Hampton Inn & Suites Buellton/Santa Ynez Valley

It was very affordable during the holiday season, and downtown Solvang is only a 7-minute drive away. The continental breakfast was one of the better ones, with a nice range of things to choose from.

The backyard layout gave the place a charming feel, and the free breakfast was fine, nothing special but enough to get by. I appreciated the clean sheets, good pillows, free parking, and very comfortable bed. The major downside was hearing people next door. A couple were speaking normally, but I could hear them clearly for at least half an hour and woke up at 4 a.m. They weren’t being loud; the walls just let through too much sound. It was mostly a pleasant stay, though better sound insulation would make a real difference.

The rooms were acceptable and the staff acted professionally, but the smell of cleaning chemicals was so strong when we entered that it made breathing uncomfortable. Even after we’d been away for four hours, the odor was still there. The same thing happened in all four rooms we booked, so we had to stay in the car for four hours. The couches in both the lobby and breakfast area also show a lot of wear.

I found a dirty towel and a piece of chocolate under the bed when I pulled it a couple of inches from the wall to look for something I’d lost. I found that too, but housekeeping needs to do a better job. The room itself was nice, though the night was a mess: a noisy fridge, people upstairs moving around enough to make the room shake, and lights flashing on the wall. Then the AC switched on at 4 a.m. for some reason. I couldn’t turn it off with the controls, but after I took the key card out of its slot, it stopped a couple of minutes later.