My Place Hotel-Salt Lake City/West Jordan, UT

We booked a room for the speedskating worldcup and walked into a strong smoke smell. My wife and I have never smoked, and we take very good care of ourselves. Rooms in the area were scarce because of the event, so we didn't complain. We put up with the smell, went home, washed our clothes, and moved on. Then we were shocked to see an extra $150 charge for "smoking in our room." When we contacted the hotel, we spoke politely with the manager Audrey. She said the room hadn't smelled before check-in and that the cleaning staff said the same after we used it. Those are obvious lies. The room reeked of smoke when we arrived. She accused us of smoking and wouldn't listen. It feels like an after-the-fact story to take $150 from us, almost like a scam. The place is a dump with dishonest management. If they don't remove the fraudulent charge, I'll take this higher up.

The rooms were cute, spacious, and very clean, with a kitchenette. We didn't realize we had to ask for housekeeping to get the room tidied up. I don't know if it costs extra, and nobody at the front desk asked if we wanted the service.

My husband works away for part of the year, so we're pretty nomadic then. As a stay-at-home writer, I spend a lot of the day at the hotel. We stayed about a month, maybe a little longer, and I felt safe, welcomed, valued, and cared for. Whenever I needed something, the staff were attentive and helpful. We liked it enough that we chose another MyPlace in Reno, NV for his next job, and that was an amazing stay too. The people here were wonderful, and the hotel was great.

The room was clean and the bed was comfortable, but there were some annoyances. The bathroom echoes a lot, and one switch controls both the light and fan. There's only one light switch by the front door for the whole room, which is frustrating when you want to control different areas separately. Whenever I passed the front desk, there was no staff member available. They also didn't offer free breakfast.