Crislip Motor Lodge

If you have to spend the night in Grafton, you have two choices: The Crislip Motor Lodge (in town) or the lodge at Tygart Lake State Park (a few miles out of town). The latter will cost you $ 20-​$ 40 more per night, but it’s a LOT nicer.
Let me tell you about my last experience at Crislip’s. When I arrived on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, I think I was the only customer. The parking lot was deserted. I requested a non-​smoking room and was given my key. When I arrived at the room at the far end of the motel, I it smelled of stale smoke inside, and there was no «non-​smoking» icon on the door. So I went back to the office, informed them of the mistake, and was given a different room. When I got to THAT room, the door was dead-​bolted, so I went back to the office again, they put me in what they called the «handicapped» room that they KNEW was non-​smoking. Even so it smelled like stale cigarette smoke, but at that point I was too aggravated to really care. The woman at the front desk simply didn’t seem to know or care which rooms were non-​smoking.
On the plus side, rooms at Crislip’s are reasonably large, the bathrooms are reasonably clean, and you can open the front windows and let it some fresh air; there are also a couple of fast food places nearby, plus a Rite-​Aid and a Go-​Mart, and a little roadside bar called Big Daddy’s about a mile east on Route 50 if you want to drink with the locals. On the minus side, the WiFi service is really glitchy, the mattresses are very old and sagging, and the towels and washcloths are SO threadbare as to be downright abrasive. I checked under the mattress for bedbugs and didn’t find any, so I guess that’s a point in their favor.
BOTTOM LINE: The Crislip Motor Lodge is a very typical old roadside motel that has seen MUCH better days. The current owners don’t seem interested in bringing it up to 21^st century standards. So it really depends on what’s most important to you. If you’re low-​maintenance and just really need a place to crash, it’ll do. But if what I’ve described isn’t your cup of tea, go out to Tygart Lake State Park, and get a nicer room at the lodge.

With the exception of the AC there is not much good I can say about this place. The rate was only $ 50 and that was about 25 too much. There were so many problems that I don’t even feel like going into detail here. But suffice to say. If you ever see a PUB sign on a room door in a motel you check into then run. Yes, there really is a pub here.