March 6th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express during my stay in Woodland, CA, just outside of Sacramento.
I was upgraded to a king suite, which was really one large room instead of two rooms. There was plenty of room for a couch, coffee table, and a kitchenette with a refrigerator and microwave. The 30″ TV had an impressive channel selection, including HBO/HBO2, ESPN/2/News/Classic, MTV/MTV2, Discovery, Food Network, and Noggin/Sprout/Disney.
Standard firm and soft pillows completed the bed, which was firm and comfortable. The wall thermostat controlled the A/C at the wall. The air conditioner worked very well: the housekeeping staff had bumped the set point down to 55, and I had a chilly surprise when I came into the room yesterday evening.
The room had an Enternet jack and cable, but it never worked. Fortunately, the WiFi worked reliabily, with only a confirmation for a login screen. The desk had two outlets, which is a little shy for a business traveler.
The bathroom had decent room and average counter space. The floor was very slippery when wet. The sink’s water pressure was fine, but the shower was consistently weak. This morning I ran out of hot water.
The hotel only offered to send out for dry cleaning. They did have one washer and dryer which needed coins, but the lock box had been removed so one could get his/her money back. Soap and dryer sheets were available at the front desk.
The HIE standard buffet included egg rounds that were folded in half, some with cheese and some without. The bacon wasn’t very good, but the sausage was all right.
The hotel had a small indoor pool, and the fitness room contained one bike, one treadmill, and one elliptical. The treadmill was little noisy, but the elliptical worked fine.
The hotel’s access was a little tricky, requiring a couple of turns that looked like the road was taking one away from the hotel. Parking was sufficient.
Normally a corporate rate of $85, I was charged $100/room for a guarantee of non-smoking. If there is a next time, I may try the Hampton Inn across the way.
(1 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
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March 7th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I don’t get the thing about calling one room a “suite.” Seems to me that a suite has to have more than one room, or it’s just not a suite.
I like Hampton Inn’s a lot. We’re actually considering ordering one of their beds for our master bedroom.
March 7th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Hamptons are good because while they are inconsistent, they are a member of the Hilton family, and one can earn points for some nice Hilton properties.
I’m with you on the suite designation. I guess “half a room longer than a standard room” doesn’t sound as good.
March 8th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Yeah, gotta love Hilton Hhonors. I’ve been Gold for a bunch of years (and even hit Diamond two years running — although the perks weren’t that much better than Gold). Work pays for the rooms, but I get to use the points for personal use. So I use them for the family’s vacations. Typically those are pretty pedestrian — Embassy & Homewood Suites for the most part. But I treated the wife to the London Langham (when it was still a Hilton property) for our tenth anniversary, and didn’t pay a dime. (Happened to get the coveted double upgrade on the AA flight to London as well — first-class to London on a discount economy coach ticket. The only time that’s happened to me. So it was sweet that it happened for our anniversary.)