GreenTree Inn & Suites Phoenix Sky Harbor — Hotel in Phoenix

Life is full of complications. Constantly, we are being inconvenienced. You are running late to your doctor's appointment? BOOM! Traffic. You need to grab something from the grocery store? WHAM! It's out of stock.

My most recent life complication is in the midst of the biggest move of my life, flying from Illinois to Thailand, a trip that already included 4 flights, a bus, and a boat, a total of 48 hours of travel, my first flight from Chicago to LA was cancelled. This causing a chain reaction of minor inconveniences meaning rebooking all of the travel that followed. And my new route included an overnight stay in Phoenix, and then that flight became delayed THRICE, leaving me only 8 hours of rest between arrival and departure.

In the hustle and bustle of the stacking pile of inconveniences, anger clouded my vision and my desire for retribution rises to the top. I demand a refund! I want an upgrade! Give me my meal voucher stat! And I was looking for someone to blame but, when I googled the reason behind flight cancellations, reasons like weather, traffic, and general life circumstances were often the cause. There was unfortunately no big bad evil entity out there going out of their way to inconvenience me specifically. So I was stuck with the anger and frustration with no place to put it.

At 11:33pm, I arrive to the Phoenix airport. I am exhausted, carrying a 25lb backpack. And I see on my phone that my airline has already booked me a stay at a local hotel with a free shuttle.

Wonderful, I think to myself, I finally receive the retribution I deserve.

I call the hotel to book the transport, and I am met with a warm but curt voice. I feel indignant and abandoned when she tells me in a clear but slightly condescending tone, "I will do the best I can but, then you are on your own. I have a line of people here who I need to attend to."

I arrive to the hotel. Immediately, I see the front desk woman, Kelly. She is impeccably dressed from head to toe in black, white, and red. Her hair is tied up in an intricate updo with a red ribbon, both fun and professional style, reminding me of how ringleaders at a circus wear a top hat. Her blazer was a black and white leaf print. She wore a necklace of black kakui nuts with a gold leaf pendant in the middle of her collar. You could tell this was a woman who paid attention to detail.

She smiles, "Welcome. I'll be with you in a moment."

And there are two people ahead of me so, I placed my bags down and listened as Kelly patiently dealt with minor inconveniences that prevented her from properly checking people in. She did her best not to show her frustration but, I could tell the growing line of distressed travelers was distressing her.

After waiting quite a while, I finally got to meet Kelly.

"Thank you for being so patient." And I could tell she really meant it.

"No worries," I smile. "I love your outfit by the way. It's iconic."

A genuine smiles bursts across her face. "Thank you. I've always had everything matching even when I was a young girl. It drove my mom crazy."

"Well it's worth it. You look great. I love the necklaces."

"I make my own jewelry you know? I hope to do it more once I retire."

"You should!"

"I hope so." She trails off before continuing to give me impeccable service.

Eventually, Kelly helps me check in, and she ends our conversation with a warm and unique, "Have a beautiful evening."

And I walk away realizing that the key to dealing with inconvenience is not through getting your comeuppance. But it is through the little things like the red ribbon in Kelly's hair that matched her lipstick perfectly, or the through the use of the word "beautiful" instead of the word "good." It is in the attention to detail where we are able to zoom out of our fish bowl of a life, and see life is not something that happens to us but something that we happen to experience.

Kelly is a reminder of to celebrate the little things, and for that, I wish her a beautiful life full of gratitude, patience, and jewelry making. Follow your heart Kelly....

LOCATION: I booked a hotel based on location was close to my daughter's college, When she came to pick me up, she was in the parking lot crying that she was afraid to get out of the car. I didn't tell her I heard a loud crowd fighting outside the window the night before Upon asking around, I learned I was staying in the roughest part of Phoenix. I even walked to the gas station next door and the people working told me it was not safe to do so. That scared me! I feel there should have been some warning from the staff.

STAFF: The gal working when I checked in at 1am said she had worked there only a month and she was really nice. The daytime girl pointedly ignored me whenever I came to the desk. So be it - good employees are hard to find.

ACCOMODATIONS: I arrived late and they were overbooked, so I was put in a "junior suite" for the first night. It was a pretty dark room but I was tired and just wanted a bed. I was also cold but the heater was broken and had cords hanging out from the bottom. The next morning I was moved to my regular booked room for the remainder of my stay. I called the front desk due to 2 missing lightbulbs in the bathroom. They sent maintenance right away. Also, the bathtub water was lukewarm (cold after 2 minutes.) The maintenance guy said he didn't know what to do about it but he did offer to move me to another room. Since I had already been moved once, I didn't want to pack up again and chance more issues in another room. I just did sponge baths (the sink water got hot.)

AMMENITIES: I think my main complaint is the little room with snacks and stuff. Since there was no soda machine on any floors (huh?) if you wanted anything, you would have to go down to the room by the front desk. But it was always empty. Even before noon - a large cooler area and only 2 bottles of soda. I don't understand why they can't keep it stocked better...restock it throughout the day or something. Which is why I ended up walking to the gas station in the first place!

THE GOOD: Beds were comfortable and clean. TV had a decent variety of channels. WIFI was free. Gym was available with acceptable equipment. Doors had double locks. Room decor was tasteful. There is a pool but I didn't visit it.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS: You certainly wouldn't come here if you planned on spending much time at the hotel. For my purposes, I guess it was ok...I just wish I had some warning about the neighborhood. When I walked to the gas station next door, someone asked me for money. After replying that I didn't have any cash with me, they grinned and told me I better be very careful walking back. Then, the girl working inside said she would not recommend anyone walk anywhere in that area... not even "right next door." Needless to say, I ran back as...

The GreenTree ended up being much greener than we anticipated... just not in the way one would hope. Overall, it was disorganized and disappointing to stay here in February 2024. At check in, we were told they had no suites despite the long-standing reservation. The Front Desk offered 2 queen rooms with the 2nd at a discounted rate. But, this split our family up and it was too late and too expensive to book at other hotels---staying elsewhere would have split up the larger family group we were in. -The pool advertised on multiple websites was disgusting, see picture attached. The pool being unusable was not disclosed on their website or upon check in. After reading more reviews later, we realized the pool had been like that a long time--a year if the reviews are accurate. -The fire alarm started going off and went off for around 30 minutes while we were checking in. I had no idea why, but the Front Desk staff said someone may have been vaping in the hallway. The Fire Department eventually came and dealt with the alarm. -The water in our room didn't heat up adequately and the transition from shower to bath didn't work in one of the rooms. -The TV wasn't working in one of the rooms. When we mentioned this, Front Desk helped with it. -One of the two elevators was broken and the elevators were small, resulting in longer waits. -The bath towels were tiny and rough, barely large enough to cover a child-- let alone an adult. -There was a strong marijuana smell downstairs in the area right next to the gym. We realized why when we saw a staff member emerge from a supply room and the smell became worse. Photo of the supply room attached. -In the morning, the breakfast was shut down much earlier than expected on the second day. It would be nice if that was communicated better. Also, on the first day, the lady who was working the breakfast area wasn't polite when speaking to my child. She also seemed amused on the second day when folks were turned away because it was closed. -The two good things: the fire pit was pleasant and Front Desk staff tried to do what they could. But I felt bad for the Front Desk because the hotel seemed to be so...