La Quinta Inn and Suites Woodlands South

The desk ladies were wonderful, but the problems here point to the owner. I’ve stayed at this hotel in Michigan and it was clean with an amazing breakfast, so this was a real letdown. The hallways smelled horrid, and the carpets need to go. Our first room’s AC was broken, so they moved us and replaced the whole unit; the bigger room the next night was nice, but we still paid full price for the first night without getting that larger room. The room wasn’t vacuumed, and the bed covers had stuff on them from the last guest. The outdoor play areas were dirty, fencing was broken, and the hot tub was broken and green. I saw spiders, plus small bugs that really scared me. Breakfast was awful, with only about five muffins and yogurts set out and no more after they were gone. This is the first bad report I’ve given after many hotel stays.

The staff were kind, helpful, patient, and accommodating, including with my two young grandchildren. The food and pool were good, and they had washers, dryers, and dishwashers. I’d go back.

People were smoking pot outside every time I went out, and the AC smelled moldy enough that I woke up with a sore throat. The whole stay was unpleasant, and now I’m trying to recover from whatever germs were going around. Housekeeping ignored the do-not-disturb sign, came in, and took our towels without replacing them. I called the desk and was told someone would come, then called again and was told she’d bring towels herself, but nobody showed. When I went to the front desk, they gave me dirty ones. On the second day, luckily the top lock was on while I was in the shower. The walls are so thin we heard people fighting at the end of the hall, including poor Joaquin getting cheated on. The evening desk woman was rude and unprofessional, and never greeted us even when we greeted her. A terrible experience.

The staff were helpful and knowledgeable, quick to try to assist, and the manager was there to support new staff she was training. The rooms are outdated, though having a small studio was nice. The pull-out sofa was the most uncomfortable place I’ve ever tried to put my child to sleep. The rooms also had little German roaches. One crawled onto the counter while I was making food for my little one. They sprayed pesticides and said it was odorless, but it irritated my son’s throat and made him cough badly enough that I asked to move. Then I heard all the rooms where FEMA guests were staying had been sprayed, so they wanted to put us in another treated room. Breakfast was poor and sparse, the pool couldn’t be used, the basketballs were flat, and there was no propane or charcoal for the grills. The towels and blanket we got were ripped and old. The washer costs $4 a load and smells bad. Housekeeping entered even though we’d asked them not to. They were in the closet going through my things when they knocked over my tub of oxi clean, spilling powder over everything, including clean clothes and the floor. Our do-not-disturb sign had disappeared, and when we asked for another, the woman said “no English.” Later that day, we heard her speaking fluent English without a Hispanic accent. The printer needs new ink or a head cleaning, or should be replaced.