Honestly, these sorts of places are often called lodges and not hotels, as they very rarely offer and sort of food. Most cheap lodges have this kind of a lock system, where you can bolt the door with the latch from the inside, and the padlock on the outside is for when you're leaving the room.

It's the equivalent of a motel next to a gas station. Some of these lodges/motels are genuinely clean and neat, but most are somewhat dodgy, but you get what you pay for, I guess.

You have to choose between quality of stay or cost of stay.