Court Street Inn Memphis (Tennessee)

This hotel is brand new. Or it's being refurbished from a previously closed hotel. Either way, that comes with a lot of teething troubles. We booked it because it's in a good location if you can't afford a better hotel. Even with tax it came in at under $100 but is just a short walk from Beale St.

The first five or six floors of the building are a car park. This is in need of some work still, as we took the wrong exit off the third floor and scarily came out of a door with no wall where the drop to the street is.

When we got to the room it had no number, we found it because the maid pointed it out. Initially it looked nice if a bit sparse. The king room actually had less than the Super 8 motel we stayed in the previous night - no fridge and no hair dryer. Odd, when the room looks a lot like a motel room.

The first thing my partner wanted to do was take a shower but there was no hot water from the bath taps. However, there was hot water from the basin hot tap. After running down to reception (the phone also didn't work) they sent a workman who told us it was running hot. When we convinced him to try the other tap he eventually agreed the bath taps were running luke warm at best and told us he'd swap rooms for us. Instead, another workman came and said he'd fixed it. When he'd left, it was obvious he hadn't so we managed to jerry rig it by forcing the lever to breaking point to make the hot water come out.

The only other major concern is that the whole place is very drafty and cold. The lifts in particular require a coat, especially if you're going to the car to retrieve anything as these are obviously open to the elements.

As for parking, it's $10 as standard. If you're feeling brave there are loads of $1 car parks within a very short distance.

As I said, the hotel isn't finished. You should definitely bear this in mind before booking.