La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Austin Southwest — Hotel in Austin

This past weekend, we took a trip to Austin for my husband's birthday and Father's Day. A few years ago, we had a wonderful stay at LaQuinta on Mopac, so we decided to book there again. Everything on the website looked great; the photos were beautiful, and we even joined the Wyndham Rewards program while booking our room. If I could provide 0 stars that would better represent this hotel

Upon arrival, we requested the crib rollout for our toddler, which we had added during the online check-in for an extra $10. However, the front desk informed my husband that they had none available on site, and he upgraded us to a room for $10 more that supposedly had a chair doubling as a sleeper.

As we walked into the hotel from the parking lot, the door did not require a card key, which immediately made us feel unsafe. The first floor was drenched in cigarette smoke, and when the elevator door opened, we were greeted with half-ripped carpet, dirt, drywall, and other debris from ongoing renovations.

On the second floor, the smell persisted, though less intensely. Several doors near our room were dented, scratched, and appeared to have been broken into at some point. Inside our room, there was a slight odor, dirt and debris on the floor, and sticky patches on the carpet. This was not an upgraded room. The bathroom floor was covered in hair, and the shower drain contained chunky white pieces that made our stomachs turn. The chair that was supposed to double as a bed did not recline, so our toddler did not have his own space. We would have preferred two queen beds, but only king or double beds were available, which would not have been comfortable for my husband and me.

After arriving from Barton Springs, I needed a shower. Thankfully, I travel with cleaning supplies and cleaned the shower before using it. When I opened my towel, I was horrified to find what looked like blood stains. We checked the rest of the towels, and each one was similarly stained. Inspecting the bed, I found hair all over the comforter, clearly not head hair.

We reported these issues to the front desk. There was no offer to refund or change rooms, only to provide more towels and new sheets. With a tired, cranky toddler, we accepted the new linens and changed everything ourselves.

On vacation….I did not expect I’d need to clean my own room before I could feel comfortable to stay.

While changing the sheets we ended up throwing three pillows down on the floor with the rest of the soiled sheets as they were stained with yellow and brown drool stains that I could not imagine laying our faces on after seeing what was under the first pillowcase.

Hoping for a better experience, we left for a family reunion, expecting room service to clean our room. Upon our return, nothing had been done. When we asked the front desk, we were told, "Oh, they don’t clean every day of your stay."

Moving on to the free breakfast….basic breakfast we thought would be fine until half way through our meal our stomachs began to turn and we both ended up sick for a few hours due to the breakfast provided. Thankfully our toddler thought it looked too gross to eat and was spared the discomfort.

Adding to our distress, the exterior of the hotel did not feel safe. Men who appeared to be under the influence of heavy drugs were jumping around on forklifts near the "renovation containers" at night and loitering by the unlocked back door.

We were absolutely disgusted with the hotel, its service, and the overall atmosphere of this location. While we have enjoyed many beautiful stays at LaQuintas, after this experience, I do not believe we will ever choose it again. I do not recommend this hotel, especially not for parents with kids. I did not feel safe and barely slept, worried that someone might break...

Car burglaries in the parking lot. Bathroom sink wouldn’t drain. Mini fridge didn’t work. Extremely rude, unprofessional staff. Stayed at this hotel for about two weeks. Was in town saying our goodbyes to a dying relative. Not knowing when they would pass, we had to book day to day. On the last day, a member of the hotel staff (I believe the assistant manager) barged into my room as I was getting dressed. Didn’t even bother to knock. Then, just a few hours later, I locked my room key in my room and had to get a new one made at the front desk. My luck would have it, the same employee who walked in on me was working. To my surprise, he refused to make me a key since the room was booked under my partner’s name despite having just walked in on me in that room just hours before. I understand company protocol and security measures, but for crying out loud, common sense comes first! He obviously remembered walking in on me in that room just hours before, and I was able to provide the name that the room was booked under as well as the room number. Also, none of the other employees at the front desk had a problem making me a key that week. They specifically told me they could make one just as long as I knew the name on the room and the room number. Although I was a bit taken back by how rude this guy was being, I simply said ok and called my partner who had to leave his job and come to the hotel to give me a key. When my partner heard about this guy walking into our room and then not making me a key, he went to the counter and asked the guy why he couldn’t make me a key when the other employees there had had no problem making me keys all week, and having barged into our room without knocking just that day, he should be able to recognize me and know that it’s my room. The guy got extremely snooty and said it was the rules. My partner then told him that he would be calling their corporate office about this since the guy was so rude and unapologetic. The guy then says “you will be checking out tomorrow.” The next morning to our astonishment, the front desk refused to allow us to book another night. The put our names on their do not book list and banned us from ever booking a room there again. We attempted to speak to the general manager who did not even try to act like she cared or wanted to help. She couldn’t even provide us with a reason or explanation why we were banned from the hotel. Just when I thought my day couldn’t possibly get any worse, carrying my luggage to my car, I then discovered my car window had been busted out and some of my belongings had been stolen out of my car out in the parking lot. Apparently a construction van parked near me had the same thing happen to it as well. Of course, the hotel didn’t have any cameras in the parking lot so there was no way to catch the person who did it or get my belongings back. I’m still just in total shock about this experience. It’s not like we used bad language or even raised our voices. We simply called out an employee for his poor behavior. Not a reason to ban someone. I will NEVER stay at another LaQuinta or Wyndham...

I just arrived here this evening, and so far I am not impressed with this hotel (though the room we have is reasonably nice overall). I booked a king suite room for two nights so that my wife and I could celebrate my birthday in Austin. I purposely booked directly on the hotel website so that I would not have any problems with my reservation, and I indicated in the reservation that we would be staying at the hotel to celebrate my birthday. I received an e-mail notice from Wyndham informing me that I could check in early to secure my room using the Wyndham app. So I downloaded the app to my phone, created an account, and then found that there was no way to associate my reservation with my account. To try to correct the problem, I called the phone number listed in the app for help with future reservations that are not showing up, and I got a recorded message telling me to call back during business hours (it was 6 pm on a Saturday evening). Wanting to make sure that I got the room I booked, I called the hotel directly, told them about my problems with the app, told them that we were definitely coming but would get there late, and told them that I wanted to make sure that they didn’t give away our room. I was assured by the person at the front desk that as long as we arrived by 2 am, the room I reserved would be waiting for us.

My wife and I finally arrived around midnight, and the room we were given was not the room I reserved. I got the keys to the room, and when I opened the door, I immediately realized it was not a king suite room but a one-step-down king executive room. The reason it matters is because unlike the king executive room, the king suite room has a separate bedroom area, and my wife gets up much earlier than I do and needs a separate place to sit for a few hours before I get up. I went back to the front desk to inform them that our room was not what I had booked. The person at the front desk looked in the computer, apologized for missing a note added to my reservations, and then informed me that the hotel had overbooked their king suite rooms through online booking sites, told me that I had been given the next best room, and also told me that the hotel had reduced the room rate to what the lower-level room was. Well, at least they didn’t charge me for the more expensive room that I did not get.

Despite my three efforts to make sure we received the room I booked, Wyndham thwarted all of them (Wyndham really needs to provide a way in its app to associate a reservation with a new account). If I had known that we would not get a king suite room, I would have booked with a suite hotel up the road instead. I also asked for late check out for my birthday, but the hotel staff person said that they could extend check out by only 30 minutes. Yet another bummer. While the two hotel staff with whom I have spoken have been very professional and courteous, overall I am disappointed with how things have turned out.

Okay, now that I got my frustration out of my system, I can try to enjoy the remainder of my birthday...