Not Impressed
We checked in at this hotel a few hours past the check-in time on Wednesday May 23, 2012.The front lobby was clean and impressive looking. We got a room (on-line reservation) on the 4th floor and were told it would be easier to access our room by entering the back door. We drove around back and parked. The back door is locked and opened via the Room Key. When we entered the hallway I was shocked. The temperature was at least 85 degrees. No air conditioning or they had it turned off. The lighting was poor and it just looked dingy. The carpet was dirty and I told my wife i could not believe this was a La Quinta. There was a large roach walking across the wall (in their defense, roaches are everywhere in Texas and they are hard to get rid of) and that did not help at all. We got in the elevator and there was a very unusal odor and it was also hot. Arriving at the 4th floor when the door opened we again were hit by the heat. Walking toward our room I was thinking about actually going down and demanding a refund. We entered the room and it was a lot better than our first impression of the place. It was actually clean and cool. The A/C was on and working good. Things were looking up. The carpet was clean and the room looked pretty nice. There was no safe in the room. There was free Wi-Fi and I had no trouble hooking up to it. When we headed out to eat dinner about 7PM another person got on the elevator on the 3rd floor. I asked him about the temperature and he said it was also hot on his floor in the hallway. Maybe they were trying to save on the electric, I'm not sure as I did not ask about it at the front desk. Parking was easy when we arrived at the hotel but filled up when we returned from dinner. If you can get past the first impession of the place, the actual room was not too bad. The Hotel is located in a good area, about 1 mile or so from the Galleria and many resturants on Westheimer Dr. This was the cheapest Hotel we could find located this close the the Galleria which is why we got a reservation here, plus we like this area of Houston and can drive around without getting lost. It is also an easy area to access from the 610 Loop. They have a free breakfast in the morning next to the Lobby Check-In Desk. Overall, I would have to think about staying here again. While the value is good for this area and the room wasn't too bad, the first impression we got was not very very good and getting to the room is not a pleasant experience