Dirty Where It Isn't Filthy, The Rodeway Inn Allentown Is Just Cheap.

The Good:
The Bad: Overpriced for the condition, Cleanliness, Lack of amenities, Lack of value, Lack of lighting, Breakfast issues, Loose fixtures, Inattentive staff, Smell
The Basics: The Rodeway Inn Allentown might seem like a good deal when booking online, but it's a pretty horrible little hotel that is not worth even its low price.


I have stayed in remarkably few places I would call a complete dive before. The truth is, I tend to be fairly discriminating in where I stay on my business trips, even though price usually is an important governing factor for me. When I had a trip that took me to Allentown, PA, I found a hotel that was less than half a mile from the venue my business show was at and it was more than $10 less expensive than the next nearest hotel, so I figured I would book there for convenience. That hotel was the Rodeway Inn Allentown and I now know I would have been far better off paying the extra $10 and driving the 14 miles as opposed to staying at that hotel. in short, it is hard to imagine a worse hotel than the Rodeway Inn Allentown.

Location

The Rodeway Inn Allentown (PA185 in the Choice Hotel numbering system, which may be helpful if you decide to ignore my advice and book a room here) is located at 2115 Downyflake Lane, Allentown, PA. This is found completely out of the way in an area that seems like it was once a manufacturing district, but is now run down and mostly abandoned. There is a train track right near the hotel and there are active trains, which one can hear from the rooms.

Downyflake Road is near Route 73 and PA-309, which seem like pretty major routes, so it was fairly easy to find. The Rodeway Inn Allentown is down a steep, narrow driveway that seems like it would be entirely impassable in the winter.

The Rodeway Inn Allentown has no grounds to speak of, merely a parking lot that wraps around the entire building. In fact, the rooms out back face a very narrow parking strip and right beyond the parking lot is a fence and then train tracks. As someone who is fairly loyal to the Choice Hotel chains for their value, I prepaid for my stay at the Rodeway Inn Allentown, and I regretted it almost instantly. When the decor out front for the hotel is a small car with four flat tires and a broken window, it is tough not to get a sinking feeling in one's stomach. The moment I first walked into the office building, which was packed with boxes, smelled strongly of incense and featured a breakfast nook with standing room only and a walls that were nowhere near as white as it looked like they had once been painted, I was sure I had made a big mistake paying $65/night to stay there.

Room Size

The Rodeway Inn Allentown has a strong smell to it, like it became a non-smoking hotel only a week before. It is hard to tell what the persisting source of the foul smell in the hotel was; the rug color in the hallway ranged from filthy gray (i.e. gray because it was white, but people had tracked in dirt and rock salt and the rug had never been cleaned) to spotty black, the walls were dirty with streaks, and the ceiling was waterstained. What was holding in the smoky smell could be any of those things.

The rooms are approximately thirteen and a half feet wide by twenty-one feet deep. With two double beds, a shared nightstand, a television stand, chair, desk and small bathroom, the rooms have a very cramped feeling to them.

Cleanliness

The Rodeway Inn Allentown is just plain dirty. The exterior windows seem to always be covered with grit from the city and passing trucks or whatever. The interior is dark and in the hallway, the stairs to the second floor were noticeably uneven and warped. All of the carpet in this hotel is stained, dirty and contributes to the overall dank feeling of the hotel.

Whenever I first arrive in a hotel, the first thing I do is go in and flush the toilet. There's nothing worse than a hotel room where the plumbing is backed up. To the credit of the Rodeway Inn Allentown, it passed the first flush test! However, when the toilet was flushed, it spit water back up, much like if the plumbing had been off for days and then turned back on, contributing to bubbles in the line. For the entirety of my stay, the toilet spit back as if there were bubbles or blockage in the line.

Sadly, though, for as helpful as the cleaning staff is, the rooms are not clean. The nonsmoking rooms seem like they are not terribly well enforced as the room bears an odor that could be from rooms formerly smoked in.

The peak of the problems in my room came from the tiny sink in the room. Pulling the handle to turn the faucet on moved the faucet and it took me three tries to turn the water off because pushing the handle back in pushed the whole faucet assembly.

The room's floor creaks. Walking around the room is unfortunately loud. I felt bad about that until the people in the next room began having sex. I'm not sure if they were especially loud (but wow, did they have admirable stamina!) or if the walls were just that thin, but this is not a hotel for people who want any measure of privacy.

Amenities

Room rates at this hotel are fairly expensive (given how unclean the hotel is and how poor the amenities are) with all rooms being more than fifty dollars a night and they are nowhere near worth it. The rooms feel dank and there is nothing distinctive about the hotel for what it offers.

The room has two double beds, a television (with, admittedly, an awesome channel selection), a nightstand, desk and shampoo and lotion. They also have a desk chair and a coffee maker; despite three lamps and one overhead light, the rooms never actually get bright. I was surprised when the room had a microwave and a refrigerator; less surprised when I discovered that the refrigerator barely worked. The telephone in the room did not work and I know it was plugged in because when I first arrived in the room, the alarm clock was unplugged and I had to plug it in near where the phone jack was.

Rather creatively, the room's smoke detector and battery were stored (battery out) in one of the room's drawers.

The hotel features a continental breakfast in the office, which is detached from the main hotel. "Breakfast" is a generous term for the generic donuts, fig newtons, chocolate chip cookies, bread, and two types of cereal. There was a juice choice: unrefrigerated orange juice that I instantly found questionable by the fact that after being out for an hour, there was no condensation on the glass pitcher.

Overall

Ultimately, the Rodeway Inn Allentown is unworth the time, attention, and patronage of even the cheapest traveler.

For other hotels in the Choice Hotels chain, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Quality Suites - Hunt Valley, MD
Quality Inn & Suites Airport - El Paso, TX
Comfort Suites Downtown - Buffalo, NY

0/10

For other travel reviews, please be sure to visit my Travel Review Index Page!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Close, But Disappointing, The Quality Suites Hunt Valley Lets Me Down!

The Good: Spacious rooms, Good location, Comparatively inexpensive
The Bad: Unclean, Insecure, Poor breakfast, Light on amenities
The Basics: While I was initially excited by an inexpensive hotel near my annual convention's location, the Quality Suites Hunt Valley left me disappointed.


For many years, I was a dealer at a Star Trek convention in Hunt Valley, Maryland. I always had a difficult time trying to find a good hotel in that area, one that lasted year after year. So, this year, I was thrilled as I returned to that convention to find that there was a hotel in the Choice Hotels chain that was closer than ever before to the convention hotel. Unfortunately, the Quality Suites where I stayed this year was a less-than-stellar option for our weekend stay.

Location

The Quality Suites (MD267 in the Choice Hotel numbering system) is a weird hotel that is instantly reminiscent of college housing as it is several small buildings in a little cluster. The cluster is located at 10710 Beaver Dam Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland, which is right off of Interstate I-83 and very easy to find. It is located just off the main divided highway and near a pretty cool shopping area. There are places to eat nearby that are very easy to get to and to return from.

The property is not exceptional; there are no grounds to speak of, though the hotel buildings are located around a centralized swimming pool. The buildings have sidewalks between them, so there are no real grassy areas or places to hang out on the grounds.

The Quality Suites Hunt Valley seems to have a semi-permanent population as well as people just staying for a limited time. The result - while I was there - was being woken up one night by fairly extensive and loud drama going on in the parking lot. That made the stay rather uncomfortable as I had reasonable concerns that my car might suffer collateral damage from people fighting in the narrow parking lot. Fortunately, there ended up being no issues in that regard, though not being able to sleep because of noise issues seemed like an unlikely problem in a hotel as sprawling as this one.

Room Size

The rooms at the Quality Suites Hunt Valley are quite large, which is the redeeming aspect of an otherwise sub-par hotel. The suite I stayed in was about twenty-seven feet deep by approximately twenty-three feet wide. The room was a proper suite with a single king-sized bed, nonsmoking, and included a kitchenette and bathroom. Even with the fold-out couch, chair, and dining area, the room felt quite spacious. And for only $75/night, the Quality Suites Hunt Valley feels very affordable for the size and location.

Cleanliness

The Quality Suites Hunt Valley is not a very clean hotel, nor is it particularly well-maintained. The paint job is poor - we noticed quite a bit of chipped and peeling paint both on the outside of buildings and on the walls inside our suite. As much as the paintjob could use a refurbishing, the Quality Suites Hunt Valley was surprisingly dirty. In addition to grime being on many surfaces - the walls look like they were never once washed - the maintenance of the grounds at the Quality Suites Hunt Valley was poor. For sure, animal owners who stay at the hotel should be responsible for cleaning up after their own pets. But, barring that, it would be nice to be able to walk along the walkways without ever stepping in dog crap.

The door to the lobby and the breakfast area had a loose handle when I visited and in addition to the hotel grounds being a bit dirty, the room I had was fairly dark compared to its size. The lamps in the room did a poor job of illuminating the entire suite.

Amenities

The hotel staff at the Quality Suites Hunt Valley was not overly friendly. The desk staff was cold and acted like checking me in (and out) was a huge inconvenience.

Breakfast at the hotel was somewhat disappointing. Despite having a giant sign with a beautiful picture of fresh waffles, there was no make-your-own waffle station when I stayed there. There were, however, two types of juice, milk, and coffee. There were very plain donuts, prepackaged muffins, danishes, bagels and bread for toasting. As well, there were two cereal options. For hot food options, there were eggs, sausage and biscuits.

The room had wi-fi, though it seemed to be very taxed by two of us in a room attempting to use it at the same time.

The room had a stovetop, microwave and refrigerator, which was nice considering that there was a grocery store there that had Ben & Jerry's ice cream on sale - it was nice to be able to get some and have a freezer for it! All of the rooms have a television, with over a hundred channels. There is the usual shampoo and lotion in the bathroom and I've had no problems getting more of either when I need them.

This is not a hotel big on amenities and given how loud the surrounding area was, in addition to the usual amenities, the hotel could really use decent soundproofing.

Overall

The Quality Suites Hunt Valley is an okay hotel to stay at in the Hunt Valley/Baltimore area, but it is definitely more cheap than it is inexpensive.

For other hotels in the Choice Hotels chain, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Quality Inn & Suites Airport - Indianapolis, IN
Quality Inn Lakefront - Saint Ignace, MI
Comfort Suites - Stratford, CT

4/10

For other travel reviews, please check out my Travel Review Index Page for an organized listing.

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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All One Expects For The Price (With Friendly People!): The Quality Inn & Suites Airport Indianapolis Lives Up!

The Good: Affordable, Decent room size, Friendly staff, Wi-Fi
The Bad: Breakfast options, Cleanliness options
The Basics: The Quality Inn & Suites Airport in Indianapolis, IN is an inexpensive hotel option for those looking for a place to crash near Indy!


Like many people, my life has been full of change the last few years. I moved away from New York State, which is honestly something I never thought I would do, I revitalized my own business and I have more animals in my life than I ever expected to be happy with. Amid changes of life, love, and death, I've searched for some sense of normalcy and that meant this year for Thanksgiving, I spent the holiday on the road. There's an annual fan-run Star Trek convention in Indianapolis I used to do and I was surprised by how normal it felt to return to doing that show this year. But, as all things change, this year the convention was in a new location, so I had to find a new place to stay for the show. That led me to the Quality Inn & Suites Airport in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Quality Inn & Suites in Indianapolis is part of a small complex of hotels situated on the southwest side of Indy and it was over twenty-five dollars less expensive per night than the hotel for the convention and the others in the area.

After my stay, I had some pretty good ideas why.

Location

The Quality Inn & Suites Airport Indianapolis (IN158 in the Choice Hotels numbering system) is located at 2631 S Lynhurst Drive in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is a short distance from I-70, a major north-south route through Indianapolis. The hotel is easiest to access from the Sam Jones Parkway Expressway, which connects right with 70 near the hotel. Mapquest gives perfectly accurate directions to the address and there were actually no issues with finding the hotel when I arrived.

This is not a tourist area and it is not a scenic area by any means. The hotel has no grounds, just a wraparound parking lot, and a front lot filled with Semi trailers. Easy to find, the hotel has four stories and is reminiscent of an apartment building design, as opposed to a motel design. Rooms are accessed through central hallways, not from the outside.

The Quality Inn & Suites Airport Indianapolis is a multistory drab gray concrete building, but it is brightly lit, allowing visitors to feel very safe immediately. I had a room with a single king bed, nonsmoking, and the room was instantly available to me with early check-in on Thanksgiving morning.

Room Size

The room I was rented was actually a decent size, especially for the price. The room was a nonsmoking room and had no hint anyone had ever smoked in it. The room had a great sense of space to it with the king-sized bed not at all dominating the approximately 11 X 24 ft. room.

The bathroom was fairly small with a shallow bathtub and the curtain style that provides the illusion of space by having a bar that curves outward. The main room had a corner nook desk, bed, table and drawers; the television was mounted into the wall. The room did not feel cramped, which was nice because the view out the lone window in the place was terrible and having the shades constantly drawn, the room felt like it was a good size and not at all claustrophobic.

Cleanliness

The fundamental detraction against the Quality Inn & Suites in Indianapolis was its lack of cleanliness. The public areas in the hotel are fairly dank, though the lobby was clean enough to not alarm me when I entered. The stairwell had a sticky run - like fluids that had dripped out of a garbage bag - the entire three days of my stay. The walls had stains in the hallways and stairwells and the white paint on the ceiling is discolored in several places, leaving me feeling a bit unclean.

As for the room, the room was nonsmoking and was all right. The room was not quite as dirty as the rest of the hotel felt, but some of the linens had noticeable stains on them. The bedding was clean, though!

Amenities

This Quality Inn & Suites had the feeling of a place one passes through, not where one stays for real enjoyment. As a result, along with my own hurry to be on the road, I did not spend time at the pool, which was adjacent to the lobby and not very inviting (who wants to swim and be watched by strangers?!) and I the breakfast nook portion of the lobby was a disappointment.

There was a safe in the room, but by prepaying, I avoided the the usual hassle of having the $1.50 taken off the bill. The room was equipped with the usual Quality Inn shampoo, conditioner, hand lotion, soap and coffee. The television in the room was of decent size with about fifty channels worth of choices. The heating unit worked fine. The room had a kitchen area with a little refrigerator and tiny microwave, which might have been the lowest power microwave I've ever used. The wi-fi in the room was solid, but slow.

The breakfast was served in a dining area in the lobby. The breakfast was especially unimpressive, even for an inexpensive hotel. For sure, few hotels in the Choice Hotel system have sausage gravy and eggs. But the eggs were powdered, the gravy was cold and unflavored and the sausage was overcooked and cold. There was the usual coffee, tea and the only juice option was apple juice, though there was an orange juice. The orange fluid was clearly from a mix, much like a camp's bug juice. There were a couple of cereal options, danishes, bread for toast, yogurt, and a make your own waffle station. I could not find any milk for the cereal. There was also fresh fruit in the form of oranges and apples.

Overall

Staying at the Quality Inn & Suites Airport in Indianapolis was good for the staff. They were friendly, knowledgeable and recommended a wonderful pizza place. Beyond that, the room was affordable and I got what I paid for . . . but it was hardly the most inviting or enjoyable hotel I've ever been to!

For other hotels in the Choice Hotels chain, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Comfort Suites Grand Rapids North - Comstock Park, MI
Quality Inn Niagara Falls
Quality Inn Brockton - Brockton, MA

5.5/10

For other travel reviews, please visit my Travel Review Index Page!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Exposed Nails, Dank Rooms, The Quality Inn O'Hare Airport Is One Of The Worst Of The Line!

The Good: Friendly staff
The Bad: Overpriced, Cleanliness, Lack of amenities, Lack of value, Lack of lighting, Breakfast issues, Dangerous rooms!
The Basics: A new low for the Quality Inn line, the Quality Inn O'Hare Airport near Chicago ought to be shut down.


This weekend, I am fulfilling a dream I have had for over half my life. I'm at a convention and I'm going to finally meet the last member of the cast to my favorite television show of all time: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (reviewed here!). My dream weekend, though, is far from dreamlike, mostly because the hotel at which I am staying is a complete dive. The Quality Inn O'Hare Airport is an utter disappointment from the Choice Hotels line.

Location

The Quality Inn O'Hare Airport (IL228 in the Choice Hotel numbering system, which may be helpful if you decide to ignore my advice and book a room here) is located at 3801 North Mannheim Road, Schiller Park, Illinois. This is found down a little way from the mess of construction that seems to be invading most of this area of Chicago. Missing a single turnoff to the hotel leaves one stranded in O'Hare Airport, which is pretty terrible.

Once one finds North Mannheim Road - Routes 14 & 45 - this is a very easy hotel to get to. The hotel has a very narrow driveway and from one direction, it's a simple right turn. Turning left into the driveway/parking lot is a real crapshoot depending on how much traffic there is in the area (it's a pretty high traffic area).

Otherwise, this property is pretty terrible. Stuck in an industrial area between one little suburb and the airport, the Quality Inn O'Hare Airport has no grounds to speak of, merely a parking lot that wraps around the entire building. In fact, the rooms out back face a very narrow parking strip and, as I discovered today, that floods incredibly easily! As someone who is fairly loyal to the Choice Hotel chains for their value, I prepaid for my stay at the Quality Inn O'Hare Airport, so I had no recourse but to finish my stay here: the moment I first walked into the hallway off the main lobby and smelled the marshy, dank smell to it, I knew I had made a terrible decision.

Room Size

The Quality Inn O'Hare Airport has a smell to it, like the afterscent of cigarette smoke or something moldy. While I was there, the hotel had construction going on in the hallway and on one of the stairwells and that contributed to the odor that pervaded the hotel.

The rooms are approximately thirteen and a half feet wide by twenty-six feet deep. With the king-sized bed, two nightstands, television stand, chair, desk and small bathroom, the rooms have a somewhat cramped feeling to them.

Cleanliness

The Quality Inn O'Hare Airport is flat-out dirty. The exterior windows seem to always be covered with grit from the city and passing trucks or whatever. The interior is dark, but that's not enough to hide that this hotel is unclean. All of the carpet in this hotel is stained, dirty and contributes to the overall dank feeling of the hotel.

Whenever I first arrive in a hotel, the first thing I do is go in and flush the toilet. There's nothing worse than a hotel room where the plumbing is backed up. To the credit of the Quality Inn O'Hare Airport, it passed the first flush test!

Sadly, though, for as helpful as the cleaning staff is, the rooms are not clean. The nonsmoking rooms seem like they are not terribly well enforced as the room bears an odor that could be from rooms formerly smoked in.

The peak of the problems in my room comes from the headboard. I like to sit up in bed; I can't do that on the king sized bed at the Quality Inn O'Hare Airport because it has a damaged headboard. In the center of the headboard is a piece that looks like it was re-attached with wood glue and spackle . . . backwards. That means, there are four exposed screws poking out more than a half inch from the headboard right where my head would rest if I sat up! How such a blatantly unsafe problem exists in one of their rooms is baffling to me.

Amenities

Room rates at this hotel are fairly expensive (at least by my standards) with all rooms being more than fifty dollars a night and they are nowhere near worth it. The rooms feel dank and there is nothing distinctive about the hotel for what it offers.

The room has the king-sized bed, a television (limited channel selection), two nightstands and shampoo, conditioner and lotion. They also have a chair and a coffee maker; despite three lamps and one overhead light, the rooms never actually get bright. There is not a lot to recommend in the rooms.

The hotel features a continental breakfast in the sports bar on the main floor. This is regulated fanatically by two staff members for breakfast, so there's no picking up breakfast and taking it back to your room for a friend. It's insane that one cannot bring food back to their room for a sleeping spouse or any sort of asocial partner. For a breakfast so close to Chicago, this seems especially bland. There are four cereal options, four juices, coffee, cocoa, oatmeal packets, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, bananas and bagels. There are also make-your-own waffles . . . but it's hard to eat with the two guards staring one down and pointing to the signs that inform people staying here that food cannot be taken from the restaurant!

The hotel has an outdoor pool which is fairly nice. It is not overly chlorinated and is cleaner than any part of the inside of the hotel.

Overall

Between the dangers of the headboard and the dirty carpets to the breakfast-monitoring staff that would make the ghestapo envious, the Quality Inn O'Hare Airport is an utterly unpleasant hotel to stay at.

For other hotels in the Choice Hotels chain, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Quality Inn West - Baltimore, MD
Quality Inn & Suites Airport - El Paso, TX
Comfort Suites Downtown - Buffalo, NY

1.5/10

For other travel reviews, please be sure to visit my Travel Review Index Page!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Converted Motor Lodge, The Quality Inn Lakefront In Saint Ignace Is Wonderful!

The Good: Great room size, General location, Awesome amenities
The Bad: Not as clean as it ought to be, Driveway, Unremarkable breakfast
The Basics: The Quality Inn in Saint Ignace was a pleasant surprise well worth returning to!


As my wife and I get ready to head to bed on Christmas Eve, I’m actually finishing off the last of my reviews from the awesome trip we went on over the summer! On our way back from Minnesota, we had one last wonderful surprise: the Quality Inn Lakefront in Saint Ignace, Michigan. Good hotels at the beginning and end of our one big vacation made for an enjoyable bookend to a somewhat erratic vacation. The Quality Inn Lakefront in Saint Ignace was a truly impressive Choice Hotel, even if it was pretty clearly a retrofitted or converted former motor lodge.

Location

The Quality Inn Lakefront, MI089 in the Choice Hotels numbering system (a number quite useful when making phone or online reservations), is located at 1021 North State Street in Saint Ignace, Michigan. This is the part of Saint Ignace that is right on the lake, away from most of the town’s attractions. Saint Ignace seems to be something of a tourist trap and the Quality Inn Lakefront is away from most everything else. This is a simple, three-story building set back off the main roads, with a separate building for the office and another one for the pool. This Quality Inn is away from virtually everything else.

The Quality Inn Lakefront has a single entrance, right off North State Street and the actual hotel is set down a surprisingly steep driveway. The driveway makes this a very poor hotel for those who are utilizing the hotel as a stopover on a longer trip and might be hauling any sort of bigger vehicle; the driveway is that steep. Mapquest directions are more than adequate for finding this hotel.

The Quality Inn Lakefront has a motor lodge feel, whatwith the rooms all being though the rooms being accessed through outside doors. The three story hotel has rooms that all have one end that opens to the parking lot and another that faces the lake.

Room Size

The hotel's desk clerk greeted me at the front building after five minutes and seemed utterly disinterested with checking me in, which was a little disappointing because I had prepaid for the room and wanted to check in fast.

When we got to our room, my wife and I were very impressed. The room had a lot of lights and a giant hot tub, right near the balcony and sliding door to it. There were also a number of mirrors all around, including surrounding the hot tub. Measuring twenty-eight and a half feet deep by twenty feet wide, the room included a king-sized bed, two person hot tub, bathroom with shower and bathtub, desk, and two nightstands. This room has the standard closet as well and dresser with the television. The room did not feel cramped by the hot tub.

Cleanliness

From the first moment I opened the door to the room at the Quality Inn in Saint Ignace, I had a good feeling about it. However, the more I looked around, the less impressed I was. The wallpaper was not peeling, but it was darker than looked clean and the rugs were not as clean as they ought to have been. There was a bench inside the room and ours had a pretty noticeable, dark, footprint on it, which was unfortunately unclean. On the plus side, the nonsmoking room lived up to that. The nonsmoking room smelled like nothing at all. There was no evidence or trace of scent that would have indicated it had ever had a cigarette smoked in it. Instead, the entire hotel smelled good.

Every time I enter a new hotel room, I flush the toilet and this Quality Inn easily passed the first flush test with no difficulties, which admittedly surprised me. The shower, hot tub and toilet were all clean. Still, some of the towels had spots. The wallpaper in the room was tasteful and none of the wallpaper or paint was peeling. Still, I found several spots on the wallpaper, even at eye level.

The common areas were all clean and well-maintained. The lobby was clean and well-lit.

Amenities

The Quality Inn Lakefront has decent amenities, at least in our room. There were the standard coffee packets, shampoo, soap, and lotion, along with an air conditioning unit. There was also a microwave and refrigerator. The hot tub was one of the largest of any hotel we had been to. The room we had had a two-person hot tub and I would be remiss if I did not mention this. The hot tub was billed as a two-person tub and it truly lived up. It was clean and easy to use. This was a nice way to relax and it operated flawlessly, and it only took about ten minutes to fill up.

This hotel had a free breakfast. The Quality Inn Lakefront in Saint Ignace had a pretty unremarkable breakfast with a few cold and hot cereal options, a make your own waffle station and a few bread/muffin options for toasting. The breakfast was unimpressive.

In the room, the television has approximately twenty cable television stations and the television was one of the largest I've had in a Choice Hotel. We got a great on-line deal on the room, but it still cost us $85/night after all of the taxes. This was a fairly good deal for a hotel right off Lake Huron.

Overall

The Quality Inn Lakefront in Saint Ignace is wonderful, though it is not perfect, and has issues with cleanliness and some of its amenities. The view alone is incredible and the hot tub made for a great way to relax!

For Michigan other hotels in the Choice Hotels chain, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Econo Lodge – Grand Rapids, MI
Quality Inn By The Bay – Traverse City, MI
Comfort Suites Lakeside – Houghton Lake, MI

8/10

For other hotel reviews, please visit my Travel Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

Serving The Middling Franchise In A Middling Way: The EconoLodge & Suites Grand Rapids, Michigan!

Econo Lodge & Suites Econo Lodge & Suites

The Good: Good room size, Clean
The Bad: Grounds not cared for, Low customer service, Mediocre breakfast
The Basics: In a fairly hotel-packed area, the EconoLodge & Suites in Grand Rapids simply seems cheap.


Some years ago, I was working at a Star Trek convention and the hotel that I was used to going down to had been demolished in the months since I was last in the area. That unfortunate turn of events (the original hotel had been a decent one and it was flattened to make some giant store, like an IKEA) led me to stay at an EconoLodge and that experience was so bad that I swore off the chain. When my wife was helping me plan my latest convention excursion, she pointed out that my previous bad experience at a single EconoLodge in an entirely different part of the country should not sour me on the whole chain. The thrifty part of me responded well to her argument when my search for hotels in Grand Rapids, Michigan, revealed that despite there being a lot of competition for the tourist dollars there, the deals were not at all extraordinary. As a result, I opted to book for the EconoLodge & Suites Grand Rapids, if for no other reasons than it was in my chain and it was the least expensive hotel in the area the weekend I needed lodging.

To be fair, the EconoLodge & Suites in Grand Rapids was nowhere near as bad as the outright hideous EconoLodge I stayed at in Maryland a decade ago. That said, it still had enough problems to make it an underwhelming stay and one that made me feel that – despite the low price – it was not much of a value.

Location

The EconoLodge & Suites Grand Rapids, MI294 in the Choice Hotels numbering system (a number quite useful when making phone or online reservations), is located at 2985 Kraft Ave SE in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This is a section of Grand Rapids that is discreetly away from the college areas and all that seemed to be around it were strip malls, fast food restaurants and a few big box stores. This was a pretty unremarkable area of Grand Rapids with no real draw.

The EconoLodge & Suites Grand Rapids has a single entrance right off Kraft Ave SE and this hotel’s little side street is right off one of the major arterials around Grand Rapids. Mapquest directions are more than adequate for finding this hotel.

The EconoLodge & Suites Grand Rapids looks very small and the first real strike against it is its parking lot. I arrived on a weekday during prime business hours and the driveway had not been plowed. There were over two inches of wet snow on the ground throughout the parking lot and for the four days of my stay at the EconoLodge & Suites, the snowy parking lot was never once shoveled or plowed. The lack of care for the grounds made the hotel seem exceptionally inhospitable.

Room Size

Upon entering the hotel, I was surprised by the size of the lobby. The lobby had a high ceiling and a very open feeling and was well lit, the only part of the building that was so open. The front desk was to the left of the front door, perpendicular to it, and when I entered, there was no one at the front desk.

A minute and a half after ringing the bell at the front desk, a manager appeared to sign me in. He was friendly-enough and it was very easy to find my room on the second floor of the hotel.

As for the room itself, this was a decent-sized room, which was split into a living room and a bedroom, separated by a small hallway which has the bathroom and the alcove which passes for the kitchen. Measuring twenty-nine feet deep by fifteen feet wide, the full suite included a king-sized bed, two nightstands, a tv hutch, bathroom with shower and bathtub, desk, and a couch in the living room. The room did not feel cramped at all and had a number of lights that made the room feel warm.

Cleanliness

From the first moment I approached the door to my room at the EconoLodge & Suites in Grand Rapids, I had a cool feeling about it. The wallpaper was not peeling, but it was darker than looked clean and the rugs were not all laying flat on the floor! On the plus side, the nonsmoking room lived up to that. The nonsmoking room smelled like nothing at all. There was no evidence or trace of scent that would have indicated it had ever had a cigarette smoked in it. Instead, the entire hotel smelled good.

Every time I enter a new hotel room, I flush the toilet and this EconoLodge & Suites easily passed the first flush test with no difficulties, which admittedly surprised me. The shower, hot tub and toilet were all clean. The wallpaper in the room was tasteful and none of the wallpaper or paint was peeling. Still, I found several spots on the wallpaper, even at eye level, both in the room and in the hallways. Unfortunately, the hotel was not all that bright; the lighting was average and enough to add a feeling of warmth to the rooms, but I found I could not sit and read comfortably with only one light on.

The common areas were all clean and well-maintained. The lobby was clean, as was the breakfast room.

Amenities

The EconoLodge & Suites Grand Rapids has only the standard amenities, at least in our room. There were the standard coffee packets, shampoo, soap, and lotion. The suite actually had a microwave and very small refrigerator, which was a nice touch. The suite had two televisions, one in the living room, one in the bed room. As one of the oddities to this EconoLodge, shampoo was not replaced two of the three days I was there!

This hotel had a free breakfast, but it was pretty lousy. Billed as a “hot breakfast” online, the EconoLodge & Suites in Grand Rapids included a make-your-own waffle station and a toaster. The breakfast is dominated, however, by cold options: yogurt, danishes, cold cereal and fresh fruit. This hotel had only two drink options for breakfast: one type of milk and orange juice.

In the room, the television has approximately twenty cable television stations and the television was one of the smallest I've had in a Choice Hotel. We got a great on-line deal on the room, but it still cost us $72/night after all of the taxes. The hotel did have one of the most reliable wi-fi internet connections I’ve ever had at a hotel.

When the time came to check-out, the new manager at the front desk was not well-versed enough in procedures to make it easy for me to have the room charge taken off my credit card so I could pay cash. That was irksome.

Overall

The EconoLodge & Suites in Grand Rapids is mediocre; not bad, but overpriced for such a basic hotel, especially one in a snowy area where it is not adequately cared for to make guests feel invited.

For other Michigan hotels in the Choice Hotels chain, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Quality Inn By The Bay - Traverse City, MI
Comfort Suites Southfield, MI
Comfort Suites Lakeside - Houghton Lake, MI

4.5/10

For other hotel reviews, please visit my Hotel Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

Econo Lodge & Suites Econo Lodge & Suites

A Little Place To Stay In Nowhere: The Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center In Eau Claire Underwhelms.

Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center

The Good: Charm of location, Generally affordable, Good breakfast
The Bad: Light on amenities, Terrible customer service, Cleanliness issues.
The Basics: The Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center in Eau Claire is an affordable place to sleep, but not at all a destination of choice for travelers, even to Eau Claire!


When it comes to travel, there are seldom aspects more disappointing than a bad hotel. Virtually every destination I have been to has had something to recommend it or some activity worth checking out. But when one finds oneself in pretty much the middle of nowhere, with little to do in an area, a bad hotel can just be miserable. My recent trip with my wife to Minnesota involved a leisurely return trip and we gave Wisconsin two days on the way back to Michigan. That put us in Eau Claire, Wisconsin for almost an entire day and were it not for the Octoberfest celebration we found at the nearby Leinenkugel brewery, our day in the area would have been an utter waste. Part of the reason for the disappointment we found in Eau Claire was the Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center we stayed at there.

Despite being in a charming little shopping center around nothing else in particular, the Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center was the worst hotel we stayed at on our trip and it made it impossible for me to recommend this hotel.

Location

The Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center, WI139 in the Choice Hotels numbering system (a number quite useful when making phone or online reservations), is located at 5872 33rd Ave. in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. This is very much the outskirts of Eau Claire and there is nothing about, save the gas station/shopping center/sports bar that the hotel is adjacent to. In fact, the shopping area acts as an extension of the hotel; one may walk from the hotel lobby down a hallway all the way to the gas station at the other end. The Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center is a simple, multi-story building set right off the interstate.

The Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center has two entrances, from the parking lot and the shopping center. Mapquest directions are more than adequate for finding this hotel.

The Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center has a motor lodge feel, though the rooms were only accessed from a central hallway, not outer doors. Given that it was surrounded on three sides by a parking lot - the final side was adjacent to the building next door - the feel of a motor lodge was not entirely an inapt analogy. The Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center had a disproportionately large parking lot, which may easily hold one hundred trucks, probably to accommodate traffic to the shopping center and the conference center.

Room Size

Upon entering the hotel, I was surprised by the size of the lobby. The lobby had a high ceiling and a very open feeling and was well lit, the only part of the building that was. I waited more than five minutes before a member of the hotel staff bothered to show up to man the front desk.

The hotel's desk clerk greeted me entirely apathetically and seemed utterly disinterested with checking me in. I had prepaid for my room and that seemed to confound the worker at the front desk when she did show up.

As for the room itself, this was a fairly medium-sized and mediocre room, plagued by a lack of good lighting. Measuring thirty-one feet deep by fourteen feet wide, the room included a king-sized bed, a small sofa, bathroom with shower and bathtub, desk, and a nightstand on each side of the bed. This room has the standard closet as well and dresser with the television. The room felt a bit cramped by the bed and my wife and I were treated to a view of the roof section and sixteen-wheeler parking out our window.

Cleanliness

From the first moment I left the lobby at the Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center in Eau Claire, I was disappointed. The wallpaper was not peeling, but it was darker than looked clean and the rugs - especially in the hallways leading to the room - were not as clean as they ought to have been. The entire hotel’s second floor smelled; the room and hallway smelled to such an extent that we were not at all surprised to discover that there were multiple dogs on the same floor as us.

Every time I enter a new hotel room, I flush the toilet and this Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center easily passed the first flush test with no difficulties, which surprised me. The shower, hot tub and toilet were all clean. Still, some of the towels had spots, though the bedding was clean.

The wallpaper in the room was tasteful and none of the wallpaper or paint was peeling. Still, I found several spots on the wallpaper, even at eye level, both in the room and in the hallways. Moreover, the lack of decent lighting throughout the hotel gave it a dank feeling that made the stay a little less pleasant.

The common areas were all clean and well-maintained. The lobby was clean, though the breakfast area was not kept clean during breakfasttime.

Amenities

The Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center has only the standard amenities, at least in our room. There were the standard coffee packets, shampoo, soap, and lotion, along with an air conditioning unit. There was no microwave or refrigerator available to us. The hotel did feature wi-fi which was fairly reliable, but not particularly fast.

This hotel had a free breakfast. The breakfast was fairly standard; it had sausage, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, waffles and multiple bread products (muffins, bread for toast, danishes). There was yogurt, juice and cereal options as well.

In the room, the television has approximately forty cable television stations and the television was one of the smaller I've had in a Choice Hotel. Even with the online deal prepay price of $76, the Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center was not a good deal for the quality.

Overall

Ultimately disappointing, the Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center is just a place to crash, but it is not a particularly good hotel and it is not in a noteworthy part of the country.

For hotels in the Choice Hotels chain in the Midwest, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Sleep Inn – O’Fallon, IL
Quality Inn & Suites - Eagan, MN
Quality Inn By The Bay – Traverse City, MI

4/10

For other hotel reviews, please visit my Travel Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center Sleep Inn & Suites Conference Center

Luxury In Minnesota?! The Quality Inn & Suites In Eagan, Minnesota Is Perfect!

Book a room at the Quality Inn & Suites - Eagan, MN
On Hotels.com!

The Good: Excellent room size, Good amenities, Friendly staff, Good location, Comparatively affordable
The Bad: None, this was a perfect
The Basics: Close to the Mall Of America, the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan is an oasis in Minnesota that is a wonderful place to stay!


One of the wonderful things about being able to take my first vacation in years with my wife was coming home with a ton of new things to review. While we picked up souvenirs, went to a few destinations and ate at new restaurants, but the review I have been most excited to pen was about the first hotel we stayed at on our vacation! The hotel is the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan, which we chose because of its proximity to the Mall Of America (reviewed here!) and the reasonable price associated with it when we were hunting hotels online. What we did not expect was that the reasonably priced hotel we booked would be a perfect one!

We arrived at the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan after a fifteen hour drive, which left us exhausted. When we reached the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan, we were exhausted and discovered that our room was not actually available for us . . . which allowed us a rare opportunity. In addition to giving us the chance to experience two types of rooms (including the very best suite in the building!), the odd booking mix-up afforded the staff of the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan the chance to absolutely wow us with their customer service. The young woman who checked us in bent over backward to make our stay incredible and, in addition to being friendly and flexible, we had the chance to stay in a room that was unlike any we had stayed in before!

Location

Near Minneapolis, there are a great many hotels and the suburb of Minnesota, Eagan, had a number of hotel and shopping options that provided a cool alternative to the Mall Of America (along with decent access to the Mall Of America and nearby attractions). Nestled back behind a strip mall, two other hotels and near a Dairy Queen, the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan is a comparatively inexpensive hotel option that is worth every dollar! The Quality Inn & Suites Eagan (MN160 in the Choice Hotel numbering system) is located at 1950 Rahncliff Ct. in Eagan, Minnesota. This multi-story hotel is located amid shopping centers, but has a shuttle to get to some of the major attractions. There are no grounds to speak of for the hotel, though it is right near a wonderful restaurant and a pretty cool comic book and toy store!

The Quality Inn & Suites Eagan is located a discrete distance from the main part of Minneapolis. There is no neighborhood to speak of for this hotel, though there are plenty of attractions for shopping and the like (including a movie theater) right near by. There is an interstate (I-494) right near the hotel, but despite that, the place is very quiet.

Room Size

Given how the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan is nestled back behind other attractions and businesses, one might be surprised by the quality of the rooms. For the bulk of our stay, we were in a room with a single king bed with a hot tub in room. The hot tub was a key selling point for us, which we used a couple of time during our week stay. The standard room we were in was 34 ½’ deep by 13 ¼’ wide.

The first night we stayed at the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan was a study in luxury, though. While our standard room was incredible, the master suite at the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan was unbelievable. The master suite was almost as big as our apartment! The door to the master suite opens into a 19’ x 22’ living room that came complete with a small kitchen area and a two-person hot tub in the corner. In addition to a television in the opposite corner, the living room had two couches and a desk! The bathroom in the master suite was a whopping 10’ x 8’ and featured three sinks in addition to a shower/tub! The master suite had two bedrooms – one of which was 14 ½’ by 13’, the other was 15 ¼’ x 14’ and both had their own televisions and air conditioners! The room was absolutely amazing and despite getting into it exhausted, we were so excited by its size and coolness that we were unable to actually fall asleep for hours in our cool “bonus” room!

The internet rate for the rooms varied between $102.60 and $111.60 (the more expensive days were for our weekend days) and given how the hotel is adjacent to a major U.S. city and featured so many amenities, the price was quite reasonable.

Cleanliness

Perhaps unsurprising given how the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan is found in the Midwest in a shopping area, the hotel is an oasis of cleanliness. From the parking lot to the rooms, both of the rooms we were in, everything was immaculately clean.

Every surface in the suite and standard room was spotless. There was no dust, no dirt, not even the slightest hint that anyone had ever stayed in the room before us. It was completely, perfectly clean. The toilet passed the first flush test without incident, the linens were all clean, dry and fluffy. The entire hotel was nonsmoking and nothing smelled like it had ever been in the presence of nicotine. It was clean in a way that an obsessive compulsive person would stay without agitation!

The public areas were similarly clean. The hotel had breakfast room and a smaller nook with vending machines midway through the hotel, both were kept clean by help who did so without hovering or being in any way intrusive. Even the walls were kept free of even a hint of dirt.

Despite staying at the hotel for almost a full week, the cleanliness of the public rooms I saw did not go down. The pool area was as well-maintained as the rest of the hotel and it remained completely stocked with enough towels to dry off a small army of swimmers!

Amenities

The Quality Inn & Suites Eagan ended up being a real value for all that we got out of it. While it might be standard in all Quality Inn & Suites, the room had a better-than-average shampoo and conditioner that smelled wonderful. As well, there seemed to be extra towels in the room (probably because of the pool and our in-room hot tub), there were four pillows on the king-sized bed, and the room had a refrigerator and sofa in addition to the usual desk. The television had over thirty channels and the most reliable wi-fi internet connection of any of the Choice hotels we had stayed in so far!

Like most hotels in the Choice pantheon, the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan offered a free breakfast. This hotel's breakfast was a hot breakfast, not just a continental one and it was impressive. In addition to the make-your-own waffle station and the standard coffee, the breakfast area at the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan featured three types of juice, bagels, coffee cake, and mini-muffins. As well, there were delicious mini-omelets, sausage and sausage biscuits and gravy! There were hot and cold cereal options and yogurt, hard-boiled eggs and milk cartons. The variety of food options for breakfast was a nice feature and made the hotel seem very inviting.

The pool was a decent size and was clean. While there was time for family swims, there was also late night options for adults-only swimming which was very cool. This was a clean pool area that was warm and did not smell like chlorine, which was very nice. Right next to the pool was a hot tub that could fit about half a dozen people.

One of the key, unsung selling points of the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan was the staff. All of the people who were working at the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan were friendly, knowledgeable and dedicated to their jobs. They were all professional and excellent at doing their jobs. It has been a long time since I stayed anywhere where the entire staff was so accommodating and friendly.

Overall

My stay at the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan was easily one of the best hotel stays I have ever had. There are very few hotels I have rated perfect, but the Quality Inn & Suites Eagan was the hotel that was easiest for me to rate so highly!

For other hotels and destinations in the Minneapolis area, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Quality Inn & Suites – Bloomington, MN
Mystic Lake Casino
Star Trek: The Exhibit (now at the Mall Of America!)

10/10

For other travel reviews, please visit my Travel Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Decent Long-Term Stay Option On The Outskirts Of Rochester: The Homewood Suites Delivers!

Click here to reserve a room at the Homewood Suites in Rochester
through Hotels.com
The Good: Room size, Breakfast, Amenities, Atmosphere
The Bad:Just a little more expensive than I would like, Over-chlorinated pool.
The Basics:The Homewood Suites from Hilton in Rochester, NY is a worthwhile location for a long-term stay or a short staycation!


There is something pretty wonderful about reviewing a hotel and being ready to critique one aspect of it only to discover the hotel is already on that particular problem. Recently, I stayed for a week at the Homewood Suites hotel in Rochester (Henrietta, actually), New York and when I first arrived at the massive collection of beautiful, large rooms, my thought was that the carpeting in the hallway was pretty shabby. But, before I could actually review the hotel, there were notes left in the rooms and there was a pretty massive carpet cleaning operation working on the hotel! By the time my stay ended, the carpets looked mostly new.

That left remarkably few flaws with the Homewood Suites in Rochester and made it very easy to recommend as a place for visitors to Rochester, NY (reviewed here!) to stay for an extended period.

Location

The Homewood Suites is located at 2095 Hylan Drive, Rochester, New York. There is a sizable enough parking lot around the hotel to provide adequate parking away from anything resembling a main road, for all patrons. 2095 Hylan Drive – which, technically is off on its own little driveway/street with a Cracker Barrel and Comfort Suites - is easy enough to find from the expressway and online mapping sites like MapQuest.

The Homewood Suites is visible from the 390 expressway that runs near it and it is situated very close to a major shopping area in the Rochester area. This means at rush hour and a few other peak times, traffic around the Homewood Suites can be a challenge to get through.

Check-in was quite easy and the staff was friendly and knowledgeable. Parking for the building was easy enough to find as the hotel is virtually surrounded by a parking lot. There are limited grounds beside the property, enough to take your pet if you bring them for bathrooming purposes. But for all of the comforts inside the hotel, outside the grilling area in the hotel’s courtyard space, the Homewood Suites is not exactly preoccupied with providing activities or space for anything but parking outside the hotel.

Room Size

I had a suite with a queen bed (all rooms at the hotel are nonsmoking) and I was impressed the moment I unlocked the door. This twenty-six and a half (end to end) by eighteen and a quarter foot chamber was segmented into three rooms: a walk-in living room/dining area, bathroom, and bedroom. This suite was bigger than my first apartment and four times as nice! The suite is entirely self-contained and did not connect to any other rooms, adding to the feeling of security.

The kitchen/living room is connected to the bedroom and bathroom by a door that can be closed to segment the suite for privacy or to allow one group of people to work in one room while others rest or relax in the other. The bathroom was wonderfully large and easily fit two people moving around one another. The main room was huge and could easily have fit three to five visitors.

Cleanliness

The bathroom was perfectly clean and it was no surprise to me when it passed the first flush test. All of the linens were clean, dry and fluffy. Every surface in the bathroom was spotless, including the entire mirror, the bathtub and the toilet.

The bedroom was similarly clean, even the surface of the television, which I have found is frequently an undercleaned part of the average hotel room. The bedding was all clean, well made up and comfortable. All of the rugs were spotless, by the time I left the hotel, which was nice and led to the illusion that no one else had ever been in the room (an ideal for me!). The room smelled like a nonsmoking room and if this ever had been anything other than that, they did an awesome job of cleaning it up to remove any previous scents!

The living room was in great condition, with important surfaces like the microwave, refrigerator and television all being free of dust, debris or food. The table and chairs in the room were clean as well. In fact, the Homewood Suites did an excellent job of making me feel like everything in the room was brand new.

Amenities

This is where the Homewood Suites truly excelled. In addition to pretty awesome shampoos and conditioners – Bath & Body Works individual Rain Kissed Leaves Shampoo (reviewed here) and Conditioner (reviewed here!) – each room had two types of Nutrogena soap and microwave popcorn restocked daily! The Homewood Suites also had the standard coffee, coffee maker, microwave and refrigerator in the room. In addition, there were two televisions in the room, extra pillows in the closet (making a total of eight pillows in my suite!), dining counter with two chairs, a couch, and endtable.

In the main lobby, there was coffee, tea and cocoa throughout the day, which was especially nice when I first checked in. Also in the main lobby there were two computer terminals with internet access for the patrons of the hotel. Each room has Wi-Fi that was easy to connect to, as well. There was a Cracker Barrel restaurant (reviewed here!) within walking distance on the other side of the parking lot from the Homewood Suites.

The breakfast dining room was also downstairs, near the lobby. Breakfast was from 6:00 - 9:30 in the morning, which was a full, hot breakfast that changed each day I was there. The spread was quite nice featuring the usual bagels, muffins, fresh fruit, orange juice and three cereal options each day. However, the hot breakfast changed each morning. One morning it was scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, the next pancakes or waffles, the next sausage biscuits and gravy, and another was simplified omelets!

But the real amenity which made it impossible for me to kvetch too much about the price of the rooms at this Homewood Suites was a complimentary dinner from Monday to Thursday nights. From 5 – 7 those days, the hotel provides balanced, nutritious meals – they did a grill out, personal pizzas, pasta and chicken pot pie on the days of my stay! – as well as free beer and wine. This was the first hotel I had ever stayed at with such a decent, free spread for guests!

The hotel has an indoor pool with a whirlpool, but when I went down to it, it made my eyes water from the chlorine and someone at the pool and tub was vocally complaining about how chlorinated the water was. I opted not to get so burned and instead spent time in my room. There is a weight room that looked fairly well-stocked as well.

Overall

The Homewood Suites is a pretty wonderful place for an extended stay, especially for business travelers who want a place to set up a work space. It's a very comfortable escape from virtually everything (including Rochester). This is ideal for a traveler or couple looking to get away and stay in as the room is nice, though I still gripe about paying over a hundred dollars a night for any room anywhere (this was $114.99 + many taxes). The free meals, though, made it feel worth it all. For a clean, generally affordable hotel option for a suite hotel, the Homewood Suites from Hilton is a worthwhile hotel when Rochester, NY is your destination!

For other hotels in New York State, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Comfort Suites – Buffalo, NY
Day’s Inn – Canastota, NY
Comfort Inn Fairgrounds – Rochester, NY

9/10

For other hotel reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

Click here to reserve a room at the Homewood Suites in Rochester
through Hotels.com

"Quality Inn By The Bay" In Traverse City, MI Is An Odd Combination Of Perfection/Problems!

Quality Inn By The Bay - Traverse City, MI


Click to reserve a room directly through Choice Hotels!

The Good: Good location, Decent sized room, Amenities, Breakfast
The Bad: No grounds, Customer service issue
The Basics: Despite a serious problem with honoring an upgrade, the rooms and amenities at the Quality Inn By The Bay make it a good place to stay when in Traverse City, MI.


Have you ever had an experience with a place that is truly like a multiple personality experience when dealing with people at a place? I have, rather recently, in fact. As I prepare to move to Michigan to be with my fiance, I have made a trip or two out to that state and I've been scouting out different places and we have been seeing how well we travel together. So, a few days ago, I drove over from upstate New York and we went on two trips. Our first one was to Traverse City, Michigan, which is only about an hour away from where we will be living.

While spending the night in Traverse City, we had a few things planned. We went and saw Twilight (reviewed here!) and the next morning, we went to Turtle Creek Casino and the Grand Traverse Mall. And we stayed at the Quality Inn By The Bay, a lovely little hotel looking out at the beautiful bay up there (that is Grand Traverse Bay, for those wondering). But the weirdest thing happened: we had an amazing check in and stay and a terrible check-out experience. I had been prepared to rate this hotel quite high, but the closing experience truly soured me some on the hotel. So, it is worth noting from the outset that the hotel is surprisingly nice and that some of the staff is ridiculously friendly (if, possibly, slightly incompetent).

Location

The Quality Inn By The Bay, MI731 (in the Choice Hotel numbering system, a good number to have if making a reservation on the phone, etc.), is located at 1492 US 31 N. in Traverse City. This, rather conveniently, is about five miles away from the Grand Traverse Mall and about an equal distance to the Turtle Creek Casino. It is easily accessed by Route 31, which seems to be the main road around the Bay.

The Quality Inn By The Bay has entrance, right off US 32 and extensive parking (presumably for when it is packed in the summer); around the front of the main lobby and the side section where at least most of the rooms are located. The Quality Inn By The Bay in Traverse City is not a huge hotel and it is not much to look at on the outside. There are no grounds to speak of - the hotel is stuck between other hotels and restaurants. It is a three or four story hotel and it is located within walking distance of the Bay itself. One imagines in the summer, this is a bustling area (I suppose I'll find out this summer).

The Quality Inn By The Bay has more of a motor lodge layout as the hotel extends back from the lobby/breakfast area as essentially one long hallway. Rooms here are designed for comfort, but it is not a resort-type location where one has a great view. No, there are things to do in the city, but this hotel is designed to be more a place to stay as opposed to luxuriate.

Room Size

Upon entering the hotel, I was greeted quite warmly by the desk clerk. There were packs of gum available (for free) right on the front desk and I began to check in. I had called ahead days early and asked if this Quality Inn honored the Choice Privileges free room upgrade policy and I was told they did. I had also checked the day before to find out what types of rooms would be available if I did upgrade. When I asked for my free upgrade - preferably to a room with one of the in-room whirlpools. The staff member went into the back and talked with (it turned out) the hotel manager and general manager. She came back out, said she could upgrade the room and I noticed the sign about the safe charge and I asked to have that removed from the bill as I would not be using it. She said that was not a problem and I was checked in. And wow! The room I got was amazing. Upgrading from one of the least expensive to the best room in the place is always fun and in this case, it was quite a room!

This was a fairly substantial sized room for a location intended just for sleeping in! Measuring twenty-four feet deep by twelve feet wide, the room included a king-sized beds, a heart-shaped whirlpool in the room and a full bathroom with shower, toilet and sink.

Cleanliness

From the first moment I opened the door to the room at the Quality Inn By The Bay in Traverse City, I had an excellent feeling about it. First, the nonsmoking room smelled . . . like nothing. There was no evidence or trace of scent that would have indicated it had ever had a cigarette smoked in it. Instead, the entire hotel smelled good; even the pool area smelled good and did not have any excessive smell of chlorine spilling into the hallway.

Every time I enter a new hotel room, I flush the toilet (past experience has proven this is an excellent thing to check out right away!) and the Quality Inn By The Bay easily passed the first flush test with no difficulties. The wallpaper in the room was tasteful and none of the wallpaper or paint was peeling. This was an exceptionally clean hotel. And for Greens out there, this is one of many hotels that offers the option of having your bed made instead of having the linens changed. This is a nice, environmentally-friendly way of doing business, especially for those of us who do not sweat while we sleep or otherwise make the bedding unclean as opposed to just mussed up!

The common areas were all clean and well-maintained. Given that there were no grounds, some of the maintenance is easier than at other locations. The breakfast area was kept constantly clean and the pool and whirlpool area was well-maintained and clean.


Amenities

The Quality Inn By The Bay has a pretty decent package working for it for a hotel in the Choice Hotel system. In every room there were the standard coffee packets, shampoo, and lotion, along with an air conditioning unit. There were also tea bags with the coffee as well and that was a nice touch! At this location, there was also available upon request: razors, toothbrushes and sewing kits. It makes the guest feel like the hotel is full service.

This feeling is reinforced by the friendly staff and the 24 hour coffee and tea service. The tea service has at least six different flavors of Bigelow Tea and there are packets of sugar, sugar substitute and powdered creamer. In addition to the coffee from the room, the guest need never go thirsty. During the winter (at least) the hotel also has hot cocoa packets available in the main lobby!

The free continental breakfast at the Quality Inn By The Bay was one of the most unique I have encountered. There were fewer hot food options (noticeably a lack of the trademark waffles) but they made up for it with a decent variety of other foods. There were four types of prepackaged GM cold cereals, milk, apple and orange juice from a machine. There were pre-sliced raisin bagels, cream cheese, and four different flavors of oatmeal. As well, there were four types of muffins, thick cinnamon bread for toast, canned fruit mix and granola packets. There was, however, no waffle maker, which is one of the trademarks of the chain. It ought to be noted, though, that the hotel did have fresh oranges and apples, though.

What it lacks in cuisine it makes up for with its large indoor pool, which had a hottub in it. There is also a free high speed internet terminal in the lobby which guests are able to freely use at all hours of the day or night. The television has approximately fifty cable television stations.

In fact, the only problem I had with the hotel was at the time of check-out. When I went to check out, I noticed that the room rate had been chanced from $55.00 to $65.00. This, of course, would not be a free upgrade, it would be a ridiculously cheap upgrade. The value was great, but given that I had not been told of the fee associating with upgrading to such a room and I had been told upon check-in that it was a free upgrade, I stopped to make a little noise about it. The person checking me out happened to be one of the two people who the person who had checked me in had consulted with and he insisted that he had heard the person checking me in tell me about the rate change. As a reviewer, I pay attention to such things and I insisted I had not been told about a fee and I even called for the rate card I had signed when I checked in. He produced the card and I was upset to discover that the rate had been changed on the card . . . after I had signed it. I pointed out to him that I would not have called for the rate card had it been changed prior to my signing it and he insisted there was nothing he could do about it. I'm not one for returning to places where I am (even tacitly) called a liar and the treatment at check-out was both unprofessional and disturbing.

Overall

Ultimately, though, the hotel is pretty wonderful. The food, the rooms and the check-in service were good. However, that final experience (which I am writing to the Corporate offices about) was troubling. My advice (at least until I stay at one of the other hotels in the area!) is to stay here, but document any upgrades thoroughly and be clear. The staff can be friendly, but it seems they might not pass on information well, leading to problems.

Otherwise, I would consider the Quality Inn By The Bay in Traverse City, MI one of the better hotels in the chain.

For other Quality Inns or hotels in Michigan reviewed by me, please check out my reviews of:
Comfort Suites Lakeside - Houghton Lake, MI
Quality Inn & Suites - Warren, MI
Comfort Suites - Southfield, MI

7.5/10

For other travel reviews, please visit my Travel Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the hotel and destination reviews I have written!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

Quality Inn By The Bay - Traverse City, MI


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