Description: This is a nice hotel with a view of the airport runways that my 6 year old and 2 year old could not get enough of. The nighttime noise (from the jets) was noticeable but not terrible and the place was in GREAT repair and very clean.

Add to that, the rate we got was less than half of what was posted on the inside of the door to our room as the standard rate - which felt good.

Part of the price that made this our hotel of choice was:

#1. Frequent stay points

#2. Free parking

#3. A coupon for $25. food credit

#4. Free internet usage

This was a deal we got through Hotels.com - which I can only somewhat recommend.

The problems with these things were:

A. Now the hotel's points program claims that reservations made through Hotels.com do NOT qualify as 'stays'. ?!? Imagine booking a flight and finding out as you land that you would get no milage for your travel. This is NOT acceptable.

B. No mention of the parking charge was "an oversight". Parking is $12/day. After a bit of a skirmish, they relented (for this disabled veteran) and removed the parking charges. Still, in a listing that clearly labels other charges - even a $20 fee if you bring your pet... 'forgetting' to mention parking charges is, say it with me, NOT acceptable!

C. The coupon said to surrender it at the front desk at check in. The front desk said to give it to the restaurant when ordering. The restaurant had never heard of it before - and, it seemed, had no idea what a coupon was - and, only after having the manager of the restaurant have a chat with the front desk manager did they decide they'd honor the coupon. After clearing our usage... the perplexed waiter made a point of asking everyone who entered afterwards - and the folks near us - who had mostly finished their breakfasts - if they too had any coupons to redeem. One family did and I was glad to have smoothed the road a bit for them... but it was still far from automatic.

D. Free internet usage was limited to ONE terminal just off the lobby. An older PC in a spot formerly set aside for a house phone. One could stand and check e-mail, it is assumed, while others waited in line to do likewise. Kind of on the cheapskate side - what with every coffee house and laundromat now offering free WiFi but acceptable. In the three days I tried to use this amenity, however, it was "out of service". When I asked about the internet service, I was told that the in room, wired, service was available for a mere 12.95 a day and that wireless service was available in the lobby - but it was "a little more expensive that way". Both services were provided by an outside vendor and could neither be billed to the room nor made complimentary to make up for the non-existent "free internet access" promised us. I again asked how I could, for less than five minutes, check my email and was told that the "business center" was now closed but a manager would be called right down to open it up for me. This bit of customer service I appreciated but it was only after the night manager had unlocked the small room full of working, more modern computers that I was told the same charges would apply and could not be billed to the room or made complimentary. After another small discussion, mentioning the review I'd be placing here, a 15 minute complimentary session code was acquired from someone on the end of a radio discussion and a phone call.

It really shouldn't be this hard. If the computer access you promised is out-of-order... simply put one of your working computers in that place after your business center closes each afternoon. A complimentary 15 minutes / daily (either in room or in the business center) would be considered a bonus and would be enough for lots of folks to just do the rudimentary check in we all need to do from time to time. Of course, if something captivated the 15 minute user... you'd have an additional chance to capture some revenue for the 16th-plus minutes and no one could complain... right?

Let's get these little things fixed so that this lovely hotel, fine staff and delicious restaurant can be the focus of these reviews - which could then be the venues for the luxurious praise you both seek and deserve.

Please?

So... as always... caveat emptor y'all!Close