Abandoned now for nearly five years, the former America’s Best Value Inn & Suites in Independence, Ohio looms over surrounding businesses, now a rotting shell of a once-popular getaway spot for people vacationing or traveling in the 1960s and 70s. When I say rotting, it’s the kind of place you would definitely want a good respirator.

The hotel’s life goes back to the years before Interstates 77 and 480 traveled through the area. The building was constructed over the first half of the 1960s, and began operating as a hotel in approximately 1965. 

When the hotel was opened, it offered a great place for visitors to relax, with nice views of the river, and plenty of nearby options for food. Unfortunately, it would only be a short time before things started to fall apart. In its later years of operation, from the late 90s and on, the hotel was already in a less than favorable state for its intended use as crime in the area continued to rise.

The hotel seemed to become a target for criminal acts to take place, most likely because management paid little to no attention to what was going on. Rather than a popular place for travelers to spend a quiet night, by the 2000s, it had become far more popular for drug dealers, prostitution and human trafficking, among other crimes. The hotel was finally shut down in 2017 after numerous complaints of dirty rooms, bed bug problems and failed inspections, among many other issues. Reading through reviews, it’s hard to imagine how this hotel continued in operation for as long as it did without being shut down for so many violations and health hazards.

According to online reviews, people complained of hair in their bed, bed bugs, dirty elevator, terrible room heat, no warm water, and stains on the sheets, stating that sometimes it seemed as though the sheets had not even been washed for weeks at a time. There were also complaints of mold, dirty floors and terrible smells throughout the rooms and hallways.   

In the end, the management refused to cooperate with investigations, leading to the thought they were more than likely involved in some way, or at the very least simply embarrassed, and wanted to turn away from the mess that it had become, hoping to forget it altogether.

It seems that at some point there had either been a fire or pipes had simply burst, sending water rushing through the floors of one side of the building. When you look at one side compared to the other side, you would not even be able to imagine that they are the same hotel, let alone across the hallway from one another. The mold here was more abundant than almost any place I have ever explored and photographed. It definitely made for some wonderfully textured scenery though.   

In 2019, there was a proposal for a change in zoning, with hopes to renovate the building, change its exterior appearance, and re-open it as a combination hotel and restaurant. The city’s planning commission rejected the proposal as they saw no true investment for the city of Independence. They worried that it would most likely be purchased at a low cost, cheaply renovated and quickly flipped, leading ultimately to the same dirty, poorly managed, crime-ridden fate as it had seen before.

As we are nearing the end of 2021, I would imagine with the high costs it would likely take to renovate the structure at this point, given how much damage has been done to the interior, it will probably be demolished rather than saved. Unless someone steps in with a large amount of money and one very good plan for reuse, I don’t see anything happening.

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Thanks for checking out Architectural Afterlife! If you enjoyed this post, you may enjoy checking out these other abandoned or historic places in Ohio.

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I would never condone just walking into places like this, but I can at least say be safe around mold and other particulates. Make sure you get the proper cartridges. Nobody wants to get sick from mold or asbestos. I only say this because I’m asked way too often what I use when photographing these places.