We stopped at the Motel 6 after an exhausting trip over the mountains with snow chains (this was a new experience for us!). This was the first motel we came to. At 12am it seemed like a fine place to sleep. Our room was clean. When I woke up, however, there were some questionable people lingering around the parking lot. I would not stay there again.

This place was trashy, we pulled in and noticed that there was no water in the pool, they had asured my cousion that they had a pool when he booked the room for us. They did not have our room ready and said it would be an hour and a half before they had one ready. They told us there was another motel 6 down the road, so we drove looking for it and only found drunks and drugies. So we drove down 4th st and ended up staying at the Bonanza Inn, they had a big pool and it had water in it, they gave us a great deal on a room for 2 nights. We were upset that the woman at motel 6 was so rude to us, but its ok, they wont be seeing us in any of there motels again. So if you want a nice room, walking distance to the casinos and a nice big clean pool with water in it then try the Bonanza Inn on 4th st. They know how to treat people nice.

I have stayed in many, many Motel 6's on the west coast. I like them because of price and pet friendliness. Some properties are nearly new, and some are old and worn. Some can be on the dirty side. I normally rate them from a two to 4 and the occasional 5. For the money, you usually get a great experience.

This Motel 6 in Sparks, however, had many strikes against it. It was old and worn, and then dirty on top of that (garbage under the bed). The front desk service was very poor (the person working it looked worn, tired and dirty, too). There were two people getting rooms before me and one was definitely homeless and possibly drug involved.

Looking at many of the other people staying there, I got the feeling that it must be the sleeze motel of the area. I'm pretty tolerant of people and their differences, but I get nervous when I start sensing a possible high crime rate. I did not feel safe in the Sparks Motel 6.

My mother had advised me against staying there, because she and my Dad did, way back in the 90's and this was their experience. I thought maybe things had improved or that she was over-reacting. Next time, I'll listen to Mom.

I stayed here as I was moving west and most other hotels were booked that I could afford. I have stayed in Motel 6 properties before - but it had been a long time. The last one I was in was actually pleasant. This one is not. The front office clerk was extremely nice, offered help with finding a local eatery and was very responsive to any questions I had. The room, which was a double, had one set of towels - meaning one bath towel, one hand towel and one wash cloth - in a room meant for 2 people. I had to go to the office to retrieve an extra set. There was a man who appeared to be walking around trying to peep into rooms that I reported to the desk on the evening I arrived. The next morning, that same man was urinating in the vending machine area, walking around barefoot, and when I reported him again, the morning clerk told me he was a long-term guest that they had a few "minor problems" with. She didn't seem fazed at all that he was using the vending area as a restroom.
There is quite a bit of traffic noise, but nothing I couldn't handle. The location is easy to get to from Interstate 80 but the construction projects going on currently (Feb 2005) make it easy to miss the exit if you aren't in the proper lane of traffic. Before you make a reservation here and/or if you are just passing through Reno and not planning to go to the casinos, I would try Boomtown, just a little further down the road. They sometimes have really good deals.