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Southern Pines Vacation Packages

What a waste of money. First punishment for using Expedia a $10 charge to park in a parking with huge posts. BTW parking is free if you book on the University Inn site. You had to really look at what you are doing or you would ding your car or someone else's in the forced-paid parking lot. Next no breakfast. I forget the exact cost of the room but it was about $150 a night and they were too cheap to offer breakfast so we spent $4 for two muffins and $3 for a small bottle of orange juice for breakfast. Also no tea or coffee or sugar in the room. And no coffee pot other than downstairs. The bed had a foam mattress. My husband, with his bad back found it extremely uncomfortable. The pillows were enormous about the size of a kitchen trash can. I wonder who can sleep using them? I slept flat on the bed with no pillow as there was no other option. Lots of light in the room and noise in the halls and I could not figure out how to access the local TV stations. The main positive is a "free" shuttle to the Duke Medical Center. The second night we stayed at La Quinta Inn in Durham. It was about $30 cheaper per night with free parking, breakfast, and a much more comfortable room. Oh BTW Duke has parking garages so no need to stay at University Inn for the "free" shuttle.

The room itself was very spacious and clean - nothing to complain about here. But the check in process was terrible. I arrived (by cab) late at night after delayed flights and could not find the lock box to get my key - it wasn’t evidently sign posted. When I rang the help line they kept telling me to drive in through the car park and follow the lines. When I explained I didn’t have a car can she please tell me how to get there by foot, she kept saying “drive through the car park” obviously to me the “help desk” had a script that they read from and couldn’t deviate so we’re utterly useless. I ended up asking a random person who was exiting the building and they helped. So note to the building manager make sure your “help desk” is actually equipped to help and answer all questions!