La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Omaha Airport Downtown — Hotel in Carter Lake

As part of my first ever stay in Omaha, I was optimistic about staying at La Quinta. Reviews were good at the time of booking, so my girlfriend and I stayed for 1 week. That was definitely a mistake!

The highlights: Housekeeping staff entering our room while our do not disturb sign was on! HUGE violation of trust, and frankly unacceptable unless there was an emergency (there wasn't -- all they did was drop off towels). Our shower curtain's tension rod was broken and needed maintenance to reinstall it to avoid flooding. We found this out the hard way, during showers... Terrible views of a concrete jungle instead of the nearby Carter Lake, both in our room and outside the hotel. Construction efforts in the parking lot created bad noise pollution for the entire week and were still ongoing when we left.

The full details: Things looked bad almost immediately upon arrival, where construction had taken over a section of the parking lot, and blocked off one entrance / exit into the area. Management allowed us to store our bags before check-in free of charge, which was a nice accommodation as we arrived a few hours early. We carried our own luggage up on a dolly provided by the hotel, and noted that only one of the two elevators was functioning.

Upon entering our room, we were pleased to see an expansive space with a flexible pull-out futon couch and a wardrobe big enough to stow our clothes in for the week. The kitchenette was serviceable and having two sinks -- one there and another in the bathroom -- was a big plus.

However, we also noticed a few things right off the bat that were cause for concern. The kitchenette's minifridge had a frozen-over freezer compartment, rendering it useless. The TV was positioned in such a way that it couldn't be watched from the futon couch or the bed, but there was only one chair in the room that you might be able to move to watch it. The TV itself was also very old and damaged, with a line of dead pixels straight across it horizontally. The bathroom was not stocked with toiletries; one bar of soap and enough towels for one person to stay for two nights tops. The bathroom's walls were scuffed with black residue and the lighting was uncomfortably bright and unhelpful. The shower looked acceptable but we would later find out that the tension rod needed to be reinstalled to avoid flooding. The room carpet was damaged and stained in multiple places, which definitely caused discomfort.

Things wouldn't improve as our stay continued. Instead, we only found more issues... The stairwells had huge humidity problems, and had the visceral feel of prison stairs. Doors slammed shut jarringly unless you took special care to close them gently. And remember, only one elevator is in service... Most of the outdoor exits appropriately required keycards, but they worked inconsistently; about half the time we attempted to use them, they flashed red and did not allow us entry back into the hotel, forcing us to walk around to the front entrance. The hotel's pool would have been OK were it not for the fact that there are windows on all sides of the pool room, making it awkwardly public even to people not staying at the hotel. There is a casino nearby, so a surprising amount of foot traffic didn't belong to our fellow hotel guests.

Around two days in, we noticed that the managerial staff were majorly overworked, having to handle more jobs than is reasonable. This resulted in the front desk being left unstaffed for hours on end due to other obligations, which made reporting problems and asking for towels and other supplies much more difficult. It wasn't long before we discovered the laundry hookups on the third floor. There is precisely one (1) washer and one (1) dryer, for several floors of guests... It's coin-op as well, but the front desk made change for us when we needed it.

The bottom line is that even if many of these issues were rectified, we wouldn't be willing to stay at this place again, and we certainly can't recommend...

We definitely feel this hotel was overpriced for what we received. We did not feel overly safe in the area - the hotel is surrounded by a gentleman's club, a casino, and a scrap yard of some kind. I don't know the name of the staff member who checked us in. I did not see a name tag and she did not offer her name. She seemed very frustrated and overwhelmed; there seemed to be computer issues and she was the only one there. She got us checked in and when we got to our room, the first thing we noticed was the front panel of the air conditioning unit was off and sitting on the floor. The unit was also unplugged. We plugged it in as it was hot and muggy in the room, and it sounded like it was going to blow up. It would not shut off with the controls so we unplugged it again. There was garbage left on the made bed and there was no TV remote in the room. We returned to the desk to ask for a different room -- she again was vocal about her frustrations with the computer not working, but she eventually got us a different room. She asked if we touched anything in the previous room and when I advised her we always check for bed bugs so the bedding was moved, she seemed further annoyed. We checked our new room which was in better condition, and tolerable for the night. I did notice, though, it appeared the door lock had been broken at some point and when I dropped something on the floor, I saw under the couch were sunglasses left from a previous guest. Cleaning is clearly lacking - even the elevator had food and garbage in the corners on the floor. The hotel needs some serious renovation and improvements. Only one elevator worked, and when my husband went to check on our vehicles in the middle of the night, he couldn't even use that because someone had thrown up all over the floor in the elevator. In addition, we called ahead to ask if there was truck parking (we had a U-haul truck with trailer) to which they said there was, but there was VERY little (MAYBE two spots in back of the building) and by morning we were blocked in, and the parking lot was flooded from the rain. I wish I had read more reviews before booking this hotel - I would not...

0 stars! Seriously I don't know what happened in our booking! Im normally happy and satisfied with my Wyndham stays but with this one time here at the LA Quinta in ohman NE by the airport is horrible. This will definitely be a lesson learn that you cant trust agents, nor website photos or anyone words. We booked multiple rooms for our big multiple family vaction. Tgere for I call a agent for booking. While speeking to customer service for party booking we specifically ask if the location had a "functional" pool open due to childrens traveling and was told yes so we decided to book. As we got here and checked in all our room had issue either fridge not working which was a must traveling with kids and baby, lights didn't work, window covered stuck or broken or not functional, bedding had pet hairs and lots of stains. Yes it does say they are under construction and short staff. We initially at check in asked the manager if we could cancel our stay and book else where with Wyndham for a pool but was told that is basically our fault we booked through Wyndham which they are not up to date with what is happening on site also that their website also stated pool is close until further notice and they have construction since October and there nothing they can do but to call Wyndham it basically was not their issue or problem but recommend a beach near by. We also was told we couldn't cancel bc we already checked in and would be charged the full and 50 each day and each room for canceling. I did call Wyndham customer and basically was only given a case # through automatic voice and that someone will reach out to me. During our stay because the pool was not functional we had to rescheule hotel stay time to activities out side that was not part of the plans. Even furing breakfast staff Amy advise the kids not to make a mess since it was shortly after breakfast and they was done cleanung already. Seriourly kids will be kids they will spill when it happens not on purpose and drop crumbs. Mind you we have children's range from ages 13 all the way to 1 year old. Urgh so annoyed and disappointed our summer vacation was ruined with the...