Sonesta Simply Suites Albuquerque Midtown

Kevin at the front desk was extremely rude. I booked a week because my father is dying in the final stages of cancer, and I wanted to help finalize things. My wallet had recently been stolen, so I had a temporary driver's license from the New Mexico MVD. It is official government-issued ID valid for all identification purposes, and it says it works with or without the old ID. When I tried to explain that my old ID had been stolen and find a way to secure the room, Kevin kept rolling his eyes, smirking, giggling, and laughing. He flatly refused to contact management for approval and repeatedly insisted he didn’t have to accept official government documentation that clearly identifies itself as valid ID. If he’d checked with management to make sure he could accept it, that would be one thing. Instead, he acted as though he alone could decide what counts as official documentation and laughed at a paying guest. That’s absurd. I would absolutely not recommend this hotel. Even if you don’t need to use a temporary driver's license, Kevin seems to think he outranks New Mexico’s official document authorities. I can guarantee that if you have any issue, he’ll act like some kind of State authority and give you a hard time because of the small amount of power he has behind the hotel desk. If I owned this hotel and learned a desk associate treated a guest the way Kevin treated me, I’d fire him on the spot without question. Edit: to the manager, Refusing official government ID from New Mexico’s motor vehicle department, which plainly says it is valid for all identification purposes with or without the old ID, is absolutely NOT within your rights. The department issues temporary driver's licenses as official documentation without anything else. It is the identification-issuing authority for New Mexico. You do not override its decisions or have the right to refuse service to guests who have already paid and hold a valid temporary driver's license from the state’s issuing authority. It’s absurd to insist you’re above the state government and can decide what’s acceptable after the state has already deemed this a valid form of identification. Passports are made from paper. Many states and countries issue paper IDs. The motor vehicle department prints its temporary driver's licenses on paper. Refusing an official document because it’s paper is beyond ridiculous. YOU ABSOLUTELY DO NOT DECIDE WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE FORM OF GOVERNMENT ISSUED IDENTIFICATION OFFICIALLYISSUED FOR THE EXACT PURPOSE OF IDENTIFICATION.

The parking lot seemed a bit sketchy, and the room was decent for the price. While checking it, I found that everything looked clean except the bottom sheet. The dirty part was at the foot of the bed, so I might not have noticed otherwise. It had hair on it and looked nasty. I put another sheet over it so I’d feel a little more comfortable sleeping.

I wouldn’t stay here again, and I’d warn anyone who expects respectful treatment. The daytime desk agent around 1:00 PM was curt and unwelcoming, and we were only given one key, which later caused a problem. I work late and got back around 3:00 AM. After eating, I waited in my car so I wouldn’t wake my partner, who was uneasy about the hotel and had finally fallen asleep. I accidentally dozed off. Security woke me, and that interaction was calm and respectful. The graveyard agent at the desk was hostile and dismissive when I asked for a room key. She demanded my ID, spoke in a threatening tone, and said I’d have to leave the property by 11:00 AM. When I asked what she meant or whether I could stay another night, she immediately escalated, kept bringing up security, and wouldn’t listen. I was treated like I’d done something malicious when I’d made a reasonable choice to avoid waking my partner. There was no effort to de-escalate, show empathy, or provide customer service, just intimidation. Hospitality should mean communicating professionally.

A friend came to visit and they checked her ID. It made us uncomfortable, and they threatened to have me removed from the property after I said I’d leave a bad review. Rose was extremely out of pocket and testy, and not professional at all. I booked through priceline, whose website didn’t mention a guest restriction or a $5-a-day parking charge. That wasn’t even my main issue, though. It was the way Rose handled the situation. Such an odd experience. I absolutely don’t recommend this place. It was most definitely the worst hotel experience of my entire life.