La Quinta Inn by Wyndham San Antonio Lackland

We got in late, slept, then got up for breakfast. The lobby looks recently remodeled, but I’d read reviews saying there had been bed bugs here a few years ago, and that history affected my impression. When I asked about it, the explanation was hard to follow through broken English. I inspected the room and saw anti-bedbug mattress covers, which made me more confident the room was free of bed bugs. There seemed to be a leak around the shower in 238, coming through into 239. We discovered it when we stepped in a puddle after getting into the room later that evening. The desk has a TV on it, so you’d have to move the TV to use the desk.

The remodeled part of the hotel was where we stayed, and we didn’t see a single bug, despite the reviews making me nervous. The location is great for graduation, and there’s a clean, fully working pool. The rooms weren’t bad, the fridge, TV, and microwave all worked, and the AC was fine. The tub was dirty and clogged with hair, so bring some Corona wipes. Water only got lukewarm, not hot, so it won’t suit you if you like hell-fire showers. Service gets a three from me because I’m not sure how to score it. They did bring fresh towels and soap. There’s a homeless camp right by the hotel, but nobody bothered us.

We arrived at 4:30 a.m. after driving all night with our one-year-old, but couldn’t get into the room until after 5. The key card gave us trouble right away, and the door wouldn’t close and lock properly. I even got stuck inside before leaving. The room was tiny, the floors visibly filthy, and dead bugs were scattered around it, including many large roaches. It smelled like urine. The bed felt dirty and didn’t look clean either. There was hair on it under the sheets, and the mattress itself was disgusting. We slept on blankets we’d brought from home. The shower looked old and filthy, the towels felt dirty, and I refused to shower there. Exhausted as we were, we didn’t ask for another room despite all those red flags, and I was already looking at other hotels on my phone before we fell asleep. We spent only five or six hours in the room, then cancelled the rest of our stay and moved hotels. They refunded one night and offered just $6 for the night we actually stayed. I asked for half back given the room’s condition, but they haven’t been helpful. Please look elsewhere and don’t waste your money.

The best thing was that our car was safe. Otherwise, the security felt poor, with bad doors. The rooms were moldy, the bedding was dirty, stained, and buggy, and the sidewalks were oily and sticky. Trash was piled outside, there was no working phone, and nobody was actively at the desk. The hair dryer was missing. Thank God it was too cold to swim, and I’m Ethnic and didn’t need one during this stay. There was a microwave and fridge, but what good are they if you don’t want to keep food in the room or feel comfortable eating it? I also found just one bar of soap for the two rooms we booked, though luckily we brought our own. Breakfast was cereal with no milk, bread and butter, sometimes bagels, and waffle mix for the make-your-own waffles. They stopped putting out mix at 8 a.m. When I asked for more at 8:40, the woman took the machine away and stayed in back until 9:10. Waffles were the only perk, and they couldn’t even manage that. My husband said they did the same thing the day before when he went at 8:30 while I was on the AF BASE. The signs said “ice and vending,” but there was only trash. We booked two rooms for four nights, but an Air BNB would’ve cost the same and given us more room, cleanliness, and comfort. We drove from MO and checked in late at 6 a.m., then had to be at the AF base by 7:30. By the time we got back, we were two days into the stay, tired, with just one day left before the 4 a.m. start for AF graduation. We felt stuck. Leaving today, happily!