Heritage Inn La Mesa

I’ve stayed here many times over the years and never had a bad experience. Staff are consistently friendly and helpful, and maintenance responds quickly and is helpful. Housekeeping and the front desk are attentive to customers’ needs. It’s usually very quiet, there’s plenty of parking, rates are good, and rooms are generally available. The location is handy for Highway 8, El cajon boulevard, University, and main Streets in La Mesa. The $50 refundable deposit is also nice when you’re on a budget. Still, this is an older hotel, and parts of it are outdated or in rough shape. Some rooms look worn, with old appliances, carpet, tile, and furniture. The floors need cleaning or replacing, and the carpet can smell bad, though I was in a smoking room. There’s only a small fridge, no coffee maker or complimentary soap, shampoo, or conditioner. There’s no exercise facility, lounge, business room or center, breakfast, or food court. The laundry area is very small, with just a couple of vending machines. I’m disappointed by the lack of pest control.

We found cockroaches in both the room and bathroom, plus small bugs on the shower walls. The smoking room smelled awful, and people played music loudly all night. The door had a big gap along the bottom that let in bugs and noise, and its lock kept giving us trouble. Our card keys stopped working, so we had to get new ones every time we wanted to enter. We weren’t told at check-in that we apparently had to call the front desk to request housekeeping, or that we’d be kicked out if we went more than two days without having the room cleaned. That policy seems insane. When we asked for extra towels, we were told only housekeeping had them, but they’d already gone home for the day. The towels were also very small and there weren’t enough for the number of people in our room.

My interaction with Rita at the front desk left me so uncomfortable that I walked away and let my husband handle things. He was also shocked by her behavior and said he felt offended that someone so bitter could work with customers. The whole experience made it hard to imagine returning. It started with a question about the deposit. Instead of answering professionally, Rita yelled at me, which made a simple inquiry feel like a confrontation. She was also wearing oversized headphones, which added to the unprofessional impression. Even the security guard noticed how loud she was and commented on it. It was disappointing to run into such poor communication and social skills in a hotel.

The room had cockroaches, and the freeway noise was constant because the motel is right by I-8. There were lots of shady people around, too. On my second night, the front desk called saying some random guy claimed I had his stuff in my room. Then the manager let him come up to my room at 10:30 pm. Such a ghetto place.