Flamingo Motel

Ah yes, the Flamingo Motel, where do I start? It was probably one of the two least desirable places I stayed at on my Michigan trip but I wouldn’t know that till after I made my circuit. I do love the little 1950’s and 60’s motels and have encountered a wealth of those that have been reconditioned and renovated yet charge a nightly rate less than the Flamingo.
Starting with the good, the clerk was very nice. She only takes cash, not set up for credit cards she said. I can find no receipt for the place so I assume she didn’t give me one and I just didn’t notice. Fortunately I had enough cash on me. Due to road construction in the area it had been an ordeal to find this place in the dark and I didn’t want to go looking for another.
My first impression of the room was that it was darling and quaint with a pretty bedspread. My second impression was that there was a very strong, very old, unpleasant smoke smell permeated into every pore of the room, the kind that gets into your hair, clothes and belongings the minute they touch anything. Then, over the course of the evening, night and morning more problems became evident.
There was a large stain on the carpet near the frig that I stepped on with bare feet later and found it to be saturated wet and cold. I don’t know if there was a leak from the recent heavy rains or from the fridge. I laid a paper over it just to remind me not to step on it again.
When I went looking for a plug to recharge my phone there was a definite shortage of them and I discovered the lamp cord plugs looked like they were from the 1930’s. See my pix if you think I’m exaggerating. I unplugged one lamp after seeing the cord was nearly split in two and looked like a shock hazard, as well as a fire hazard. That freed up a plug for my phone, though not conveniently close to the bed so I could use it while charging.
The bathroom trash was sitting under the sink, making me wonder if there was a leak being captured. The tub had serious stains but I don’t know if it was unclean it maybe just had paint spills in it. I didn’t use it.
The sink and toilet worked good and the room had a fridge, which I used.
The security chain on the door was busted and unusable.
The toilet seat was full of splinters, not where they easily would get on your toosh, but dangerously close.
If every older motel was like this I would just figure that’s the way older motels are. But all save one of the other older motels I stayed at were way nicer than this. And many were only $ 32−35/night.
So do I recommend this place? Sadly, not particularly.