The online pictures of this dump are a classic example of false advertising. Not surprised at all. It's a common marketing ploy. Pictures online are clearly dated. Everything looks so squeaky clean and new. Obviously, the intended message is to impersonate the quality of 5-star resort at a discounted price. Again, I'm not surprised when reality hit me square in the face upon arrival. As soon as I pull into the parking lot, I see McDonalds and Starbucks trash everywhere, fingerprints all over the lobby / office windows, and a dark, locked, and seemingly abandoned lobby. Upon arrival at around 10:40pm, I parked and approached the lobby. The sign in the window instructed me to ring the doorbell for service. There were two doorbells so I rang both. Ten minutes and three rings later, no sign of life inside. I was just about to go back to my car, get my cell phone and attempt to call when the clerk finally appeared. No received apology or explanation for the wait. I let it go. The clerk on duty asked for my name but oddly did not ask me to present my ID or the credit credit card used to make the online reservation a month earlier. Being the frequent traveller that I am, I stay at several hotel chains in addition to Best Western. I am a BW rewards member and have stayed at BW no less that seven times since May this year. At BW and other chains, I've grown accustomed to the procedure of being asked to produce ID and credit card at the time of initial check-in and that to be standard operating procedure. After telling the clerk my name, she proceeded to fumble with a stack of papers. Not finding my check-in form, she then attempted to find my reservation on her computer. After a few minutes, the clerk stated that she could not find my reservation. I retrieved my cell phone from my car and showed her the email and confirmation number received at the time of registration online. Using my confirmation number, the clerk attempted to find my reservation in her computer. Five minutes later, she informed me that I had already checked-in hours earlier. WHAT?? I responded by stating that this was not possible because I've been on the road since 3:00 pm. She informed me that "there is no mistake" because "my credit card had was charged the full amount earlier." WHAT??? She then proceeded to inform me that her computer shows that the room assigned to me, at the time of my check-in, was occupied by some other guest. When asked to do so, she could not verify this by calling the room 3 times. "The only thing left to do", she concluded, was to give me my room key and inform me that she would have to first "escort" me to the room to confirm whether or not my room was indeed occupied. As we walked to the room, she received a call on her cell. As we continued to the room, I overheard enough of the conversation to conclude with confidence the she was either talking to either another employee who worked the previous shift before her, or superior about this issue of pre-charging credit cards before actual arrival of the guest, and prior to confirming a guests identity, and prior to the guest initialling / signing the obligatory check-in form thus re-affirming the quoted room rate and hotel policies regarding pets, smoking, pool hours, and other misc and generic policies. The conversation ended when we arrived at the room. Before knocking, the clerk commented that she "hates it when this thing happens because it just screws everything up". I've been travelling for decades and I have stayed in dozens of hotels. It's inevitable that certain issues will occasionally arise, and they have at times in the past, but never have I encountered an issue quite like this one. Not sure of the legalities regarding pre-empting room charges prior to the customer arriving and signature authorization to charge the card at that time. If it is legal to do this, so be it. Never-the-less, I find it unusual and rather bad business to do so. I've never experienced this before, and like I said, I do travel frequently. Welcome to Best Western Sahara, Blythe CA..... BTW, Once I got Inside the room, I found several carpet stains, sagging beds with worn and faded comforters, some sort of greasy film on the table, and a strong musty / Stale odor. less