The Comfort Inn South Bend Airport (SBN) via Delta Stays Review – How Very Disappointing

Introduction: My First Atlantic Crossing on the Norwegian NCL Viva Prima Class Ship
Emptying my Delta SkyMiles Accounts to get Value Flying to Lisbon Portugal
The Comfort Inn South Bend SBN Airport Review via Delta Stays – How Very Disappointing
Interlining my Bags on a Delta Revenue Ticket and Second Award Ticket
Rant: Are Lounges Worth the Effort Anymore in Atlanta ATL – Part One
Shrinkflation: Famous Delta Shake Shack Burger is Less Than Old Delta Burger
Rant: Are Centurion Lounges Worth the Effort Anymore Mexico City T1 – Part Two
Air France A350-900 Business Class New Seats Review Mexico City to Paris MEX-CDG
Air France A321 Euro Business Class Review With Blocked Middle Seats
THE ONE American Express Fine Hotels Review Near Lisbon Portugal Cruise Port
Review: Vibe Beach Club Plus Cabana Norwegian Viva – Is it Worth the Upcharge?
Norwegian Viva Mid ship 16th Floor Balcony Cabin Number Floor Review
Norwegian Viva Complementary and Main Dining Review – Is the Food Good Anymore?
Norwegian Viva Specialty Dining Review – Should you pay to Enjoy “Better” Meals?
What is the Entertainment Like on the Norwegian Viva?
Emergency Dentist Visit in the Dominica Republic from my Norwegian Cruise Ship.
How Much Does it Cost to Take an Uber from Galveston, Texas to Houston Airports?
How You Get Paid Taking an Oversold Flight Bump From Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines A220-300 Comfort Plus Review. How Much Better than Coach
Final Thoughts on my 15 day Atlantic Crossing on the Norwegian Viva Prima Class Ship

I live about 45 minutes from my home town airport South Bend International (SBN) and for the many decades I have lived here I never felt the need to book a hotel room near the airport because even with traffic I can always make it to the airport in under an hour.

But this trip was different.

If you look at the previous post in this series you will see why I picked this brutally early 6 AM flight out of SBN. More on that in my next post but for now back to the hotel and the review.

Normally I would never review a budget hotel like a Comfort Inn but considering how near it is to the airport and as many people visit South Bend to spend time at Notre Dame I thought it would be worth the time.

To begin with one of the factors that went into this choice of stay, vs. just sleeping at home in my own bed, was that I had some credits to burn from my previous Delta Co-branded credit card. To stay for nearly free vs. getting up ultra early from home seemed like a brilliant idea (on paper anyway).

The other part of this reasoning was that there really is a lot to do to prep my home for 3 weeks away. We have a well so we turn off the water before we go, turn down the water heater setting, go over a 100 point check list and more. Doing this midday vs. at stupid-30 in the morning in a relaxed calm manner was amazing compared to the way we normally do it.

I have stayed at a number of Comfort Inns over the years and I assumed this one would be uninspiring but fine. Our first room was a disaster! Take a look:

To begin with the elevator was broken and we were assigned a room on the second floor and had to lug our 15 day cruise bags up the stairs. There was a nasty smell in the room when we entered. The room itself was filthy. The sheets had stains and some kind of seeds between the sheets. There was no hair dryer as someone had clearly ripped it off the wall. While I did not need to iron the board was gone from the closet. The TV was fuzzy and hard to see. The phone did not work. Not that it mattered but the view was of a roof. I was just about ready to drive back home.

Before we gave up we asked for a new room to see if all the rooms were this bad. The new room was night and day different (just a few doors down). It smelled clean. The sheets, this time, were clean. There was a hair dryer that was screwed to the wall. The phone worked and the TV, while clear, had no sound. But we were able to fall asleep before 7 PM and that made getting up at 3:30AM work just fine.

In the end the hotel night worked and was free from using my Delta Amex card stays credits. We did not get the backup 4AM wake-up call I requested but that really did not surprise me considering this hotel clearly needs a LOT of work to even live up to a budget hotel standard. We did not try the breakfast as we were long gone before it opened up and but I doubt I would have tried it seeing the state of the property in general.

Overall we got what we wanted – a night’s sleep near the airport – but I will not ever return to this near SBN hotel ever again! – René