The Duckworth Inn

I paid over $850 for just two nights. The worst decision I’ve made in a long time. There’s no reception, no one to welcome you. They send you a code and you’re on your own. The staircase is ridiculously steep and narrow, which makes it hellish to climb with heavy luggage. Once inside the room, you quickly realize how poorly everything is maintained. The air conditioning unit is badly installed: it’s wedged into the window, which means the window can’t be closed properly. That leaves a visible gap open to the outside, letting heat, noise, and God knows what else come in. The A/C is also incredibly loud and doesn’t cool the room because of this issue. But here’s where it gets completely unacceptable: Around midnight, I was about to take a shower… and I found a live mouse inside the shower. A rat. In the shower. I had to call the host — who apparently sleeps in a room on the ground floor of the same building. He came up with gloves and a cloth, killed the mouse and took it away. He apologized. But seriously? I’ve stayed in dozens of countries and never in my life have I encountered a rodent inside a shower. Mosquitoes, ants, cockroaches — fine. But this? The light fixtures are full of dead insects and grime. The walls have cracks, unfinished sloppy patch jobs, and exposed electrical areas. The room is small, stuffy and uncomfortable, especially after experiencing something like this. I regret not booking a proper hotel for a little more money. This was not worth it. At all. And then you find this sign (see photo): “This building is over 100 years old.” Great. We understand that it can’t handle bulky items in the sewer — But apparently, the guests are expected to handle live rats in the shower. Absolutely not. I will never return. I would not recommend this place to anyone — not even for free.

Parking garage across the street so need to factor into the cost. Nice atmosphere in a very old building and our room was lovely. Very convenient to downtown and walkable, tho some hills (like anywhere in St. John’s) and on major route to get out of town to see surrounding area. Lots of fairly steep stairs to access rooms so beware!

Great location, very accessible to downtown bars and restaurants. The stairs are a bit of an issue and the room had a few issues. It was clean and comfortable but a few broken things in the room made it less than ideal for the price. I would still recommend it but was hoping to get the issues corrected before our stay ended. Did not happen.

The place was hard to find and the guy answering the phone did not give very good directions. Then the door code is hard to get through, as you need to go to another door.

Overall a quaint stay, and the room and lobby areas were decently clean. However, it did get a little hot in the room sometimes because there was no AC. The mini fridge had leftover beer bottles probably left by the previous guest, and there was no water provided for me. I found a small cockroach in the bathroom but was able to deal with it without much fuss. What I disliked the most was the hotel’s refusal to store my bags for a bit after check-out (a common courtesy that is maintained at most places) so I could explore the city one last time before my flight.

Great little boutique hotel - close to downtown and to the Duke of Duckworth which is a must see. Kept very clean and in great shape. Charming.