Bad Neighbors

Lisa and I have had our share of bad neighbors over the years (We've also had our share of GOOD neighbors, too, but that's a post for another day). Once a neighbor had a dog who the family put out in the morning, then went to work, and didn't bring back in until the family got home from work in the afternoon. The dog barked the entire time they were gone, and when we said something about it, their reply basically came down to "Get used to it." Another neighbor had a house about fifteen feet away from our house, and he set off hundreds of fireworks every Fourth of July. We were picking up the empty casings for weeks afterward.

By far the worst neighbor we've ever had, though, we have right now, and that's the hotel that is behind Vent Haven's property. When we moved into Vent Haven eight years ago the hotel was a Holiday Inn, and it was fairly nice. We even went to a birthday party held there once, and there was a nice indoor pool.

Then in about 2004 the hotel lost its Holiday Inn franchise license. Shorty thereafter it became a Best Western. The quality of the hotel fell a little, but it was still okay.

It was two years ago that the hotel really started to fall apart. It lost its Best Western license for whatever reason and for a long time just had a bright yellow sign up that with black letters said "HOTEL." It's now called "USA HOTELS," but it's really nasty. It advertises a weekly fee, and from what I understand most of the people who stay there are staying there long term, as in weeks and weeks. It's become a really scummy place for criminals and low life people to live.

The city tried to combat the problem by passing an ordinance stating that hotels in Fort Mitchell could only allow guests to stay for a fixed amount of time. The hotel responded by having guests check out on a weekly basis and then check back in again.

It's a really, really terrible hotel now, and I feel sorry for the people who unwittingly stay there. You can actually read the reactions of these people by visiting these links:

Unbelievably Bad Reviews #1

Unbelievably Bad Reviews #2

Unbelievably Bad Reviews #3

With so many bad reviews out there, I'm amazed that anyone would even think about staying at this hotel. And let's get this straight: Most of the glowing reviews are written by the hotel owner to make the place look good.

Anyway, I've heard rumors that the hotel has been sold and that the whole place is going to be torn down and turned into a strip mall. We can only hope.