I have stayed at this large two-story LaQuinta on repeated occasions when in Tyler for family gatherings nearby. Experiences have varied greatly.

The Good: It’s hard to beat the price here, sometimes running as little as $45 before taxes with an AARP discount. Unlike some chains, LaQuinta actually lowers rather than raises the price when booking with the AARP or AAA rates. Rooms are generally clean (see exceptions below), and bed linens and towels are of acceptable quality, though some of the towels may have seen fluffier days. The rooms are large enough to offer some open floor space and not seem crowded with furniture. I have not been bothered by noise here. The motel stretches back from a small frontage on the busy street, eliminating a lot of the traffic sounds. However, you may hear car doors slamming as people come and go from roomside parking spaces. The price of the stay includes breakfast consisting of a few hot dishes (self-made waffles), some pre-packaged pastry items, hard boiled eggs, and fresh fruit and cereal. The staff is very friendly. The maid even left a little note thanking me for her tip. Check-in and check-out at the front desk go smoothly. There is an outdoor swimming pool of decent dimensions in an interior courtyard with shady trees and landscaping. Some rooms appear to have been recently remodeled and are quite comfortable; however . . .

The Bad: Some rooms are overdue for upgrading and repair. Which type you get seems to be the luck of the draw. A recent stay was in a first-floor room that had rickety furniture, soiled and worn carpeting, mold on the shower tile grout, and a missing curtain panel. I hung a bath towel over the curtain rod to gain a modicum of privacy from motorists pulling into parking spaces directly in front of my window. The cleaning staff seemed to understand my innovation and just left the towel on the window during the entire 3 days of my stay. The curtain was never replaced or repaired. Also, during my last stay the wireless internet kept dropping its signal, making it difficult to conduct e-mail correspondence with my laptop. This had not been a problem during previous visits, and the front desk could offer no explanation; however, I eventually gave up trying to use the internet.

The Strange: The location of the motel on the bypass, which Texans refer to as a “loop,” is convenient to my occasional business in Tyler, but if it were not, I would likely seek another place to stay. The bypass has long since become a major business thoroughfare, bypassing nothing. The highway has at least 6 lanes of traffic and medians that prevent left turns, including into the LaQuinta driveway. It is accepted practice to drive past one’s turn-off to the next median break, hang a U-turn, and drive back in the opposite direction to your destination. As far as I can tell Tyler has no public transportation system, and there are also no sidewalks along the Loop. I tried walking a block or two down the street to a Red Lobster restaurant and quickly realized I should have just driven. A grassy shoulder along the roadway serves as a kind of sidewalk, until one must cross a bridged drainage ditch, which then requires balancing on the curb or walking on the pavement close to traffic. On the subject of eating out, Tyler is known as a “dry” city. Still, it’s quite possible to order alcoholic beverages with your meal, and the nearby Carino’s and Red Lobster even have pleasant bars (to and from which the locals drive their cars, sigh.) However, if you want to buy a bottle of wine to take to a family gathering or to enjoy in the privacy of your motel room, forget it. The sale of bottled alcoholic beverages is banned. People actually drive to another county for that kind of shopping. There appears to be no zoning ordinance in Tyler, or at least no enforcement. Directly across West Southwest Loop 323 from the LaQuinta is a massive grocery distribution operation with a bazillion semi trucks and trailers parked out front. There’s a Goodwill thrift store and collection center only a few doors down from the motel in one direction, and a large automobile body shop and tire yard visible from the upstairs rooms on the other side of the motel. Interspersed between these industrial and commercial sites are upscale chain restaurants and hotels, including a Fairfield Inn (right next door to Goodwill). I’ve also stayed at the Fairfield Inn. It’s probably worth the extra $40-$50 at Fairfield for the consistent quality of the rooms and reliable internet. And it’s convenient to second-hand clothes shopping.

Other notes about the area: As other reviewers have noted, Tyler’s Azalea Trails through charming residential neighborhoods with brick streets, are well worthwhile when the season is right. My food discoveries include a quite decent Japanese restaurant called Yamato at 2210 WSW Loop 323. (Not far from LaQuinta, but again, I recommend driving.) If you want to get some deli food and hang out in your room, try the very nice Brookshire’s supermarket not far away at the corner of Broadway Ave. and Rice Rd., which also has an espresso bar, or a new upscale natural foods market called Fresh, 2 to 3 miles away at 6991 Old Jacksonville Hwy. (Right next door to the LaQuinta is a chain diner called The Kettle, specializing in pancakes, but it looks pretty grim. You’re better off at the waffle maker in the LaQuinta breakfast room.) Bon chance et bon appétit.