Best Western Turtle Brook Inn

Very outdated, but somewhat decent. My biggest complaint was while showering, there was no hot water!

Dated, dingy and dissatisfying! But most of all beware of the owner/​mgr Brian Cassara. A guy in his 50’s who reacts to the truth by sending snarky emails to you if you give an honest review of his hotel. Stayed there April 14 & 15, 2015 due to proximity to St. Barnabas Hosp. Did not like dreary décor, broken phone and toilet so low to the ground you thought it was on the ground. I mentioned this in a survey sent to me by Best Western along with giving high marks to a nice staff. The next thing I know Cassara sends me a nasty email because I expressed my opinion that was requested of me by Best Western corporate.
Update: have to return to St. Barnabas next month so bit the bullet and made another reservation at Cassara’s dated, uncomfortable establishment only because it is so close to hospital. Next day Cassara has a tantrum and cancels our reservations! Retaliates against the truth. Poor guy must not believe in freedom of speech.
But thanks to Cassara’s immature behavior, we have found a delightful place to stay that is almost half the price he charges for his «accommodations».
Be safe: steer clear of Best Western Turtle Brook Inn and Brian Cassara.

My second stay is (finally) over. Sadly, the rating will take a 1-​star hit.
Rooms: I won’t stay in any of the bottom rooms in the future. There are so many little flies that somehow make their way into the room. I’m not sure if they’re coming from the A/​C or if they’re congregating in an area that I can’t see. The bathroom door is hard to close, as it gets stuck on the sink counter; you literally have to yank the door open if you’re inside. The hinges are rusted pretty bad and you can tell it was just painted over.
Also, the «vent» in the bathroom is useless. It’s a small square hole in the ceiling that’s covered with a metal backing with slits in it; the second floor rooms don’t even have this but it doesn’t really matter. There’s no exhaust in the bathroom, so the steam from a warm shower accumulates and fogs the whole room. As a result, small little pearls of water form above and drip down. There are also black stains that form every now and then; I have no clue what those are.
Housekeeping: Housekeeping was good until my last few days. I leave a tip everyday as a little «Thank You» to those who fix my room up. Problem is, during my last week, the person who was cleaning my room decided to just take the money everyday and hastily make the beds. They didn’t even change my towels or give me a new trash bag.
This experience was going great until my last few days. I was looking forward to updating my previous review to another four star or even a five star rating, but inconsistency forces me to downgrade.
*By the way, whoever owns a white vehicle and checked in on Sept. ²²⁄₂₃ and hit a blue BMW, grow a pair. Try leaving a note next time stating that you hit my car and left a white stripe along my rear bumper.

Hmmmm, where to begin… Let’s start from the parking lot. Bring a small car or truck because a SUV will take some skill to fit in the parking lot.
Once you make your way to the front desk you are greeted by the smell of decades of cigarette smoke covered by febreeze. Getting your room key by a somewhat friendly staff (just don’t ask for extra towels)! You make your way down the hall, where you swear a horror movie was filmed and make it to the door and open it wide hoping not to find the roaches from Men in Black sitting around a table playing cards.
It wasn’t as bad as you thought and all you hope for is a good nights sleep. The AC is humming and it blows cold. That’s a plus!
Waking up with the family you are ready to start the day, FREE BREAKFAST! but instead you make the .2 mile hike to the Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a donut.
The plus on all of this is that it’s not in a busy area, there is a zoo across the street, and a very nice pavilion with paddle boats. The travel to the city is not that far.
If all you care about is a place to stay at night then this is the place for you.

POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE with BEST WESTERN & EXPEDIA — I used Expedia in June to set a hotel reservation for business. When the travel plans changed, I went online through Expedia and cancelled the reservation. Expedia promptly emailed a Cancellation Confirmation. However when I received my charge statement, the hotel had charged my credit card and are saying I was a (No-​Show). Now the hotel and Expedia are pointing fingers at each other and doing nothing to credit my account, or return phone calls or emails.

Second time staying here. Reserved two adjoining rooms because we have small children. We made the reservation a month ago and then confirmed the day before. Once we tried to check in there– at night with two exhausted toddlers– were no adjoining rooms and the front desk person was unable to hardly speak let alone deal with an issue. We then spoke to the «manager» — Brian Cassara according to the front desk genius. Apparently Brian is actually the franchise owner who was totally indifferent about the situation. No offer of anything to make up for the issue in any way. No apology. Nada. Talk about someone who probably should not be in the hospitality business. The place is pretty basic (and that is generous) but it was near the zoo and close to the elderly relative we were visiting. I will never come here again and suggest that others select other options. Basic accommodations and poor service– bad combination.

We have used this hotel a a recommended place to stay for guests coming in to the area.
Private lot, breakfast. NYC bus, zoo, arena and park are all across the street.

This is a wonderful place to stay. All the staff that work there are so friendly and always know what is going on in the area. The owners live on site and are very helpful with everything.