Super 8 by Wyndham Azusa — Hotel in Azusa

ROACHES WARNING. No Smoke Alarms. If you have any kind of respiratory conditions, asthma or allergies, consider staying somewhere else.

Upon check in I specifically asked for a room that didn't smell like mildew or have any strong smells, indicating I have respiratory issues.

Entering the room there were two very distinct smells, a very heavy industrial fragrance or cleaner being used in the air condition, the room reeked of it. Second was very light natural gas smell. The gas smell seemed to be mostly around the restroom. I wasn't able to determine the source of the gas like smell.

Checking the air filters of the air conditioner, they easily hadn't been cleaned in a very long time. They were the most dense with dust of any I have come across during the last 65 days of staying in hotels of all brands.

THE GOOD:

The air conditioner worked well keep the room very cool. Turning off the air conditioner greatly reduce the smell and strength of whatever had been put into it.

There is a mini refrigerator in the room, other similar hotels I were considering in the same price range didn't have one.

There is a microwave and coffee pot with a selection of coffee packets.

There was a Big screen TV, I didn't check to see if it worked or what kind of channels were available.

There is a desk and a chair. The coffee maker was on top of the desk and the chair was the wood kind you find around a dining table, so it wouldn't be the most comfortable for doing laptop work from, at least for me.

There were apples and mini-muffins being offered in the main office for breakfast.

The owner of this location who was working the check-in counter when I checked out, seemed like a nice person.

THE BAD:

ROACHES. I was getting ready for bed and went to adjust the air conditioner. I turned on the main light and next to the chair on the floor was a one inch black roach walking around on the floor.

Poor air quality, I left the bathroom exhaust fan running to help purge out the smell and I cleaned the air conditioner filters.

The smoke alarm in the room had been removed leaving only wires hanging.

The fire extinguisher box on the side of the building was empty.

There were no fire sprinklers in the building or rooms.

The door security latch was broken, apparently by brute force.

The light over the sink and mirror didn't work.

This is a somewhat rough neighborhood.

The king sized bed was firm, but I slept well enough.

I had a bottom floor suite and could hear the guest up stairs occasionally.

The room had a connecting door to the room next door and the lock looked like it had taken a beating. I checked to make sure it was locked, but it seemed sketchy. The guests in the rooms next door was a family of at least four. One of the children kept making weird noises, and all of them were talking loudly which easily came through the connecting door.

The air conditioner is loud, which might be a good thing, because there is a lot of traffic noise.

The front parking lot is cramped and tight. The parking behind the hotel is in an alley in a bad neighborhood.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I booked a single night to see what it was like and to be able to review it. If I liked it, I'd have extended at least another four nights. Because I saw the cockroach, I ended up turning on every single light and sleeping with a mask to help keep the roaches hiding and not getting into my bags. I hung my bags on the clothes hangers to help keep the roaches out of them. The maintenance of room wasn't professional. There were miss but trim in the bathroom and the floor wall trimming was about to fall off in one spot. The lack of a smoke alarm and the broken door security latch were concerning. I place the desk chair up against the door while sleeping...

Honestly the best location and hospitality when it comes to the on site management! I only believe this place need two very crucial things. A very good, thorough, detailed and deep clean, and a way to rid the roahces. I have to say the cleaning crew is truly disappointing and lazy. They Do Not clean under the beds AT ALL! not behind, not under and barely around. I always find crumbs, dirt, hairs, pens, miscellaneous items mixed with month old dirt and lint. Ive even found a use condom, old towel and a cigar one time(under the bed) Ive definitely found some questionable stains and spots on the bed itself but never any questionable smells. So that's good. They cut every corner when it comes to cleaning the floors and vertical surfaces, and they Do Not Mop! (if they do its not done well or consistently) I know this because everytime I pull out my wipes and pinesol before settling in, my wipes come up very flithy and i use up an entire pack of babywipes (300 count) and bottle of pinesol 28fl oz & Alcohol 70% proof. Im sure this is the main reason to any and all cockroach sitings and complaints. I know maintenance only gets 30 mins per room to clean but idk, i feel as if they should get 40 because 30 is obviously not enough time. Maybe even close the hotel down of a week Just To Clean Please! The occasional poor plumbing in the shower and handwash is also never convenient. Once I found a large dead cockroach, belly up in the right hand corner roll of the bed sheet, hidden behind the night stand. I chose to let that go that time, due to exhaustion. I have hope that these issue can and will be resolved sooner than later. Aside from the extreme lack of cleansing and sanitation this is my favorite place to give my money to for an out of town stay. Very welcoming and considerate even with limited options and short notices. Unlike their horrid competitors, a few miles over at Days Inn in The City Of Hope whom might look cooler and better in theory. On the surface ideal, with their large parking space, large front desk area, large rooms, colorfully colored, mordern furniture and decent esthetic but great customer service tops a pretty picture and a bad aura, anyday! Even with the above complaints, Azuza Super 8 will always be my go to when traveling in that area! I recommend this location one thousand times over the mentioned competitor location (Days Inn in The City Of no Hope) Both under Wyndham but two different worlds. Super 8 Azuza has multiple rooms available, great management, great location right off the freeway and next to gas stations and food locations. Walmart, Superior, Local meat markets, Harware store, Shoe Store, Five Below, Smoke shops, Dollar store and more only a mile or less away!! Great Area! Great Vibe! Great People! Great Price! Cant wait to go back even if I do have to clean upon arrival .

The rooms are extremely small. We stayed in a "king size room," and yet the room was so small that with my wife and I in it, we would frequently bump into each other as well as the luggage that we brought with us. Otherwise, everything else was decent. The rooms have microwaves, refrigerators, air conditioning, and the location is right across the street from several convenience stores as well as different fast food restaurants and other eateries, in addition to being only a few blocks from both Walmart and Target. And the price is fairly low even though the size of the room is small. (* comments made during first half of stay at motel)

As our week went on, we got to see more and more of who the manager and his family really were. The manager himself was very rude, fresh, pushy, and used very foul language. He knew that we were staying for several days, but every time before we would be expected to come in for a payment but were running a couple minutes late, the manager himself would bang on the door and scream into the room quoting the time and the absolute necessity to report to the office to make a payment. The last day that we were to make a payment there, we told the manager's wife that we needed to go to the bank to take care of an issue that we had with our account but that no matter what we would be back very soon and would make the payment for another night. Not that long after we left, the manager called me on my cell phone to once again impress upon me that I must return immediately to make the payment. It turned out someone had hacked into my bank account and stolen funds, so it took a little time to resolve that issue with the bank. But all along the manager kept calling my cell phone every few minutes to scream at me and demand payment, even though he knew what the situation was with my bank and that I would be in soon to pay regardless. I would not recommend this Motel to anyone. The funny thing is, when I returned from the bank that final day, the manager was politely inquisitive as to how the bank handled my personal financial affairs. Like I would help him in any way after he had been so rude and pushy to me for a very long time. (* comments made during second half of...