By Way Guest House

The historic house was both interesting and beautiful and the owner graciously allowed a very early check-in time to accommodate our situation. The groceries provided for the do-it-yourself breakfast were generous. The bed mattress was adequate, but not deluxe. Everything was very clean and well kept. We would not hesitate to recommend this to family and friends.

Nice

It says they recently remodeled the place, but poor mechanics and early inefficient room design can't be easily fixed. The A.C. has been running regularly, but can't seem to pull humidity from the room. No place to hang wash cloths and towels by the sink, and no counter space - you could get by as a single, but no way 2 can have items by the sink! Room is spacious, fridge is large and works. Mattress is not all that comfy. And, don't let them put you by the back door...your room door will rattle all night.

My husband, two young daughters and I were in Ord visiting family and booked the By Way Guest House for 2 nights. This place is nothing short of a hell hole. When we arrived, the main floor was so hot and smelled suffocatingly stale and musty. The walls have peeling wallpaper and paint throughout the entire house, none of the blinds in our room opened and the window sills were littered with dead flies and cobwebs. The bathroom is one shared bathroom upstairs for all three guest rooms so you will be sharing with strangers and the bathroom itself is vile. The toilet was filthy and continuously runs, the sink leaks and is covered in rust stains, the shower is a glorified hose in a bathtub and is so calcified it only sprays out of a couple of holes and there is dirty carpet IN THE BATHROOM. We stayed in the South Keys Room upstairs and the two twin beds were on flimsy, squeaky metal frames that rattled when you moved even a bit. The swamp cooler in the window did keep it cool in the room itself when turned on max but it sounds like a jet engine. There were empty tissue boxes in the bathroom, a pile of used bars of soap and razors in the powder room of the bathroom and none of the soap dispensers were full. We wanted to sit outside on the porch but there were termites that were crawling all over the rails of the porch and much of it has been destroyed. There is a small selection of bread, packaged muffins, fruit and various other breakfast items in the kitchen that were fine. We were planning to stay two nights but when we returned in the evening of the second day, none of the toilet paper (which was out), tissues or food had been restocked so we ended up driving home late the second day of our visit to avoid staying another night in this BNB. There is clearly no accountability for the upkeep, maintenance or general cleanliness of this BNB. We would have been better off pitching a tent in the back yard.