly». I have a small dog who I brought along with me, and her kennel. We planned for three days, and leaving her in the motel room inside her kennel for just a few hours on Saturday morning. When we arrived, the «pet policy» had a revision on it (you can see where someone typed it up and taped it to the original sign) that you will be asked to leave if you do this. The website said that it is not ADVISED, and that they won’t clean your room. Not that they would kick you out. Its hard to find a last minute pet-​friendly, so we tried to re-​arrange our schedule to accommodate this. Either way with out plans, we’d be losing out around $ 240 best case scenario by either cancelling our plans or finding another motel.
We stayed on 5÷27÷16 and about an hour after check in a man was shot and later died at the hospital. Around 50 or so of San Diego’s finest showed up and asked us a few questions. I asked them if they thought it was safe there (at this point, we only knew that there had been gun shots in the area, but not that anyone had been shot) and they seemed to skirt around the answer. They said it would be safe now that they were there, but the fact that they were even there means it was unsafe. I went to the front office to ask for a refund, which I received for all but that night. Normally I would argue about that, but I just wanted to go home at that point. My boyfriend and I were shaken up, our dog was on edge and there was just no way we could enjoy our mini vacation after something like that. The officers were nice and gave me an incident number because I told them I had booked a few things for the weekend and would need to cancel/​reschedule.
I think I’m done with budget motels for a while after this experience. Apparently there was another shooting that lead to a death back in April that I was unaware of. Trust your gut instinct when it tells you to go as far away from this place as possible. After looking at reviews after the fact (a lot of good that does, right?), a lot of people mentioned the fact that drug users/​dealers often stay there and it seemed to be true from our experience as well. In the end we drove all the way there from Tucson Arizona to learn a hard lesson about trusting your instinct, and then drove all the way back in the same night because we had no where else to go.

Worst service ever, i rented a 2 person room with 2 beds and i invited my friends over and the manager/​owner went all the way to my room and was like «you cant have visits after 10pm, so you either get out or pay for the rest of the people» and i was like «why? they’re not staying over or anything» and the dude was like «you pay or you leave and if you keep this up i wont give you a refund» and i was like «okay well I need to discuss this with my friends in private so» (insinuating I needed to close the door) and he was like «no discuss it outside, get out» and we were like «why? Cant we have privacy?» so we obviously chose to leave & we were like okay we’re leaving we just need to gather our things” Our friend was closing the door and the owner like opened it wide open and he pushed our friend with the door & was like «no you don’t get privacy» THIS HOTEL SUCKS ASS! The OWNER sucks too! Doesn’t even deserve 1 star

Ugh! One star! Not happy! The room was clean, (well kinda), but it had an odd smell. I don’t understand why I got put on the 3^rd floor when there were main floor rooms available. Price was OK at $ 50 on a Monday night, but when I looked online it said $ 37 so I didn’t like the extra amount. Especially since there’s no free Wi-​Fi, very disappointing. I’m only staying for about 12 hours, so I don’t see the point in paying $ 5 for Internet. Where are the outlets?! there was one next to the mirror, yet no hair dryer, a special outlet for the AC, and the last outlet 5 feet away from the bed were the tv hooks up to. There needs to be one closer to the bed. People don’t travel with extension cords.
No breakfast, but there are vending machines. However, they’re all the way by the office so if you’re lucky enough to be like me and be on the exact opposite side of the hotel on the 3^rd floor, then you have to go all the way down and around to get anything. One food vending machine, 2 drink machines, 1washer/​dryer, 2 old games, and a detergent machine. If you need to heat anything up, you have to come all the way over to this room for the only microwave as well.
You can tell it’s kinda sketchy with the multitude of «no drugs, prostitution, etc» signs posters everywhere you look.
It’s in kind of a run down area, and the only reason I chose this place was because it was the only one available to the location I need to go to in the morning. Since I’m walking with a duffel and a backpack, I needed somewhere close enough that it was actually a safe distance to walk. (2mi)
There were only small hand towels in my room. Nothing nearly big enough to dry off with after a shower. There was hand soap, but no hair soaps or hair dryer like most hotels provide. No continental breakfast either, which is my favorite part of staying in a hotel, yet they have none. That’s disappointing to me. If I’m spending $ 50 on a room that I’m only sleeping in, I can’t justify spending even more money on eating out anywhere for breakfast.
I would have much rather stayed at Days Inn San Diego across the street, but they unfortunately didn’t have anything available.):
This is what it says on the website:
E-​Z 8 Motel South Bay redefines budget lodging. Our customers are loyal because we offer the same quality hotel and room amenities the pricier hotels boast about, but we do it at a fraction of the cost. Besides saving you money, we want to make sure that you are satisfied with your stay at the E-​Z 8. One way we do that is by giving guests a great night’s sleep with our luxurious pillow-​top beds. We take pride in providing great amenities that you just won’t find at other budget-​friendly hotels. Um other hotels have hair dryers, soaps, even ironing boards and complimentary breakfast!
You can get some work done, watch a movie on HBO, or just surf the Internet with our free high-​speed access. Free my butt!
It also says room features iron and board. I see nothing.
I’m sure the complimentary coffee tastes like crap as well so I’m very reluctant to even try it. And that says a lot because I’m a coffee fiend.

This is a zero star review. But I guess I can allow one star because we weren’t killed in our sleep like I expected.
CLEANLINESS: none. I opened my bath towel and there was hair in it and make up stains from the previous user. Another towel had dried blood. Dust, dirt and god knows what else was on the bathroom floor. Upside: no bugs that we could see and surprisingly no mold in the shower. I guess that’s what the one star is for.
CHECK IN: Despite there being no option on the website to choose your preference of nonsmoking or smoking, the clerk told us that we had to specify a nonsmoking room. Apparently the default is smoking room so BUYER BEWARE, if you want nonsmoking. Write it everywhere. Special instructions? Nonsmoking. Name? First name non. Last name smoking. Email?
. And forget calling back to make changes or even cancel (I had tried). Their phone is from the 70s and when you say you can’t hear– they just hang up.
PARKING: The check in clerk took my license plate number so I thought I was set. Walked out to my car a few hours later saying I needed a pass– why wasn’t I issued one when I checked in and gave her my plate? Incompetent to say the least.
You get less than what you pay for here: it smells like piss, there are crackheads up at 4am screaming and I had to wash the cigarette smell out of all my clothes that were still INSIDE THE BAG as soon as we booked it out of there.
Yes it’s close to the amphitheater but please spend your money elsewhere. Just get a hotel downtown and get a taxi there. It’s worth not fearing for your life all night.

Stayed here for the J. Cole concert, my girlfriend and I came to a conclusion that this is the most filthy, sketch motel we have stayed in. We took off the bed sheets because we didn’t trust in the housekeeping service there, the room smelled like smoke and we asked for a non-​smoking room. Every time we would leave the room we would take all of our valuables. Also we wore sandals to walk on the carpet and even shower. My clothes still smells like the smoke in the room and its just utterly disgusting i do not recommend for ANYONE TO STAY THERE!!! If i could put no stars I would. Oh and to top it off a male bum asked me to pay for his room and i said no a few min later I see the same bum leave the room with female bum… GROSSSSSS!!!

Friends booked this room for Comic-​con and we didn’t look at the reviews until the drive over here so we got nervous. Maybe they paid attention because it actually turned out much better than expected. The room was clean but yes there was a weird smell upon entering. Shower was okay, wifi was not free and not enough outlets, but for a motel it’s not bad. Down the street from a tram station, 7/​11, etc. Parking can be difficult, fyi. Reception was welcoming at check-​in. This was the cheapest option when booking for SDCC and honestly I’d be down with coming here again. Also it is kind of in a shady area but there’s security at night. You will hear traffic all day too but if you only really need a place to sleep and shower, this will do.

Just plain nasty no star don’t waste your money on this god forsaken place please avoid at all cost this motel need to be check by the city government

This is the worst ever motel I’ve ever stayed in. Me and my fiancé are doing a long road trip and we thought about saving money so I picked a cheaper hotel during our travel.
Oh this place, no only it was in a bad neighborhood, the room itself was dirty. Everything from the bed, to the linen to the towels were all dirty.
And we did not feel safe during the night.
Wished I read the Unilocal reviews before booking the hotel here.
Go stay at travelodge just 5 mins away. Cleaner room and felt safer

U get what u pay for… Thin walls (we had to knock on the wall so the neighbors can quiet down), worn out beds, sheets, very thin pillows (kept tossing and Turing), dirty carpet (black feet in 3sec), NO shampoo, or conditioner, just a squeeze bottle of Dial soap. Water pipes make so much noise. NO trash bags in the trash cans. And if u stay on the 3^rd floor, good luck trying to sleep since the building moves every time someone walks by. Their front office is run by men (maybe because not even woman will work there). Also, their parking lot is NOT big car friendly.
One star for having security in the parking lot @ night.
This was just a less than 10 hours experience at this place. Not recommended at all!

Sleep in your car. This place is HORRIBLE! Made the mistake of taking my sandals off to walk to the shower and within 3 steps the bottoms of my feet were pitch black! Disgusting!

This past weekend, my boyfriend and I stayed here because we had single day passes for Comic Con. By the time we received our badges, it was too late to book a hotel close to the Convention Center unless we paid something crazy, like $ 600. After hours of browsing for cheap hotel rooms, we stumbled upon the EZ 8 Motel in South Bay. The room was $ 55 for the night and only 15 minutes from the CC. The reviews we read weren’t awful, so we decided to give it a shot. Plus, it was only one night.
This was by far the most disgusting/​terrifying motel experience of our lives.
For starters, this motel is in the WORST area. It’s parallel to the 5 freeway, so it’s noisy and crowded. There is a trailer park directly across the street with some not-​so-​friendly people. When we pulled into the parking lot, some of the guests staying there (and some random lurkers) immediately looked us up and down. When we got out of the car, I noticed the people next to us looking inside to see what we had. At that point, we were already a little freaked out.
The front desk service was very welcoming. They were very friendly and helped us find our room immediately. We were eager to get inside as soon as possible because we were exhausted from our long car ride. We came in from LA.
When entering the room, the first thing we noticed was the smell. STALE CIGARETTES. Worse than any old school Las Vegas casino. Even worse, you could tell that the maid service tried to hide the smell with some cheap disinfectant spray. Quickly, that «clean» smell wore off. The first thing we did was check the bed for bed bugs. With a motel that cheap, it’s better to check. There were none, thank goodness. Although, we did notice that the comforter was full of yellow stains, and the sheets had holes in them from cigarette burns. The worst part was the bathroom. Our sink was filthy and full of chips and dents. It also looked as if there was makeup smeared all over the counter. Our toilet didn’t flush… The water would fill up and the toilet would clog. Our shower was BLACK inside and full of cracks and rust. It’s safe to say that we did NOT shower in that bathroom.
Later that night after settling in, I took my shoes off to kick back and relax/​get ready for bed. After walking around without shoes for LESS THAN 5 minutes, my feet were black from all the tar seeped into the carpet. At that point, I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I felt disgusting. My boyfriend and I had to be up at 5:00am, so we were in bed by 9:00. We were afraid to sleep in the sheets, so we used towels from the bathroom to cover ourselves. Shortly after turning the lights out and falling asleep, we were rudely awakened by other guests slamming doors and yelling in the halls. Upstairs, it seemed as if there was some sort of Indian rain dance going on with all of the stomping and running around. The walls in this motel are PAPER thin, so you can hear every conversation that is being held clearly. Later on in the night, we overheard a woman screaming at her child on the floor above us. It was extremely disturbing. As if we weren’t freaked out enough, that made our experience so much worse. We didn’t get much sleep that night. Not only because of the noise, but because we were afraid that our car would be broken into in the middle of the night. We kept our belongings with us at all times.
The next morning, we checked out immediately and decided that we will never stay here again.
Do yourself a HUGE favor and never book a room here. Spend a little extra money and stay somewhere else!

I would give zero stars if I could.
So I will start the nightmare story now. First off we booked one day in advance directly through the hotel. Yeah the neighborhood is ghetto but hey when your in a bind and have a dog you take what hotel you can get.
So we tell the guy when we booked room we both do not smoke so we want a non smoking room and he replied oh no problem we have one on 3^rd floor right here above office. He said its the best side of hotel to be on because it faces opposite of freeway. So we were optimistic that the stay would be decent.
WOW was I wrong we show up next day to check in. The lady who we will call meth head said oh you have a dog and I replied well yeah is that a problem because when we booked I told gentleman and he actually commented on how cute she was and told us that certain breeds were not allowed but we own a beagle so we were good.
She replied and said well we have to put you in a smoking room on 1^st floor. I tell her thats not what we booked and paid for. Meth head then rolled her eyes and said well thats policy. I reply so pretty much it’s take what you give me or try and find another hotel that accepts dogs for a reasonable price. Meth head said pretty much.
So we said wtf ever and took it. Grab the dog and go to the room. HOLY SHIT as soon as we opened door the stench of old cigarettes and ass exploded in our face. Even my dog jumped back I say to myself we can air it out and febreze the hell out of everything and put plug ins everywhere.
So we practically bathed the room in febreze and made it a lil better. Now we decide to lay down and relax after disinfecting the room. BOOM the bed is hard as a rock and you can feel every spring in the cheap flea market special mattress. This is not to mention the 20 crack pipe burns in the comforter. The pillows were nice though so hey there is the one star.
I go back and talk to Meth head and tell her we are not to happy and if there is a better room. She again acted as if how dare I say such things. I really think she believes this is the Ritz Carlton. Maybe for tweakers it is as you can see by all the burns in furniture and on the TV. She said nope all rooms are the same so I just said oh well I have to deal with it and try and find better place in the meantime.
Now its time for a shower lol. I go to turn it on and to no surprise the water from shower head sprays all over the bathroom. Im not talking a sprinkle. I’m talking more water is spraying on walls, floor and toilet then what is making it in the tub. I could not help but start laughing.
This time my wife insists on going to office hoping for better luck. Lmfao low and behold it was Meth head again. My wife told her what the problem was and we needed it fixed ASAP do to the fact she had to shower before work. Meth head told her maintenance would be by immediately. So 45 mins go by and my wife had to go to work without a shower.
My wife was pissed so I decided to go back and say hey wtf my wife needed to shower and you said you would have maintenance come fix it immediately. Meth head said well we have other emergencies this is after she bumbled her words trying to say well maintenance just got here. I tell her well when will it be fixed because my wife was very upset she had to leave for work without a shower.
Meth head replied with a response worthy of a Tweaker of the year award. «well couldn’t she have sponge bathed or took a bath». I was simply amazed and laughed so hard. I walked right out in utter disbelief.
You get what you pay for or in my case not really we paid for a room with a shower but I guess we are supposed to sponge bath it lol oh and there isn’t even a phone in the room to call front desk.
Needless to say this is the worst experience I have ever had at any hotel. So if you like Meth and no showers and run down furniture and beds like concrete and customer service that could make a clown cry then this is your place.

You’d be better off saving the money and sleeping in your car. The walls are paper thin, and it’s a sketchy area.

So, it’s 3:30 AM, you’re stranded in San Diego, and none of your usual hotel booking sites can hang with the fact that you need a hotel room NOW rather then tomorrow. After drinking refill after refill of hot chocolate at the denny’s you wound up in, you ask them if there’s any cheap hotels around the area. They hesitate. You mention that you and your friends are stuck there for the night and that you don’t care if it’s a crack hotel or whatever. Upon hearing the words «crack motel,» the waitress recommends we try the EZ-​Eight motel.
This is a standard-​issue crack motel. There are signs all over reminding everyone that drug use, sales, and prostitution are illegal and will be reported. Like, all over the building and manager’s office. The manager cut us a decent deal, but I’ve had far better, and for a skeezy motel within spitting distance of the mexican boarder for a grand total of less than 8 hours, I was tepid about the price.
The room wasn’t especially clean and everything in it was worn the hell out. There were the standard crack/​meth pipe burns on the bedspread, and we heard some tweakers fighting and some other (or maybe the same) tweakers piping eachother pretty hard long into the night.
The next morning, we walked outside. We made it 7 feet before some guy flagged us down from the balcony and either asked for or offered us drugs, I’m still not sure which. After pretending we understood what he was trying to ask us, we got our stuff in the car and left.
I give this place 2 stars because the manager was ok and cut us a decent last minute deal, and because we didn’t get stabbed, shot, or have any of our stuff stolen. Your mileage may vary on that.
If you don’t mind hearing people wrecking eachother long into the night and just need a place to crash out for a bit, and also don’t mind all the characteristic hallmarks of a crack motel, this place is perfect! Or if you’re a tweaker, say hello to your new favorite place to do whatever you guys do. Burning the bedspread and boning against the wall super loud, I surmise.
If you like nice motels, have children, or are easily freaked out or unarmed, I would recommend sleeping in your car before going here.
Despite all that, the door locked, no one called the phone asking if we were still awake, no one knocked asking for drugs, nothing was stolen, and the manager didn’t try to bone us on anything. My god, I have low expectations for hotels, but all those things earned it two stars as opposed to one.