Blue Way Inn & Suites Wichita East

I stayed there for a couple of months. Everything was as expected and professional. The new owners are definitely an upgrade from the previous ones. It’s cleaner, quieter, and more modern, with great staff. All around, a great stay.

So far, we can’t complain. We booked a room with two double beds but got one king instead. My husband asked at the desk, and the nice gentleman there said housekeeping was getting a double room ready and they’d let us know when it was available. The room we had was clean, with no bugs or smells, and the location is awesome. The biggest mall in Wichita is literally across the street, east gate shopping center is within walking distance, and there are all kinds of restaurants within a mile. I think most of the bad reviews were probably posted by homeless addicts who were made to leave, because we haven’t had any of those problems in our two days here. Like any lower priced hotel, there are low lifes hanging around, but the front desk staff don’t allow loitering and quickly make non guests leave, saying they’ll call the cops. This morning a very cracked out woman asked my teenage son if he’d pay her for favors. We didn’t see her again after that one incident because the front desk kicked her off the property. You get what you pay for. To keep prices low, the owners have no choice but to rent to lower class people who break rules, smoke, and bring friends to loiter. The staff do a really good job trying to keep them out. If you want the Marriott, pay for the Marriott instead of booking a $40/night hotel. The owners and front desk staff have my respect. They’re constantly putting themselves in harm’s way to keep guests safe by kicking people off the property.

The room smelled strongly of cigarette smoke, even though it was advertised as smoke-free, and there were cigarette burns in the comforter. The linens were stained, and the pillows were too. I didn’t feel comfortable lying down. There were live wires hanging from the ceiling where light fixtures should have been, and the deadbolts on both the main door and the connecting door were broken. I felt very unsafe. The whole stay was a huge disappointment, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone looking for a pleasant, safe place. Save your money and look elsewhere.

I booked through Expedia while on a road trip, but I would never have come here if I’d seen the reviews first. The rooms were in terrible shape, with torn and stained curtains, broken and dirty window glass, and roaches everywhere. There were also several guys hanging around who seemed to be looking for trouble, and one came close to check us out. I’d told the hotel we’d arrive very late, around 3:30 a.m., and staff confirmed the front desk was open 24 hours. When we got there, nobody was at the desk, so we left. As we drove away, those guys chased us all the way to the next gas station. We were genuinely afraid for our safety, and it’s hard to know what might have happened if we’d stayed.