Stay Alfred on San Jacinto Street

The place could be five-star beautiful, but we paid 450 and had a frustrating stay. The living room TV didn’t work, and the water for the master bath’s split tub and shower wasn’t hooked up. We had to turn on the ice maker ourselves. The key fobs didn’t work when we arrived, so after several calls and trouble getting to our room, we fixed the issue ourselves. The directions didn’t explain that the black fob with green buttons opens the elevator and lobby door, while the grey one is only for the apartment. We kept calling to get new work orders, but nobody offered to make up for the hassle. Our stay in Fort Worth was much more pleasant.

The key pickup and drop-off were confusing, but my family had a great stay at the downtown Houston location at Carolina/Jefferson. We liked having several decent restaurants within walking distance, and the location near the metro made it easy to get around. The train ride to the museum district and scenic parks was four stops. If we had to choose again between a hotel and Stay-Alfred, we’d all pick Stay Alfred!! :~)

The condo was clean, spacious, and comfortable, but a few things could be improved. There were only four bowls and not enough eating utensils, especially small spoons. A light over the island was out, and the master bath could use a towel bar and a couple of hooks since we had to hang towels in the walk-in closet. The fridge filter was marked 99+ days overdue, and that’s where we got our ice. We were in condo #824, a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit, for six days. The biggest frustration was having just one set of keys for four adults who wouldn’t always be going everywhere together. Stay Alfred said that, because it’s a residential building, they could only provide one set. That’s unacceptable. Find a way.

The room was nice, with a balcony view and a full kitchen, but the service was a mess. Check-in and checkout were a long hassle. The key return machine didn’t work, and the employees there didn’t work for Stay Alfred and didn’t seem willing to help. We later learned the keys need a chip to be returned, but whoever made them had apparently left it out. Other customers had the same problem, so this seems to happen repeatedly. We were lucky to get the key to work. Otherwise, we could have lost $190 and been unable to get into our room, with no refund. The TV didn’t work either. They provided a coffee pot and coffee but no filter, and when we asked downstairs, they had none. We also only found out after checkout about a $120 cleaning fee that hadn’t been explained beforehand. It felt like a scam. There are plenty of better places with nice rooms, decent service, and some organization. I don’t recommend this place.