Today we drove to Barstow, CA, which is about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of L.A. It’s on the way to Williams, AZ, which provides convenient access to the Grand Canyon. The town is full of all the chain motels/hotels. We stayed at the Econolodge. It was basic, but okay. It was quiet enough, and the linens were clean. There was plenty of hot water and the water pressure was fine. The shower sported 1970s pink tile and plenty of mildew. Not terrible but not the best, either. The room also had a fridge and a microwave and bizarrely a walk-in closet! There was a pool which looked clean enough, but we didn’t actually use it. Breakfast was included but wasn’t very good. There was stale white bread, pre-packaged muffins, bagels, juice and coffee. Overall, it was a decent value for the $60 we paid (including tax). Apparently they have newly renovated the rooms on the second floor, so those might be better.

For dinner we chose to order in food, although there is a Carrows right next door (family dining) and the hotel manager also recommended an Italian place which was next door on the other side. We ordered Chinese from the ICF Restaurannt, which featured an interesting mix of Chinese, American and Mexican food. There is no delivery charge and it only took about 30 min. to arrive. The food looked great, but unfortunately wasn’t. The vegetables were all overcooked and the food was rather tasteless. We split an order of egg rolls (they’re vegetarian) which weren’t crisp. Ian had the kung pao shrimp which was pretty tasteless with very few shrimp and I had mixed vegetables with tofu. The tofu was nicely done, but the sauce was tasteless and the vegetables limp.

Overall, we wouldn’t recommend it although you certainly can’t beat the convenience of eating in your own room.