Country Inn Sterling

the room was clean and comfortable, good beds, good water pressure.

Nice enough, but really kind of overpriced for what it is. Double Queen ended up being $130 a night, which is higher than the cost for some nice big city hotels. To top it off, which was really aggravating, and why I’m writing this review: they charged an additional 3.5% for use of credit card. The original price was supposed to be $251 for our two night stay, but instead it was $260. There was no advance warning of this extra fee, and there should have been, since this extra charge is an unusual practice. Indeed, I have never encountered it before at a hotel. Only notice was sign at payment window, which was too late. If we’d known in advance we would have brought sufficient cash. But we had no way of knowing. Thus, the statement that the fee is a ‘cash incentive’ is meaningless, because if there’s no way to know in advance, not likely one will travel with enough cash, especially since hotel rooms are typically paid by credit card. It was rather sneaky, I think. Another slightly annoying feature was one had to ring a bell outside for any access. Payment was conducted outside via a window. I thought it was an after-hours thing, but again I also had to ring bell outside for access to breakfast. And lobby was locked up at mid-day too. Not a deal breaker, but just kind of awkward. Especially strange for small town Kansas. But I have to say I’ve never encountered such a set up before at a hotel anywhere, and I’ve traveled a lot across the nation and the world over many years. One of the charms of small town Kansas is usually things are laid back and easy, but this hotel was kind of uptight and awkward. Just a little strange. I understand safety concerns, I guess, but it’s just not very welcoming or hospitable, especially for small town Kansas.

We reviewed the offered selections for breakfast and went elsewhere. Beds comfortable Quiet location.