A Local Gem In A Dark Place: The Queen City Diner Delights!

The Good: Excellent food, Amazing portions, Affordable, Clean
The Bad: Slow service.
The Basics: In Allentown, PA, the local restaurant to visit is the Queen City Diner, a delightful little establishment that has decent food and a lot of charm!


Whenever I travel, I have a tendency to bring food with me. I'm not usually a huge fan of chain restaurants, many local eateries are hit or miss and I am, frankly, a cheapskate. But, when I went to Allentown recently for a show, depression over the sales at the show, the condition of the hotel (reviewed here!) and general hunger led me out to the main strip near the hotel for food. After deciding against the local pizza place and Chinese restaurant, I ended up at the Queen City Diner.

"Ended up" quickly has turned into "sought out." The Queen City Diner is a wonderful local diner where the portions are amazing, the food is good and the prices are more than reasonable!

Location

The Queen City Diner is located exclusively at 1801 Lehigh Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The little diner is located on a corner right off Lehigh, which is a fairly major street right off 309 and Interstate 78, which are pretty major expressways in the area. The Queen City Diner's good location makes it ideal for a 24-hour diner.

The Queen City Diner is decorated very simply like an actual 1950s/60s diner, as opposed to a nostalgia-driven parody of the same. In other words, the walls are not adored with tons of photos of vintage stars and musicians; it looks like a vintage diner. There is a counter that has stainless steel trim and the boxcar-like walkway houses the booths that take up the whole side of the restaurant. The giant windows look out on the street, but so long as one has a charming dinner companion, this is not really an issue.

Everything in the restaurant was clean, including the bathrooms. While I had breakfast one morning, I watched as one of the waitresses leapt into action to clean smudges off the window left by a child.

Waitstaff

Queen City Diner uses traditional waitstaff and on my visits, I only saw waitresses and the hostess; the only male seemed to be the busboy. The waitstaff at the Queen City Diner seemed younger for the dinner crowd and seasoned and efficient for breakfast. The hostesses were very friendly and seated me quickly on each visit. The waitresses seemed to be overworked (or inexperienced) for dinner and having a good time for breakfast (the open nature of the diner and the location of the drink stations made it like breakfast and a show as one of the waitresses serenaded her coworkers in the morning). The waitress I had for dinner seemed overworked and/or inefficient. It took a long time to get anything from her, which was odd considering how the diner was not packed for dinner. For breakfast, my waitress was generally quick-enough to serve, but not particularly social (with me) while doing so.

That said, the servers I had each time I went in were kind and they seemed generally happy with their jobs. The camaraderie between the members of the breakfast crew was instantly evident.

Food

The Queen City Diner serves a pretty exceptional menu of food, though it is mostly traditional American cuisine. The menu ranged from a variety of burgers (including a pizza burger and other variations on the theme), steaks, and a surprising amount of fish that was not just fried.

Most of the entrees include a salad bar, soup, AND vegetable, which surprised me for such affordable dinner prices. The salad bar was fresh and clean and had a decent variety of vegetables (which were all clean, not wilted, and delicious!), toppings and dressings. My wife was thrilled that, for a change, I ate vegetables while on the road.

The soup I tried was the Italian Wedding soup. The base was flavorful, not watery, not simply salty and the noodles, vegetable chunks - carrots and real celery - were decent size. The spinach and parsley in the soup added flavor. My only issue with the soup was there were no meatballs in it!

One night at the Queen City Diner I had the broiled chicken breast stuffed with crab meat and spinach. It is hard to underplay just how good that entree was. The chicken was well-cooked, but moist in the middle. The crab meat was not scrimped on, which was nice; it was flaky buttery and tasted like actual crab. The spinach was less-represented in the flavor, but given that I was in the mood for meat there was just the right amount. Two chicken breasts and a whole dish bottom covered in the shredded crab meat and spinach blend made for an exceptionally filling meal.

The other entree I tried at the Queen City Diner was the roast pork dinner. Much to my surprise for the $10.89 entree, there were three huge, juicy pork chops slathered in enough gravy to actually thrill me. The meat was fresh-tasting, well-cooked and there was an incredible amount of it. The mountain of stuffing the roasted pork was upon was some of the best I've had outside a family meal where secret recipes were involved. The stuffing had nothing strange in it; bread, seasoning, celery and it was delicious. There was no way for me to finish the roast pork entree in one sitting, so I took the leftovers home and it reheated exceptionally well!

With the roasted pork dinner, I had broccoli as a vegetable side and it was impressive how perfectly cooked the broccoli was. It was cooked, but not wilted, and had retained a bright green coloring to it. It had just the right amount of crunch left in it and it was delicious.

I had a strawberry milkshake with dinner and it was instantly obvious that the shake utilized real milk and ice cream. It was quite good and perfectly blended.

For breakfast the next morning - because the Queen City Diner was so good and the hotel breakfast was so terrible - I had the meat lover's omelette with cheddar cheese. The omelet was served hot and in addition to the traditional bacon, ham and sausage, mine had chicken or turkey chunks that blended nicely with the other meats. The egg batter was neutral (I tend to make mine spiced, but I understand most people don't), but good.

My only issue with breakfast was that the coffee was pretty weak (my wife reminds me that for a restaurant, more neutral coffee is usually served than I brew at home, but still . . . it was pretty weak coffee). The Queen City Diner featured six juice options, though none of them were grapefruit juice, so I stuck with weak coffee.

Overall

Ultimately, the Queen City Diner was a hit with me well worth returning to multiple times. For a meal that I could not finish because of the quantity of the portions, for $20 including drink and tip, it was well worth going back to!

For other restaurants, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Biggby Coffee
Red Lobster
Hard Rock Cafe Times Square, New York City

8/10

For other restaurant reviews, be sure to visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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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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What To Expect At A Heather Nova Concert (April 11, 2016 - Ann Arbor, MI)

| | | The Good: Amazing lyrics, Great voice, Inexpensive, Improvs/stories, Raw onstage charisma
The Bad: Technical difficulties, Usual live issues
The Basics: After eighteen years, I manage to see Heather Nova in concert again; this time with some very awesome moments and memories.


There is a critical mass for musical artists who have long careers and that is the concept that live performances are always going to let some of their fans down. The truth is, the more prolific a musical artist is, the more their fans fall in love with specific works and it becomes difficult for the artist to find a well-rounded setlist that will please their die-hard fans. This is certainly the case with Heather Nova, an artist that most music aficionados have written off because her popular peak hit in the late 1990s. Despite radio airplay with the single "Walk This World" and garnering a following of people who fell in love with "Heart And Shoulder" because it appeared on Dawson's Creek, Heather Nova is often written off as a "one-hit wonder" because her commercial success in the United States has never rivaled her creative successes as a musical artist. Now, with nine studio albums, an EP of unique songs, and three live albums (one of which has songs not found elsewhere!), Heather Nova is incredibly hard to write off and she is (finally!) touring in the United States again!

I saw Heather Nova perform on April 11, 2016 at The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan and it was a big deal for me. My wife purchased the ticket for me and sent me on my way while she remained home with our unruly animals, as an anniversary gift (the day before was our seven year wedding anniversary!). I saw Heather Nova perform once before. Back in 1998, at the Lilith Fair in Canandaigua, New York, I was super-excited to see Heather Nova. Despite being a recent college graduate, I had never once been to a musical concert (save concerts I was dragged to as a young child by my father), and while some people were at the concert for the main stage artists, like Bonnie Raitt, Sarah McLachlan, and Natalie Merchant, I was there because Heather Nova was performing. It was a big deal for me at the time because, after her set, Nova went to the Tower Records tent and was signing autographs. Despite suffering from a massive stutter at the time, butterflies in my stomach and a huge case of hero worship, I met Heather Nova, told her the influence "London Rain (Nothing Heals Me Like You Do)" had on me (as best I could with my stutter) and got her autograph. It was the start of a pretty memorable weekend for me. So, I've been waiting for years to see her in concert again. It was a pretty awesome gift for my wife to give me for our anniversary and, despite me being a true fan who might seem like someone who would be hard to make happy, it was a truly magical evening.

Heather Nova's current tour seems to be a great reminder to her fans about the awkward balance an artist of her magnitude has. Nova is touring in the United States to promote her latest album, the PledgeMusic funded The Way It Feels (reviewed here!) and her setlist juggled new material and works from her two most commercially-successful albums (in the U.S.), Oyster and Siren. Redbird and The Jasmine Flower are completely neglected (so is Glowstars, but given that was pre-Oyster, that is less surprising), but that is the crux of the problem for an artist as prolific as Nova; the fans who will show up for a live performance are likely already to know about and own the newest album and have obscure favorites from some of the albums that never achieved commercial success or airplay. Despite the lack of Redbird and The Jasmine Flower songs and songs from South being under-represented, Nova managed to find an amazing balance between her newest works and the "old favorites" of fans.

The Heather Nova concert was my first time in Ann Arbor, so I arrived early and staked out the venue, as well as tried to guess where Nova might go pre-show to try to run into her and get my cover art signed (I was wrong!). Ann Arbor is a cute city bustling downtown with food co-ops and tea rooms and a lot of wonderful places to eat. The Ark, where Nova was performing, had a line in front of it over an hour before the show, with most of those there at that point waiting to get into the VIP reception before the show (tickets were sold out before I could get any). So, I waited in the freezing cold with other Heather Nova fans - some of whom were from Indiana - and we talked about our experiences with her music, our crappy Governors (Indiana's codified discrimination, Michigan's systematically poisoned poor citizens to save money in the budget on clean drinking water), and the venue. I met a woman in line who had been to the Ark many, many times and advised me on where to sit.

When the doors were opened for the eight o'clock show - at 7:36 (! grr, it was that cold, so we were checking our watches and phones that much!) - we were escorted to the upstairs auditorium. I sat between the wife and the girlfriend of two men who had gotten in on the V.I.P. experience and I found myself literally eight feet away from where Heather Nova would later be singing, with a completely unobstructed view. I thanked the wife for advising on the seats and she asked where my wife was. My answer got me onto a conversation with the girlfriend about Siberian Huskys (we both have them; she had a sitter for hers, mine necessitated my wife staying home with ours!). The Ark had seating for four hundred people and if there were one hundred people there for Heather Nova, I would be surprised. The result was a very intimate concert experience.

Shortly after eight o'clock, the concert began with Chris Riffle opening for Heather Nova. Riffle is a singer-songwriter from New York City and I'm unsure how Nova or her tour manager decided on him for her opening act. Riffle has a lot energy, but he did not seem overly comfortable on-stage (or, perhaps, he just has not developed a "performing persona" to get him away from the rawness of the experiences he is singing about). Riffle's opening led him to reveal that with the lighting, he could not see any of us, so I instantly felt better about the potential of not making an ass of myself drooling over Heather Nova, or grinning like an idiot over her entire set. Because I never had any prior experiences with Christ Riffle's works before that night, I found myself listening to him and his performance in a very analytical way (my wife forbade me to take notes on the Heather Nova concert, insisting I go and enjoy it!). As Riffle completed his set, a strange melancholy filled me; I listened to his works with an intellectual detachment and I became terrified for the time between his last song and Nova appearing on stage that I could no longer simply *enjoy* anything.

My anhedonia passed the moment Heather Nova began singing. Bathed in light from stage lights with pink and blue gels, Heather Nova stepped up to a jasmine flower covered microphone after her accompanist, Arnulf Lindner (there is very much something for the ladies at a Heather Nova at her current concerts!) preceded her to the stage. She was wearing a simple black tank top and pants accented by sequins (or something else sparkly) and jewelry that was instantly evocative of her birds from her artwork from her earliest EPs.

It takes a pretty remarkable artist to instantly enchant an audience with a new song. I recall, very vividly, listening to The Way It Feels the very first time. When Nova got to the first refrain of "Treehouse" - "Treehouse in the trees" - I literally winced (where else would a treehouse be?!). But live, the passion of Nova infuses from the opening lines "Afternoon, heavy scented . . ." to her belting out "When you love / Then you can't / Keep your heart from breaking / Holding on / Holding on / But I can't keep the tree from shaking" ("Treehouse") it was virtually impossible not to get chills all up and down one's arms. Accompanied on guitar and cello by Heather Nova instantly establishes a presence that is magnetic. I was sitting close enough to the stage to see the set list on the floor of the stage, so I was somewhat giddy over the idea that I would hear Nova performing the song I requested online, but after the opening act, I honestly thought that perhaps I had built the experience up too much for it to live up to expectations.

I had not over-estimated the impact of seeing Heather Nova perform live. Live, the passion and unedited vocal talent of Heather Nova is so profound that she manages to captivate bored spouses of Heather Nova fans and remind her fans just why they fell in love with Nova and her works. Seriously, one of the men who had been a part of the V.I.P. experience got up twice during the show and was checking his phone every three songs; his girlfriend did not move from her seat and her eyes were glued on Nova and Lindner. And the mixed metaphors of "The Archeologist" and the unclear metaphor in "Girl On The Mountain" become irrelevant when Nova is giving them her all with passion in her voice and a stage performance that is electric - even though most of the evening found her simply standing behind her microphone.

The blend of new works and classic Heather Nova for the first half of the concert turned out to be an absolutely brilliant arrangement. Nova's voice and presence gives a credibility to the works that lack the inherent greatness (it all starts with lyrics!) of some of her prior works; those faults disappear with her raw on-stage charisma.

While Chris Riffle might have been an unclear opening act for Heather Nova, Arnulf Lindner is a clear, amazing accompanist for Nova. Lindner has an impressive vocal range. Nova has incredible vocal range, but when she hits her high soprano notes, Lindner offers contrast in the lower registers or harmonizes - shockingly good - as an alto. The most impressive musical moment between Nova and Lindner at the Ann Arbor concert came on "Winterblue." "Winterblue" was the song that both Nova and Lindner offered the most improvisation for. Nova added a few additional riffs and Lindner was given the chance to do a piano solo. The improvisation was musically interesting and it grabbed the ear in a very complimentary way. But the magic was that when Nova leapt back in with her vocals it came at the organic end to Lindner's improv and the seamless transition occurred without even a look between them. Perhaps before the show, Nova said, "I will give you twenty-two seconds of improve in 'Winterblue,' not a second more! Go wild!" and he managed to perfectly conform. Regardless of whatever prior communications there were between the two beforehand, watching them both from the closest possible position, it looked like they had an expert back and forth where their artistic expression and performances blended with apparent effortlessness. Lindner's vocal accompaniment on "Paper Cup" is haunting to hear harmonizing with Nova's siren-like soprano (sue me, she named Siren well!).

As for Heather Nova, the second-most interesting moment of the night for me came as Nova and Lindner performed "The Archaeologist." Nova was playing a ukulele and it either was not connected or it was not loud enough for her to hear over Lindner's piano. While I, like Lindner, could have sworn I heard it for a few strums at least, Nova could not. Those watching Nova could tell that she was not hearing it and there was a flash of frustration on her face. In that moment, I became utterly fascinated; I once was at a Sophie B. Hawkins concert at a venue where she (literally) blew the fuses each time she strummed her electric guitar and she stopped the show, we waited ten minutes in the heat for the techs to rewire and retry and she'd try again. It happened at least three times and Hawkins refused to keep playing until the problem was fixed, despite the fact that everyone who was there appeared very able to hear her and an acoustic rendition could have been interesting. Nova's reaction was entirely different. There was a moment of frustration on her face, but then it was very quickly replaced with one of resolve. Nova took her hands off her uke and started singing more forthrightly, more passionately. Her eyes took on a quality that seemed to scream, "dare me not to enchant you with my voice!" For those who ever wonder "what ever happened to Heather Nova," the answer is "she's still here and she's a professional of the highest order who will spellbind you if you were only paying attention!" That moment where Nova revealed her professionalism and class was strangely electrifying and seeing someone become the embodiment of resolve is incredible when it yields such impressive results.

I wrote that that moment where Nova threw her hands up and put her voice and eyes into "The Archaeologist" was the second most interesting moment of the pretty incredible night. The most amazing moment was one that gave me an uncommon feeling of connection with the musical artist. That was the penultimate song of the regular set.

Being able to see her set list, from the moment her assistant placed it on the floor within my sightline, I knew "Truth And Bone" was coming and I knew when it would be performed. In fact, when the boyfriend sitting just ahead of me (the layout of The Ark allowed for tables to be right up against the stage; he was at the table, I was between the two tables, just behind the table, so he was slightly ahead and askew of me), began singing along with one of Nova's songs, fist-pumping and stomping on the stage (how Nova and Lindner were not disrupted by him - or maybe he was stomping on beat during "London Rain" - is a mystery to me), I came very close to warning him that if he pulled that shit during "Truth And Bone," we'd have a problem! (Fortunately, I did not have to resort of barbarian threats; he fell into a stupor on "Fool For You.") The high point of the night was "Truth And Bone."

Having now had the opportunity to see set lists from other performances Nova has done on her (too-brief) U.S. tour, I was surprised to see how constant her performance line-up is. In fact, all that differed between the Ann Arbor show and at least five of her other stops was that "Heart And Shoulder" was swapped out for "Truth And Bone" in Ann Arbor. This makes me especially happy for how this came to be. I love "Heart And Shoulder" as much as the next Heather Nova (or Dawson's Creek) fan, but on the (many) live recordings Nova has released publicly and to her fans, "Heart And Shoulder" has become a staple, much like "Maybe An Angel" used to be. "Heart And Shoulder" is not a song her fans have not already heard with every (conceivable) permutation (I'm still open to being surprised, though and I was surprised in Ann Arbor by how close Nova came to making "London Rain" into a country song!). But, for Ann Arbor, "Heart And Shoulder" was replaced with "Truth And Bone" and that is because of me and Heather Nova's awesome responsiveness.

When Nova's U.S. tour was first announced, I was psyched to see that - of all the places she would be, and there were too few! - she would be performing about three hours away from where I live. I knew Ann Arbor was the most likely place I would see Nova (though, I have family in Rochester, New York, and if the money had come in in time, I might have shelled out the money to travel to Albany, NY to see her and have the V.I.P. experience) and when she announced that she would be recording the shows and making them available to her fans, I sent her a message on Facebook. I asked Nova if she might offer something akin to a "Season Pass" (like with video games) where fans could get recordings from her entire tour for a discounted price. And I said that I would entirely liquefy to see her perform "Truth And Bone" in Ann Arbor. So, as the night wound down, from being cold to eager to disappointed to enchanted, I was anticipating Nova's penultimate song.

Then she introduced it. I have never been so glad for a gift from my wife than I was in the moment when, after saying she was performing the next song for someone who had asked for it on Facebook, Nova asked, "Do you know who you are?" Nova could not remember my name (no big deal, no reason she should!) and she could not quite remember what I said I would do if she performed the song (she thought "eat my hat" or "melt") (and hey, neither could I! In the shock of the moment as she introduced the song, referencing my request, I conceded and shouted back "Yes!" [I knew who I was] and [in response to "What was it you said you would do?"] "Melt completely!" [not quite "liquefy!"]), but she told me that my message had reached her and she was playing the song because I had asked for it (in a timely fashion!). It takes a pretty amazing artist to care about a fan request like that and then deliver. It sounds simple, but after a dozen shows with remarkably similar setlists, I can understand how shaking things up might really mess an artist (and her accompanist) up.

But then there was the execution. People who pay for Heather Nova's live recording from the Ann Arbor show will be missing something incredible. When Heather Nova sang "Truth And Bone," she sang it with passion and presence that was heartwrenching and beautiful. I was tearing up almost instantly, but I could clearly see Nova's eyes as she sang; expressive and full of passion and vulnerability and that only made me cry more. Heather Nova must have performed "Truth And Bone" a thousand times (at least!) before that night and yet, when she sang it in Ann Arbor, you would have thought that she had just written the song, she sang it with such emotion and on-stage presence. My request aside, the execution of "Truth And Bone" live by Heather Nova is the perfect reminder of why live performances are so important and so different as artistic works from studio recordings.

And when it was done, I could not stand to give her the standing ovation I wanted to. I could barely applaud, choke out and project my voice to say "thank you" (she graciously nodded acknowledgement!) and wipe my tears away. And the cello work Arnulf Lindner did on it cannot go unacknowledged. Lindner did not provide backing vocals on the song, but his cello sang with Nova's voice wonderfully.

Like all live performances, the Ann Arbor show was not without technical issues. Drunk boyfriend (that's what my wife instantly assumed), the ukulele not working right away, a vocal crack trying to hit a note I never in my life could on "Island" (and, hell, for an artist of such incredible range and lung capacity, the bar would be set high with five vocal imperfections, so one is pretty much a testament to Nova's unbridled talent!), these are all things that happen when music is performed live. There was something weird about "Sugar" (one of Nova's darker songs about trauma) capping off the night as the second encore, but - in all - the night was absolutely amazing.

After the show, Nova briefly met with her fans to sign albums and memorabilia. Heather Nova is a class act and gracing her fans with even a short autograph session is very cool of her. The Ark is a smaller venue and there was not much of a crowd, so Nova had an easy time getting through her line. The Ann Arbor concert was an amazing reminder of the essential humanity of the artists we idolize. I felt glad that I was prepared - one of the photos that someone had posted to Nova's Facebook page from a prior concert featured a glowing fan and Nova looking distinctly uncomfortable - and the pictures people were getting with her after the show she did not look overly comfortable in. Nova was a professional and a trooper the whole night, but anyone who could read basic body language could tell she was not excited to come out after the show to sign (hell, she had been on her feet for two hours prior, so I can absolutely understand it!). She did come, though, and she signed stuff for other people, took some photos and signed my piece (and smudged it, but hey, that makes autographs authentic sometimes!). Whether it was a function of being earlier in her career before or later in the night and further along the tour schedule this time, there was a marked difference between my first and second direct interactions with Heather Nova. After observing that the Sharpie I brought to get my cover art signed was the same as the one in her hand, I thanked her profusely for performing "Truth And Bone." She said "You're welcome" and smiled at me, but then it was onto the next person. It's a noticeable difference between how engaged she was at Lilith Fair, but all it really robbed me of was the ability to take her time to tell her about how she has released an album at every major stage of my adult life that seems to mirror exactly where I was on my emotional journey at the time - something she either has heard hundreds of times before, could not possible explore in a real conversation at such a venue or would be of minimal interest to her anyway (our lives are always far more interesting to us than to other people!).

So, at the end of it, it was an absolutely incredible experience. Heather Nova offered insight into how she wrote a couple of the new songs, she had good banter with Arnulf, and she was absolutely captivating as she sang and played her guitar/ukulele/whatever the hell that thing was she was blowing into at the end of "Moon River Days" (I think!). Heather Nova reminds anyone who will listen just how incredible an authentic human voice with range can be when it is expressively performing insightfully-written lyrics and accompanied by someone who clearly is in the same zone as her. Hopefully, it will not be another eighteen years before Nova returns to touring in the United States, but if it is that long, I know exactly where I will be for her next U.S. tour.

And for those who live on the West Coast, there are still a few concerts left she is performing in the days ahead; you have the rare opportunity to have as transcendent an experience!

For other Heather Nova album reviews, please be sure to check out:
These Walls
Glowstars
Oyster
Blow
Live From The Milky Way
Siren
Wonderlust
The Sorrowjoy (Audio Version)
South
Storm
Redbird
The Jasmine Flower
300 Days At Sea
Live In Cologne 2/26/2014
Live In Leuven 12/10/10
Live In Eindhoven 2011

For other reviews of live music, please be sure to visit my Travel And Theater Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 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.

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