La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Portland NW — Hotel in Portland

hospitality [hos-pi-tal-i-tee] the friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers. the quality or disposition of receiving and treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way.

I thought I'd share this definition since the hotel staff clearly doesn't know the meaning of the word.

We stayed at this hotel for our 29th anniversary and it was perfectly acceptable - not great, not horrible. So when our daughters decided to take their first parent-free road trip to Portland we booked their room on points. Right after we booked it I called the hotel to give them our daughters' names and request a credit card authorization. We wanted them to have our credit card on file for any incidentals so they wouldn't have to block out a "chunk of change" on one of the girls' debit cards. We were told that was fine.

The day the girls were due to arrive my husband got a call from the hotel (probably because we are top tier rewards members). They said they were looking forward to his arrival and wondered what time they should expect him. He told them they shouldn't expect him at all, that it was our daughters that would be staying. He also told them that I called and gave them our daughters' names and sent a credit card authorization.

My husband was then informed that they would need to physically have the card in hand in order to use it. They said the only other choice was to block out a significant amount on one of their debit cards (essentially the entire balance) or the girls wouldn't be given a room.

My husband and I were outraged. Here was this hotel staffer telling us that our children would be denied a room we'd already paid for and left to sleep in their car. He had to go to a meeting so I called the hotel.

I phoned and asked for the GM. Not available. I asked for the phone number of the GM's superior. That was a non-starter. Frustrated I asked for any available manager. I was told that they were busy but if I left my name and number someone would get back to me "sometime tomorrow." That wasn't going to work for me. They needed their room that night.

So I spent ten minutes arguing with Destiny who insisted they did not use credit card authorizations. She gave me one line of BS after another and wouldn't find a manager who could be bothered with HOSPITALITY. Finally, I'd had it. I told her my next call was to La Quinta corporate. Suddenly she said, "why don't I send you a credit card authorization?" WHAT???!!! Up to this point she kept saying CC authorizations were not an option. I can't imagine what changed her mind.

After that I got everything squared away and my daughters checked in without incident. But we'll never stay there again. No one else should either. Anyone who does should have no expectation of customer service or...

I did extensive research on hotels in the area and booked two nights here for three reasons:

1 - It has a favorable route to and from the hospital. 2 - They offer breakfast bags. 3 - Check-out is at noon.

Well, actually, noon-check-out is what I was told by an employee on two separate phone conversations prior to booking.

Unfortunately, that was incorrect. It wasn't until Housekeeping knocked on our door at the end of our stay and titled us a "late check-out" that we learned check-out was supposed to be at 11:00 am.

Needless to say, I was pretty angry. We drove over 200 miles and budgeted every penny for this trip (business, not pleasure); we could not afford the charge for "late check-out," and I wasn't okay with literally paying for an employee's mixup.

At the same time, I could have taken it upon myself to double-check by asking during check-in or reading over the paperwork I signed. It was an oversight on my part to trust the employee(s) from my research calls. The problem here is that our preferences were between this hotel and one other one. We chose La Quinta over the other specifically because of the 12:00 pm check-out. Without that, the benefits between the two aren't note-worthy. Anyway, we'd have to stick with La Quinta regardless of when we found out about 11 o'clock because of the schedule of our trip.

It was unintentional, but I definitely felt tricked.

The lady at the front desk who dealt with my frustration over check-out was very professional and understanding. I don't think she felt comfortable waiving the fee for a late check-out, but she still did it. I'm incredibly grateful for her.

We have another trip coming this summer. We might stay here again, but:

1 - I don't really trust them now. 2 - They don't give enough towels, even when you ask for more. We're a family of four using your room for 45 hours over a span of three days. We need towels. 3 - The curtain is white and transparent and the window faces the parking lot, which is shared with multiple other businesses plus other La Quinta guests. This means that lights from cars annoy you (like when they get left on), the bright light poles keep you up all night, you have to hide to get undressed/dressed. There was another curtain set on the sides of the white curtain, perfect for blocking lights and sight, but they didn't pull closed. They didn't move at all. Oh, and the heater/AC unit is in front of the window, so when you're using it, it blows the white curtain open and you can make eye contact with anyone outside.

The bed was comfortable enough, the shower & tub were clean, everything in the room worked and was sufficient to our standards. I think I'd just like a place that can offer a...

I stayed at this hotel for 2 weeks with my wife and our 2 cats. What follows is my honest assessment.

I'll start off with the good: Housekeeping is wonderful, and the hotel will allow pets to stay in the rooms for no additional charge. Also, the parking is very easy and available for multiple vehicles with no issues. The room also had a fridge and microwave which was convenient. Also no hidden charges or issues as far as that goes. The price that I was quoted for 13 days prior was indeed the price that I paid upon checkout.

And now for the bad: The breakfast is gross. Fruit isn't ripe, bagels are tiny and rock hard. I don't eat eggs or sausage, but they looked greasy and slimy. Yikes. My card key was disabled a total of 5 different times during my stay. After running errands, I would walk back to my room only to find that I couldn't get in...With my 2 cats still locked inside. Then I would have to schlep back upstairs to visit the front desk and wait for somebody to re program my room keys. This happened time and time again. The first room that I was in was so musty and dusty that I had to request another one due to my cats SNEEZING. The hot water in both of our rooms, and I assume the whole hotel, is on a hidden timer. It gives you approximately 5 minutes of piping hot water followed by several minutes of lukewarm, nearly room temperature water. If you stick it out, the hot water comes rushing back right on que. I understand wanting to conserve water and energy, but this seemed like a pretty underhanded way to treat guests who spent $100 per night. These people are traveling in many cases and probably would like to take a hot shower or bath without worrying about losing the hot water after 5 minutes. At least bump the timer up to 10 and give people a chance to rinse the soap off of their bodies at a comfortable temperature. The WiFi is spotty, but it's also free, so I guess that's a wash. The hair dryer in the room was so small, it looked like it cost about $4.99. I turned it on one morning and it immediately tripped the breaker and a very loud alarm started sounding. I also had a light bulb in the lamp on the bedside table randomly fizzle out and start popping and smoking one afternoon. We also had guests on our floor who were smoking cigarettes in their room. I guess I would stay here again if I needed a place for more than a couple of nights, but if I only needed one or two, I'd most likely just pay the $30-$50/night pet fee and stay at a...