We were new to the area and found the hotel on the Internet and so happy we did. The check in process was easy and the staff were very friendly and informative, our $79.00 got us a lovely clean room with a fully equipped kitchen, and a great hot breakfast.

We stayed in February 2011 when we traveled to Phoenix for the adoption of our baby boy. We fired off an "exceptional place" letter to the manager when we came home but had forgotten to write this review.

What a fabulous place. Yes, it is somewhat in need of an update. But the staff, amenities and location were great. We stayed for approximately a week in a suite with our newborn and the staff even went so far as to give us baby presents (which was great because we had nothing!). The breakfast was always exceptional in the morning and we did the snack/appetizers one night as well. Rooms were clean. Laundry facility on site. You are so close to malls and restaurants. The bakery next door was fabulous. We had our own kitchen area which was so handy with a new baby.

We would stay at this place again in a heartbeat. We felt like we were at home which is hard to do at a hotel.

We reserved a one bedroom suite at this hotel for November 21st to 26th for Thanksgiving week while we visited family and friends in the area. We put the address into the GPS and found the hotel easily.

We checked in at about 5 PM on the evening of the 21st. Antonio from Modesto, CA was the person behind the desk when we checked in. The lobby area was not well lit. You could tell the hotel was not updated as other Residence Inns have been. There was green carpet, dated wallpaper, formica counter. In general not the most inviting. We were given room 110. It backed to the parking lot and the 101 freeway.

Our reservation was easily found and I asked Antonio if my request for a crib 10 days earlier was noted and he said yes. He also said that right before our arrival, the smoke alarm had gone off when someone burned something in their kitchenette and he would have to bring the crib by later as the fire department had just left. He also said that it was required that he set it up which was very odd because we had stayed at a Residence Inn by Marriott the night before in Albuquerque and they had no such stipulation. But we said OK, please bring it by at 6 PM if you can. We would be out at dinner but he could come in the room without us there. He said fine. When we returned at 7 PM, the crib was not there. I went to the desk and Antonio told me that he didn't have any more cribs because other families had requested them. I first told Antonio that if he had told me that at 5 PM, I could have gone and bought something because I really need a crib for a 2 year old that's never not slept in a crib. Besides that, when I made the request, I wasn't told that there might not be one available. If they are limited, they should say that.

Antonio and I went a few rounds of me asking him why he didn't say something hours earlier and his response was, it happens, and, I should get over it because these things happen. I told Antonio that it was easy for him to say that because he would leave work and go home and not have a 2 year old roaming around a non-child proofed room all night because the reserved crib was indeed not reserved and that when I was chasing after the 2 year old all night, I'd remember that he said I should just get over it. Yes, I was angry. At that point he did say that he'd make sure we got one for the following 4 nights that we'd be staying there because those other families were leaving the next day.

Back in the room, my husband said he would sleep with the 2 year old on the fold out couch and the 5 year old would sleep with me in the queen size bed. The 2 year old did indeed get up every few minutes for 3 or 4 hours and none of us got much sleep. Of course, the queen size bed was bouncy and very uncomfortable to sleep on anyway.
In the morning I was ready to leave but because the room was prepaid we didn’t want to lose over $400 by finding another hotel. I said I’d make the best of it and let the manager know what happened.

While I finished getting ready, my husband ran down to check out the complimentary breakfast. To say it was unimpressive would be an understatement. He grabbed some cereal and juice for the kids and brought it back to the room. When we were ready to leave for the day, I went to the front desk and asked to speak to the general manager, Lenka Pritchard. I explained to her what happened the previous night and she said it would be taken care of. Then we left.

We returned that evening and were pleasantly surprised to see the pack and play set up and a gift basket of items for the kids with a personal note from the manager. In the note, the manager apologized for the first night’s events and hoped we enjoyed the rest of the stay. It was a very nice touch and we appreciated it. We felt better about staying there even though there were things we weren’t happy with. The bed was still uncomfortable, the breakfast was still not what we expected and the noise from the 101 was not ideal. But it was pre paid so we tried to grin and bear it.

Unfortunately, while drying my hair on the second day, a large cockroach was crawling on the bathroom door and that was it for me. Then we went to the breakfast and it was below what I would feed the kids. Half the items they listed as having were not there. The staff was sitting at a table eating the leftover food that guests weren’t eating. There was batter all over the waffle maker. Milk was not replenished. Orange juice was watery. Between the cockroach and the nasty breakfast and the staff being so unprofessional…we decided to leave and lose the money for the last 3 nights in order to have a better vacation.

Front desk staff, housekeeping, breakfast staff- they were all truly wondeful! As a solo female traveler, it is very comforting to have strangers be so friendly! I can see how someone staying for a week from out of town would feel at home here. That being said, I found the rooms themself, while very clean, were dated. I've found this to be true of many of Marriott's lower-end hotels (other than JW's, Marriotts, etc). Bed was amazingly comfortable as usual. The workout room was small, but I was the only person using it, so I had no complaints and the tv worked, so that's a bonus. Very close to the mall and nice dining establishments. No business center other than a computer in the main hotel entry lobby, so no privacy whatsoever.