Traveling from the California desert resorts home to Washington we stopped in Turlock for the night. In the past, the chain of Best Western accommodations had characteristics that we could depend on. Among those standards were refrigerators that worked, bathrooms that had counter space for more than just a glass, bathroom fans that moved the air, and just plain cleanliness and a front desk staff that actually appeared to want to be friendly and welcoming. This hotel lacked all of these features. This hotel is desperately in need of some renovation and modernization. The front desk check-in person was surprised and put-out that we didn’t make a prior reservation (but the hotel had lots of available rooms). The breakfast room was out of most fruit (only three bananas, and a few oranges and apples). There was no whipped cream (an empty can but no replacement) for waffles and the bacon was micro thin. The scrambled eggs were cold and the list goes on. There were only seven patrons eating at 8:30am so it wasn’t like they had a big rush that we could see. On the plus side, we were on the side of the building away from the freeway traffic so it was quiet and there is a large selection of eating places and convenience stores very close. Can it be true that Best Western is lowering its standards or is this location an exception? Overall we are noticing a decline in Best Western facilities and other chains are stepping up to capture our business. less