La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Tifton — Hotel in Tifton

This is a lengthy review but, believe me, it's worth it. I'm both a Hilton Honors and IHG Hotels rewards member, but my recent stay (4/29/23) at La Quinta in Tifton, Georgia, far far exceeded expectations and rivals those other chains for providing a great room. Originally, I'd been looking for a room in Valdosta, but everything was booked at the nicer hotels (--graduation weekend). I was looking to spend in the low-100s range for a room, not $200. I found some lower (sub-100) hotel/motel rooms, but quickly ruled them out. After finding a possible room with a reasonable rate, I then went to Yelp and checked the reviews --and was promptly horrified at nearly all of them! Bed bugs, bad management, partying and drug use, and car break-ins in the parking lot. No thanks. I then checked the next city to the north-- Tifton, and was glad I did. Where do I start? La Quinta (from the outside) looked not at all like the other La Quintas I'd ever stayed. It was a large, modern-looking building that was very close to the interstate and not in a possibly dicey area of town. The rate was perfect and it included breakfast, so I booked it. From the minute I walked into the large, spacious lobby, I could tell a difference. It was beautiful, with modern tables and comfortable chairs and couches. Behind the front desk, however, was a HUGE magnificent mural that took up the entire wall. Wow! I'd never seen something like that before. The check-in experience was courteous, friendly and professional. I asked for room on the top floor and was given one. Regardless of everything I've already mentioned, the main criteria for a good hotel stay is the room itself (and, specifically, the bed). I walked into Room 430, and it literally SMELLED clean. The air conditioning already was running and it was nice and cool for me. The room had a high ceiling and, being on the corner of the building, had windows to the outside on two different walls. The carpeting was new and modern, and the light fixtures also were very 'modern' (with LED bulbs). There also was a 'comfy chair' in addition to the office/desk and desk chair. The bed. New, not creaky, comfy without being too soft nor firm. Perfect for me. The pillows (3 per bed) were fluffy and new. On the desk was a little handwritten note from Housekeeping: Have a great stay! (smiley face) Wow, never seen that before! (I left a $5 tip) Amenities: a tall mini-fridge (w ice compartment), a microwave, a standard coffeemaker with regular decaf and tea, a full-size closet w hangars, suitcase stand and ironing board/iron. What else? Beautiful artwork on all the walls, a nice touch. The TV was large enough (I've seen larger) but it was mounted on the wall--not on a stand, resting on the dresser. Bathroom: simply excellent. Modern faucet fixture on both the sink and the tub/shower. The shower head had five settings that actually work, and work well. Toilet was a Bemis that worked great, flushed quickly and was quiet. Towels galore. Hair dryer. Dove soap, shampoo and conditioner. Another nice touch was the bathroom mirror--the modern type with the light all around the perimeter. Very nice. The hallway carpeting is new, with a modern pattern. The elevators both worked flawlessly. There's a small outdoor pool (but I didn't have time to use it). Breakfast the next morning merits mentioning. It was one of the best I've ever enjoyed. TWO self-serve waffle makers, scrambled eggs (NOT from powder), ham, bagels toast cereal yogurt juices coffees teas. Also, there were two very nice employees making sure everything ran smoothly--they passed through the dining room picking up plates and asking if everything was okay (just like in a restaurant!). If my stay at the Tifton, Georgia, La Quinta is any indication, I'd urge you to rethink your previous opinion of that brand and consider them for a stay. I'll definitely be staying here again. Great...

This is hands down the best La Quinta we've stayed in since the one we stayed in during a trip to Wesley Chapel, Florida. I was honestly almost terrified to stay here after the one we stayed in down in Lakeland a few years ago. After having driven 26 hours though and calling several other hotels around this one. We finally broke down & called. I AM SO GLAD we did!!! This hotel was honestly just great! It was very easy to get our room reserved. Check in took no time. The lobby was clean, smelled good, not just clean but good and clean. It wasn't blinding bright but bright enough. The lobby is very spacious & plenty of seating for the breakfast they have. Breakfast ends at 9:30 am if I remember correctly. I do, wish they had more to offer breakfast wise. It's the usual, IE: cereal (3) different choices. Milk, apple juice, orange juice, coffee, and a flavored juice. Waffle mix, maker, syrup. Muffins, bread to toast, bagels. Scrambled eggs, sausage patties, fruit cups, yogurt cups. Fresh fruit too. Bananas & apples. There's an elevator for those with a lot of luggage or just don't want to use the stairs. We were on the 2nd floor. I'm assuming this is one of the pet floors. It didn't smell as freshly cleaned as the 1st floor but it didn't stink. Just smelled like pets :) which is also fine due to we had our furkid with us. Our room was perfect. Believe me...after the horrible experience we had in Lakeland, I check everything....literally. I look at sheets, mattress, box springs, closets, mirrors, bathroom VERY good too. It was SPOTLESS. The bed was super comfy. I could have slept in it for days!!! My only complaint would be with the pillows. For me tho...my husband loved them. They were too soft for me 😂 I love a firm pillow. The carpets were cleaned very well, bed was tucked in nicely too. The bathroom was well stocked from towels to soaps and other necessities one would need. Mirror was very clean!! Which I love seeing! Towels & washcloths were stocked well too!!! The hot water was great!!! It lasted forever. There was a nice small very comfortable sectional sofa with nice lamps surrounding the room plus the nice dimmer lights in the ceiling. There were 2 nice TVs as well. One in the bedroom area, one on the sitting area. I'll share photos. The pet fee wasn't terrible either. I wish our stay had been longer 😂 they have a small pool but it looked very inviting. They have a decent fitness area as well. I was very, very pleased with this hotel. We called one of their neighboring hotels. It did sound amazing. Yet when we heard the cost for the 1 night, literally...as we didn't stay 12 hours. They wanted right at $200. 🤦‍♀️ that's just insane for the little time we would have stayed. So, I'm really, very....happy we stayed at La Quinta ☺ also, there's a Buffalo Wild Wings, Panerai Bread and so many others. It's just a really nice place to stay. I can't say enough about it honestly. Not that this is the Marriott or anything like one of the big fancy places. I was just very super impressed ☺ also...almost forgot 😂 every single employee we ran into was just super nice and helpful!!! Give this place a shot. I truly believe you...

The first room I was given on the 4th floor was unbelievably clean. It was cleaner than most Hilton branded hotels I have stayed in. The unfortunate part was that I found a dead bed bug in the mattress crease upon doing my very thorough bed bug inspection that I ALWAYS complete regardless of how nice the hotel is or how clean the room is. I want to clarify that I only found ONE dead bed bug and I continued my check of the room without finding anything else other than a few dust spiders in the corner near the A/C unit. This did not appear to be any sort of actual infestation. To air on the side of caution I still requested to change rooms. The front desk clerk was extremely nice, but she offered no actual apology and placed me in a room that was on the same floor as the room I discovered the dead bed bug in and only a few room numbers down from it. The typical course of action for this type of scenario for a front desk clerk would be to give the guest a new room on a completely new floor, and perhaps even notify and vacate everyone from surrounding rooms. Again, this is just to air on the side of caution considering it was only ONE dead bug, but this is standard practice across the board. I would love to see better training provided to employees on how to handle these types of complaints.

Now as for my second room, it was fairly dirty around the edges. i.e dirty carpet, residue on door frames and behind trash cans.. The bathroom had an extremely pungent smell of mildewed laundry which I concluded appeared to be coming from the shower curtain. The room itself was also very damp and humid, even with the A/C unit on. This is unusual for a hotel that is as new as this one. As always, even with this being a double queen room, I did my usual extremely thorough bed bug check again which yielded nothing that I found to be alarming. I removed all linens from both beds and box springs, I checked both mattresses and box springs top and bottom in all creases as well as the chair in the room. There were no washed out blood stains on any of the bedding which can also be one of the biggest red flags. The bedding was all very clean minus what appeared to be a few old liquid stains. With everything taken into consideration I decided to keep this room and not request to move again since I am only here for a 10hr layover and am exhausted even though it was close to the room I found the dead bed bug in. At this point I have already spent 1.5hrs checking for bugs and switching rooms. I think mattress protectors should be standard on ALL mattresses and box springs and neither of my rooms had them on any of the bedding. I would love to see some more thorough cleaning and as stated previously, some updated training on how to handle complaints involving bug problems. With this hotel being as new as it is all of this stuff should be done without question to begin with. If I am ever in the area again I will likely consider staying here again, but as always I will conduct a very thorough check of my room before laying down...