The Good: No children in the pool, Internet in lobby
The Bad: Unremarkable breakfast, Somewhat unhelpful staff
The Basics: A generally clean, inexpensive hotel away from the gambling center of Las Vegas, the Comfort Inn North was an average-at-best hotel.
For this year's August Trip To Las Vegas (it's an annual thing as there is a big Star Trek convention out there each summer) my new partner and I decided to be adventurous for a few of our accommodations. Despite having a regular hotel in my preferred chain just down the street from where the convention is held each year, my partner and I decided to take up some of the hotel and casino's free offers we had gotten throughout the year (hence my revisions of the Palace Station review!) and when we were done living on the cheap thanks to some of Las Vegas's casinos, we opted to try a different Comfort Inn. So, during the convention, we drove out of the main city to the north side of Las Vegas to the aptly-named Comfort Inn North.
My wife and I have stayed at a lot of hotels together now and I found myself underwhelmed by the Comfort Inn North. It is an adequate hotel for those doing things in Las Vegas and able to get around on their own, but it is not a place I was thrilled with, nor one I intend to stay at again.
Location
This is the Comfort Inn North (NV409 in the Choice Hotels numbering system) located at 910 E. Cheyenne Avenue, North Las Vegas, Nevada. This is a generally poor location for those looking to be close to the action in Las Vegas, but it is good for those looking to be away from the flash of the city proper. There are no landmarks of note near the Comfort Inn North and getting to the hotel was easy as it is right off the major north-south route running through Las Vegas, Interstate 15. From interstate 15, one need only take exit 46 and the hotel is visible from the exit.
This hotel appears to be an old motor lodge that has been converted into a Comfort Inn. It has two floors and the public areas were fairly well lit. The pool is under construction and during our visit only adults were able to use it.
When we arrived, we discovered that our reservation had been canceled because the credit card used to hold it was charged in full first thing on the morning we intended to stay and there had not been enough on the card for the three days we were spending there. After dealing with that annoyance and having our reservation reinstated by a buy who didn't seem to care whether or not we stayed there or not - he was more preoccupied with watching Four Brothers on the lobby's giant television. He checked us in, mumbling, and we went to our room.
Room Size
Our nonsmoking room with a single king size bed was running us $60 + tax per night in the summer and given how far it was outside of Las Vegas proper, I think I figured it would be a pretty big, nice room. As it is, it was remarkably average from the slightly peeling wallpaper to the neutral artwork on the walls. The room was 28 feet deep by thirteen feet wide and the main room was dominated by the king bed. There was also a desk with a surprisingly comfortable, high-backed chair. The king bed was flanked by two nightstands.
The Comfort Inn North seems to be in on a fairly new trend of not having lights connected to light switches, so we had to enter the room in the dark before reaching lamps we could turn on. Because there was nothing to trip over on the way in, this was not a huge concern. Upon entering the room, the bathroom was to the left and on the opposite side of the wall that divided the bathroom from the bedroom was a sink, microwave and refrigerator/freezer. On the far wall was the air conditioner and the window on that wall looked out into a parking lot.
The bathroom was small, but generally clean. There was a shower/tub and the room was well-lit. It came armed with the usual shampoo and soap as well as hand lotion. This location did not provide conditioner. The hotel easily passed the first flush test I conduct whenever I enter a hotel. For some reason, my partner did not do her usual jump onto the bed.
Cleanliness
Las Vegas, being in the middle of the desert, is a bright place. I would have expected it to be dustier, but maybe the oppressive heat just burns up any sand that gets into the air in August. Anyway, the place is bright, so there would be no hiding dirt in this hotel. The room was clean, but the whole hotel was noisy. The walls were remarkably thin and the parking lot out back was frequented by tractor trailers.
The public areas, like the breakfast room and the main lobby were less clean than the room was. My partner and I avoided spending time outside the room because some of the walls in the hallway were less clean that we'd like and the tables in the breakfast room never seemed to get cleaned while we were there.
The pool was clean and we went for a swim one night after our convention. The water was quite warm in both the pool and hot tub. There were no controls we could use to make the hot tub's water agitate, though.
All of the linens and bedding were clean and each day they were replaced with equally clean linens and bedding.
Amenities
The Comfort Inn Las Vegas does manage to feel like a value with the refrigerator, microwave and sink area in the room. The rooms are comfortable and coming back to a room that cools off quickly with the industrial air conditioner was nice, but pretty much a necessity in Leas Vegas.
The Comfort Inn North had a depressing breakfast. While it did have the usual make-your-own-waffle station, the rest of the breakfast was almost inedible. There were sausages set out cold and hard-boiled eggs (one of which made my wife ill). There were bagels and cream cheese and three types of Danish, but they ran out two mornings in a row within an hour of opening the breakfast room and were slow to restock it. In fact, if my partner and I had not made a ruckus, I doubt they would have even bothered to restock it. There was also a choice of five flavors of Quaker oatmeal, two cold cereal options and some of the worst coffee I've ever had.
In the evening, the coffee was out in the lobby with cookies. The cookies were good.
The room has a television with only twenty-five channels on it.
Overall
The more I think about the Comfort Inn North in Las Vegas, the less I enjoy contemplating it. It was not superlative in a single way and as a result, becomes very easy to not recommend. However, outside an unhelpful staff and a mediocre-at-best free breakfast, the Comfort Inn North does not have any serious detractions.
For other hotels in the Choice Hotels chain, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Comfort Inn Fairgrounds - Syracuse, NY
Comfort Inn Elryia - Elyria, OH
Comfort Inn Carrier Circle - Syracuse, NY
4.5/10
For other travel reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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