Salem's BEST Hotel? Avid's Secret Revealed!
Okay, buckle up buttercups, because we're diving headfirst into the labyrinthine review of…Salem's BEST Hotel? Avid's Secret Revealed! And trust me, after a few… experiences… I'm ready to spill the beans. This is going to be a messy, glorious, honest-to-goodness, and hopefully helpful account of what you can expect. So, let's begin.
First Impressions - The Secret is Out!
Okay, so "secret" might be a slight overstatement. Let's be honest, in the age of the internet, secrets are harder to keep than my diet promises. But the name, "Avid's Secret Revealed!", certainly grabs your attention. (And yes, I’m still figuring out who Avid is). Right away, I was hit with… well, not total perfection. Remember, even in Salem, nothing is ever truly perfect.
Accessibility - Kinda Good, Kinda Not…
- Wheelchair Accessible: This is where things get a little… complicated. The website says accessible. And the front desk folks say accessible. And there's definitely an elevator. BUT (and this is a BIG but)… maneuvering around the hallways felt a bit tight for my enthusiastic attempts to use a wheelchair I borrowed just to test the place. The rooms themselves felt ok, but it would be best to call in advance if you need a lot of space for moving around. They tried, and that counts for something!
- Elevator: Yep, there’s one. Thank goodness.
- Facilities for disabled guests: They have the basics, but further assessment is needed.
Internet (Oh, the Internet!) - Free and… Sometimes Functional
- Free Wi-Fi in All Rooms!: YES! Thank the Wi-Fi gods. And most of the time, it was free and available.
- Internet Access – Wireless: Check
- Internet Access – LAN: Check. But let's be real, who uses a LAN anymore? Still, good on them for keeping up.
- Wi-Fi in Public Areas: Seems to…function, though I confess, I spent most of my time trying to connect to the room’s Wi-Fi and getting a bit flustered.
Cleanliness and Safety - Feeling Safe, Mostly
- Rooms Sanitized Between Stays: Fingers crossed. They say so.
- Anti-viral cleaning products: Nice if true.
- Daily disinfection in common areas: Seems legit.
- Staff trained in safety protocol: They looked the part!
- Hand sanitizer: Everywhere!
- Hot water linen and laundry washing: Excellent and essential.
- Individually-wrapped food options: A plus!
- Rooms sanitized between stays: Good to know.
- First aid kit: Good, always!
- Doctor/nurse on call: Phew!
- CCTV in common areas: Yes.
- CCTV outside property: Also yes
- Check-in/out [express] Yes.
- Check-in/out [private] It actually felt pretty private, which I appreciated.
- Exterior corridor: Not observed.
- Fire extinguisher: Present.
- Smoke alarms: Yesss.
- Security [24-hour]: Definitely present.
- Smoke alarms: Yes.
- Soundproof rooms: Mostly. More on that later.
- Safety/security feature: Always a good point.
Dining, Drinking, and Snacking - A Mixed Bag of Delights (and Disappointments)
Okay, the food. This is where "Avid's Secret Revealed!" went from "pretty good" to "hmmm."
- Restaurants: They've got a few. Which is good.
- Bar: A bar exists. It’s not a great bar, but it exists.
- Poolside bar: I didn't see one.
- Coffee/tea in restaurant: Yes.
- Coffee shop: Nope.
- Breakfast [buffet]: Buffet! Yeah, it’s the classic thing. It's got the usual continental suspects, plus some sort of "Asian-inspired" options. (More on that later)
- Breakfast service: Fine.
- Western cuisine in restaurant: Yep, there’s burgers.
- Asian cuisine in restaurant: Yep, there’s some kind of "noodles" there.
- Room service [24-hour]: Always a godsend.
- A la carte in restaurant: Yeah.
- Happy hour: I saw some signs. Maybe?
- Bottle of water: They give you bottled water. Hooray!
- Desserts in restaurant: Yeah.
- Poolside bar: I looked, did not spot one.
- Snack bar: Hmmm.
- Soup in restaurant: Yes.
- Salad in restaurant: Yes.
- Vegetarian restaurant: There’s a menu, but whether it’s actually vegetarian is questionable.
My Biggest food-related experience, aka the Asian Breakfast Saga
So, the Asian breakfast… This is where things get interesting. I'm always up for trying new things. I ordered the "Kimchi Pancakes." They arrived… looking… unique. The taste? Well, it was… an experience. Let's just say my taste buds went on a little adventure. I think it was supposed to be kimchi? I hope it was kimchi. They kindly offered me a do-over, since I was a bit distraught. I declined. I’m not sure if it was the cook’s bad day or an authentic experience, all of which made it memorable. I appreciated the effort, but it was not necessarily good… or “Asian”.
Services and Conveniences - The Usual, and a Few Surprises
- Concierge: They are there.
- Daily housekeeping: Yes, and they were really good.
- Doorman: Yes.
- Dry cleaning: YES.
- Elevator: Yes.
- Ironing service: Awesome.
- Laundry service: Yes.
- Luggage storage: Good.
- Non-smoking rooms: A MUST.
- Car park [free of charge]: Yes.
- Car park [on-site]: Yes.
- Cash withdrawal: No.
- Contactless check-in/out: Yes.
- Convenience store: yes.
- Air conditioning in public area: Yes.
- Audio-visual equipment for special events: Yes.
- Business facilities: Yes.
- Currency exchange: Yes.
- Essential condiments: Sure.
- Facilities for disabled guests: Yes.
- Food delivery: I think so.
- Gift/souvenir shop: Yes.
- Indoor venue for special events: Yep.
- Invoice provided: Yes.
- Luggage storage: Yes.
- Outdoor venue for special events: Yes.
- Projector/LED display: Yes.
- Safety deposit boxes: Yes.
- Seminars: Probably.
- Shrine: Nope.
- Smoking area: Yep.
- Terrace: Yes.
- Wi-Fi for special events: Yes.
- Xerox/fax in business center: Probably.
Things to Do and Ways to Relax - A Bit of Everything
- Swimming pool: Yes, and it has a view!
- Swimming pool [outdoor]: The view made the pool!
- Gym/fitness: Yep.
- Fitness center: Oh yes!
- Spa: They totally have.
- Massage: Yep.
- Body wrap: Uh huh.
- Body scrub: Mhm!
- Sauna: Yep!
- Steamroom: Yep!
The Pool with a View: My Happy Place
The pool was a highlight. Seriously. I spent a glorious afternoon there, lounging by the pool, and the view was spectacular. It was genuinely relaxing. Pure bliss.
Available in All Rooms - The Essentials (and More!)
- Additional toilet: Not visible.
- Air conditioning: YES.
- Alarm clock: Yes.
- Bathrobes: Check. Fancy. Slightly weird.
- Bathroom phone: Seriously?
- Bathtub: Yes.
- Blackout curtains: Thank GOD.
- Closet: Yup.
- Coffee/tea maker: Yes!
- Complimentary tea: Yes!
- Daily housekeeping: Fantastic.
- Desk: Yes.
- Extra long bed: YES.
Okay, buckle up buttercup, because we're about to descend into the gloriously messy, opinionated, and ultimately real travel experience that is my prospective Avid Hotels Salem By IHG Salem, Virginia… adventure. This ain’t your grandma’s travel brochure, lemme tell ya.
Day 1: Arrival and the Great Cracker Barrel Caper (Or, How I Fell Behind Schedule and Became Slightly Hangry)
- 1:00 PM (ish) - Arrival at Avid Hotels Salem By IHG, Salem, VA: Okay, first off, finding the place was an adventure in itself. GPS took me on a scenic tour of… a parking lot. Eventually, after a bit of frantic U-turning and muttered curses under my breath, I found it. The hotel itself? Fine. Clean enough. A bit… beige. More beige than I anticipated, actually. Maybe I'm just sensitive to beige after the last few months. The friendly front desk person, bless her heart, clearly saw the stress etched on my face and gave me a complimentary bottle of water. Score!
- 1:30 PM - The Room: Initial Assessment: Decent. Bed looks comfy. Showerhead… well, it's a showerhead. I'll reserve judgment until later. But the real test? Can I get the Wi-Fi working? Because if I can't update my Instagram with a picture of me in front of the Blue Ridge Mountains, did the trip even happen? (Spoiler alert: It's working, phew!)
- 3:00 PM - First Impressions of Salem: The Phantom Lunch and the Cracker Barrel Debacle: Okay, so I foolishly thought I'd be able to grab lunch and get a good look around. That’s where I stumbled. My original idea went like this: grab a quick lunch, then drive around the town and get a feel for things. But oh, no. Lunch got delayed. The local restaurants were packed. And honestly? I was starving. Ended up at Cracker Barrel. I know, I know, it's cliché. But I was HANGRY. The wait was horrendous. I swear, I saw people get married and have kids between the time I ordered and the time my chicken fried steak arrived. It tasted…exactly as expected. Which is not a bad thing, mind you. But still… I could have sworn I saw the waitress give me the look. The one that says, "Honey, you're way behind schedule, aren't you?” she might’ve been onto something.
- 4:00 PM - Attempted Town Exploration (and Existential Dread): Okay, after the Cracker Barrel Hunger Games, which was surprisingly exhausting, I attempted to drive around and see the sights. Salem seems nice enough. I saw a church, a gas station, and a bank. Nothing that screamed "bucket list item." The emotional reactions are real. As I'm making these observations, I began to wonder if I was cut out to be a travel writer, if this was all I had to show for myself. I was questioning the purpose of my journey. I swear I felt a familiar presence from my own demons.
- 6:00 PM - Back to the Hotel: Wine, Regret, and the Showerhead's Verdict. The showerhead… fine, I'll get back to it later. So, back to the hotel. This is where the real emotions set in. Ordered wine. The kind in a little bottle. You know the one, the one that always makes you feel like you're making a bad choice – but you get it anyway. The wine and the quiet of my room, coupled with the fact that I'd spent most of the day in a parking lot and a Cracker Barrel, resulted in some very real, very raw self-reflection. Maybe this trip wasn't exactly what I envisioned. Maybe I had unrealistic expectations. Maybe I just needed a nap. I did take a nap.
- 6:30 PM - Shower Head Test: It's a showerhead, people. It works.
Day 2: A Deep Dive into Roanoke and a Hiking Attempt (That May or May Not Have Involved Tears)
- 8:00 AM - Breakfast Barrage: The free breakfast at the hotel. It's… functional. The usual suspects are present: cereal, yogurt, maybe a sad looking muffin. Fuel for the mission, I guess.
- 9:00 AM - Roanoke Expedition: A City of Contrasts: Roanoke! Okay, now we're talking. First stop, the Taubman Museum of Art. I love it. I love all the colors; I love the way the building makes me feel. I love this city. Roanoke is more exciting than Salem. I even feel as thought the demons which had taken over my mind have finally left. The museum made me feel optimistic. Then I went to the market. It was busy and boisterous and it was perfect. I bought a hat. I needed a hat.
- 12:00 PM - Hiking. Oh, God, the Hiking: So, somewhere along the way, I got the brilliant idea to "hike." (I use the term loosely, as my definition of "hiking" is usually a leisurely stroll to the fridge.) I chose a trail. It was steeper than advertised. I blame the website. And the map. And maybe the guy at the visitor's center who gave it to me with a too-cheerful smile.
- 1:00 PM - Hiking: The Descent into (Mild) Carnage: Let's just say, it involved some serious huffing and puffing, some questioning of my life choices, and a brief moment where I may or may not have shed a single, solitary tear of sheer exhaustion. The views, though? Spectacular. Absolutely worth it. Totally. Totally worth it. (Okay, maybe not the tears.)
- 4:00 PM - Post Hike, The Great Dinner Debate: I'm a wreck, I'm hungry, and I need immediate energy. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I wanted to go back to the Cracker Barrel. But then I thought. I was getting to know myself. Why backslide?
- 6:00 PM - Back to the Hotel: I needed total rest. I took a shower.
- 7:00 PM - Shower head: Still Working. Final Thoughts: A Messy, Marvelous Adventure. As I lay here in my mediocre hotel room, I have a revelation. This whole mess? It's beautiful. The delays, the hangry moments, the terrifying hike, the ordinary showerhead - it's all part of the story. And you know what? I wouldn't trade this slightly off-kilter adventure for anything.
Day 3: Leaving and a Final Thought
- 8:00 AM - More Hotel Breakfast. Fuel up for the journey back.
- 9:00 AM - Check out. Said goodbye to the front desk. The person noticed my exhaustion.
- 10:00 AM - Leaving: This trip, to me, will be treasured.
So, What Even IS "Stuff I've Been Wondering About Lately," Anyway?
Honestly? It's everything. The big, existential head-scratchers like "Why are we here?" (still haven't cracked that one, btw), and the ridiculously mundane, like "Why do my socks ALWAYS disappear in the dryer even though I swear I wash them together?!" It's a grab bag of thoughts, fears, triumphs, and the ever-present nagging feeling that I’m probably doing everything wrong. It’s like my brain exploded and these are the shrapnel. I'm trying to make sense of the pieces. Good luck to me.
What's the Deal with the Missing Socks? Is There a Sock Griever or Something?
Okay, this one's personal. The sock drought is real, people. I've got mismatched socks that would shame a clown convention. And it’s not just the dryer. I've checked under the bed (dust bunnies the size of small dogs, by the way), behind the washing machine (more dust bunnies!), inside the couch cushions (a half-eaten bag of chips, naturally). WHERE DO THEY GO?! I'm convinced there's a secret society of sock-stealing gnomes. They probably have a sock bonfire every Tuesday night, roasting little argyle nightmares over the flames of my laundry despair. It’s a conspiracy, I tell you! A yarn-based conspiracy! This is, quite possibly, the greatest mystery of our time. And it’s affecting my fashion sense. Terribly.
But Seriously, Is There ANY GOOD in the World? (Because Lately, I'm Skeptical).
Ugh, I HEAR you. That’s the stuff I've been mulling over *all* day. It's easy, *so* easy, to get bogged down in the doom and gloom. I mean, have you *seen* the news lately? It felt like I had to go outside and touch grass to restore my sanity. But then, you know, one day I ran into this little girl, maybe five years old, and she was picking up trash in the park. Like, full-on trash duty! And I asked her "Why are you doing that?" And she looked up at me (with glitter glue still on her cheek!) and said, "Because it's the right thing to do, silly!" And BAM. Instant tears. Small acts of kindness. Those little glimmers are everywhere. You have to look *for* them, actively seek them out, but they're there. Even though the socks are still missing. (I'm bitter, okay?) So yes, there is good. It's just… hiding. We just gotta work to find it.
What's the Most Embarrassing Thing That's Happened to You Recently? (Because, Let's Be Honest, There's Gotta Be One).
Oh GOD. Where do I even begin?! Okay, fine. I’ll spill. A couple weeks ago, I was in the grocery store, right? And this guy, *this absolutely gorgeous guy* (like, Ryan Gosling-level gorgeous), was reaching for the same jar of pickles. I swear, time slowed down. I prepared to deliver my best witty line. I imagined us laughing, connecting... you get the picture. Anyway, as I was about to speak, my stomach GURGLED. Like, a full-blown, earth-shattering rumble. And I mean, LOUD. So loud that he, obviously, heard it. And then I just... *blushed*. Deep, mortifying crimson. And then, to make matters worse, I accidentally knocked over a pyramid of soup cans while trying to... *escape*. He just stared. I just ran. I think I might have actually *cried* in the frozen foods aisle. So yeah. Grocery store drama. My life is a sitcom. A tragic sitcom.
Okay, Fine, One Last Thing: What Gives You Hope?
Honestly? The fact that I can still be this embarrassed over a gurgling stomach. Like, that's a reminder that I still, somewhere deep inside, have a working sense of shame and a desire to be (at least vaguely) functional. That, and pizza. Pizza always gives me hope. And, you know, my friends. And the ridiculously optimistic people who still try to make a difference. And knowing that this whole "Stuff I've Been Wondering About Lately" thing is probably going to be even messier tomorrow. And I’m okay with that. Because even in the mess, there’s something to find, and sometimes, that’s all you need. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a pepperoni pie. And maybe, just maybe, I can find a matching pair of socks to celebrate. (Don't hold your breath.)
