My husband & I stayed at this motel along with some other friends the weekend of the Great Taste of the Midwest. The motel is next door to the Great Dane Pub which has a shuttle to the festival. Location wise it was fine. A cab to downtown didn't take to terribly long, but wasn't cheap. Hotwire includes this hotel, which is in Fitchburg, in its downtown area. While it isn't terribly far from downtown, it's not downtown at all. If looking for Downtown be aware that this hotel is included in the zone.
Upon arrival we parked close to the front door and checked in. The hotel has two buildings, one that's all rooms, and a second across an above ground walkway that has some rooms along with meeting rooms & a restaurant. We didn't eat at the restaurant, but we did use the Happy Hour free drink coupons we got from the front desk. The bartender was friendly enough. Our room was in the main building on the third floor. The rooms are large, but not in a useful way. There was a lot of wasted space in our room. A chair or two with a table would have helped it be less awkward.
My first gripe was that the room had a very strong cleaning supply smell and the windows don't open. Eventually I got used to the smell, but I really hate when a room has a horrid chemical smell. While the bed was comfortable, the room itself wasn't in great shape. It wasn't necessarily dirty, just starting to look worn out. It's the type of hotel that used a lot of cheap materials and age hasn't been kind. The tub had stains, the floor tiles were separating at the grout lines, the sink had cracks in it, the bathroom door threshold was cracked, etc. The bathroom light was an exhaust fan/light combo. The fan was so loud I couldn't hear anything from outside the bathroom. Even while brushing my hair my husband had to stand right next to me or the fan drowned him out. Annoying.
The employees at the front desk were friendly. Housekeeping wasn't annoying. The location was great for what we needed it for. I just really didn't like the rooms. I probably wouldn't suggest this motel to friends unless there's a really good deal. For what we paid we probably should have paid a bit more and stayed closer to downtown.
- Quality Inn Madison
- Madison Quality Inn
