Recently I stayed at the Extended StayAmerica Fresno-North. Prior to my arrival I attempted to find find out more about what sort of amenities this property offered. I must admit that the hotel's website was informative, but I soon learned that the properties website was the same as all other properties in the Extended StayAmerica Hotel chains, thus making it not so helpful to find exactly what I was looking for.
Upon check-in and to my surprise, the property was well kept, clean and had the most friendly and accomodating staff, who tried very hard to make sure that my stay was as comfortable as possible because after all, this was to be my home for quite some time as I was on a long-term work assignment away from my home. The property is conveniently located to close proximity to freeway access, shopping, restaurants, entertainment and a local hospital facility.
The website mentioned that this hotel offered the amenities I desired, such as comfortable, safe, clean rooms and atmosphere and a full kitchen where I could work and prepare meals as if I were back in my home.
I was disappointed to find out as I entered my hotel room, that the kitchen was not full!!! There was only a stove top where I could only cook two things at once, because the stove top only had two "eyes" to cook. This was a problem for me, as I don't have a need to use the stove top often. There was no oven, hence, I could not prepare many of the frozen foods that I had bought to eat.
The cooking utensils were not adequate either. There was one sauce pot, one skillet, two forks, two spoons, two butter knives, one steak knife, one service spoon, a vegetable strainer, and a dish rack. There were no ice trays in the freezer, and the cupboards were very small. there were no mixing bowls or other dishes needed to prepare a meal. I assumed that previous guests had taken many of the utensils that may have come along with the hotel room.
The beds were stiff and made uncomfortable noises as I sat on and slept in the bed. The bedding was also very uncomfortable and did not keep me warm enough as the comforter was very thin and it was also hard to regulate the heat. The heater is located just under the hotel room window and when I turned on the heat, it blew the curtains away from the window thus causing the warm air to blow under the curtains and into the window.
The front desk staff was very gracious in providing an extra blanket, but only after informing me that normally this was not a request that was honored because this property offered "Signature Suites" where the bedding and rooms were much more plush and comfortable than the standard rooms, as the "Signature Suites" offered designer bedding and linen. The "Signature Suites" were offered at a higher price than the standard suites and were all booked upon my check-in.
Since I was directed to the Fresno area on business, I really didn't have a choice on where my company housed me through the duration of my stay. I'm sure that if my company knew that this property did not offer a "full kitchen" as stated on the website, I may have been housed at another location and/or hotel.
I am thankful for the hotel staff listening to me explain my situation, even if they could not remedy my issues. I ended up having to donate my frozen foods, totaling approximately $250 that required baking in an oven, to a local church.
My stay at this property was pleasant but shorter than expected despite not having an oven. I was scheduled to stay and live here for three (3) months while I worked but I convinced my company to relocate me to another hotel chain/property that had an actual "full kitchen" with appliances.
If this property had a "real full kitchen" then my stay would have been much, much better and I don't think I would have had to check out on an early departure.
I would recommend this hotel to friends and family, however, I would caution them that a "full kitchen" does not always mean that there is an actual stove with a functioning oven. I think that my companies travel department misinterpreted "full kitchen with stove top" for an actual kitchen with a real stove.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC