Staying With Pets at Howard Johnson Lincoln, Nebraska
Written: Mar 28 '02 (Updated Apr 02 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clean, comfortable room, reasonably priced, warm pool, nearby meals.
Cons: Minor annoyances: towels, clock, only decaf coffee, no continental breakfast, no hot tub
The Bottom Line: Pretty property, plenty of free parking, warm pool, nearby restaurants. They could pay a little closer attention to the "little things."
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Every now and then my hubby and I like to get out of town, just for a day or so, see a little territory that is different, yet familiar, and that is what Lincoln, Nebraska does for us.
We are economical, so the AAA discounted room rate of $46 plus tax appealed to us. Another thing my husband looks for is a hot tub, and/or an indoor pool, both of which we believed this motel may have had.
My first encounter with this property was last year, when we were looking for a certain restaurant that offered a 2-fer coupon. Unfortunately, that restaurant had gone out of business, and that is when we discovered a WONDERFUL Indian restaurant instead.
http://www.epinions.com/content_1496621188
When coming in the back way to this property last year, my first thoughts were, "Who owns THIS dump?" Apparently Howard Johnson's had just taken it over and immediately started renovating the property.
They must have started renovating at the front desk/lobby area. It looked great last year, and remains nicely decorated and clean this year. The desk is immediately to the right as you walk in. There appears to be only one, overworked, yet friendly clerk, at a time to help you. I felt sorry for her this morning, as two or more phones were ringing at a time, and three guests were standing around the counter, all wanting to be helped.
Immediately to the left is a DaVinci's Italian restaurant. They seem to go over big in Lincoln, the city having several of the restaurants. Going farther back, and to the right, there is a bar, brown and red decorating colors, as I remember. We didn't go in, and I wasn't particularly interested, so I didn't pay close attention. Immediately following, there is a game gallery for the kids with no fewer than 10 video game machines, along with a few coin operated "junk machines," cheap, inexpensive baubles for the kids to drool over.
Money, Honey!
I may have forgotten to tell you that Howard Johnson's does not take checks. They WILL be happy to take your debit or credit card. If you have neither, you will be able to use their ATM machine instead, which is conveniently located just outside the game gallery. As well, there is a coin changer, so you have no excuse for running out of change to plug the video games with.
Hungry? Dirty Clothes? Don't Despair!
Howard Johnson's is very compassionate for the hungry/thirsty amongst us. As well as providing an inexpensive restaurant such as DaVinci's, they have provided you with snack machines where the most expensive item is donut sticks at 75 cents. 20 ounce pops, choice of Coke or Pepsi products, is only $1.00 with candy bars running 60 cents. There is one washer and dryer for your use, which cost about $1.00 each.
Do the Swim!
Across from the game gallery is the LARGE, WARM swimming pool. This indoor pool must be about 75' long, and about 35' wide at its irregular, widest point. The shallow end, with about three wide steps, is about 2' deep, and I believe the deepest point is about 7' deep. The pool is clean and well maintained. There is no oily scum, as on another hotel I reviewed in Omaha. (Epinions moved the location of the Omaha 4 Points Sheraton Motel, which has since been renamed the Clarion):
http://www.epinions.com/content_12209327748
Getting back to HoJo. My husband and I decided to go swimming after dinner. The heated pool was surprisingly warm. It wasn't exactly bath water, but it was warmer than most heated pools we have been in. Getting out of the pool, we grabbed for some pool towels. I believe they were about 24"x18" rectangular. It would have been SO NICE to have had a larger towel to wrap around our shoulders. I mentioned the size to the front desk clerk. She said we should be glad we had those, they had only had about a dozen towels before the folks from the swim meet had stayed there earlier. Still, they seemed to be rationing towels. By the end of our swim, there were no more towels readily available.
There were a dozen teens and preteens, apparently out on Easter Vacation/Spring Break splashing around and cutting up. I guess that is what pools are for, splashing and having fun. Pool hours end at 11PM, no exceptions. The pool opens again at 9AM. I got up early, and spied a senior couple sneaking past the rules and taking a quiet swim at 7:30AM. I don't think anyone cared, including myself. At 9AM, the kids were at it once again.
The decor around the pool is white PVC/vinyl picket fencing with the cornice caps, I believe they are called. If one person were to shove another person against it, I don't think they would stay together, but they are nice to look at and well maintained. There are a number of plants surrounding the pool area including mother in law tongues, umbrella trees, and lacy tree philodendrons. Dracena marginatas seemed to LOVE the atmosphere, I saw LOTS of little baby plants popping up.
The area also has a lot of white lattice surrounding it, as well as a lot of umbrella tables. There is no sun, just a concrete ceiling, so I guess the umbrellas are just for atmosphere. Comfortable, padded chairs surround the tables. Signs point out that food is not allowed in the "dome area" surrounding the pool. There is also a sign or two stating that any alcohol consumed around the pool area must be purchased from the bar.
Hot Tub, Anyone?
Well, maybe not THIS time. The facility used to have a gym, sauna, and a hot tub. It seems they had some problems with the hot tub, ordered some parts, but that didn't fix the problem. The problem appears to be beneath the unit. They are unsure at this point if they will be fixing it, or discontinuing it. It is best to call ahead first. (402) 464-3171
Meeting rooms and a business center are also available. We noticed a number of senior citizens gathering in the lobby the morning we left.
Wait! Don't Touch That Switch!
WHY are you reaching for that switch, just inside the door? To turn the lights off? Don't you realize you will also turn off the CLOCK RADIO? We saw it flashing 12:30 shortly after we entered the room and thought nothing about it. I looked toward the clock during the night, and realized it was receiving no power. If you need to turn the lamps off and on, it is best not to use the wall switch, but rather the switches on the individual lamps. I didn't check the wattage, but it appears the lamps have 60 watt bulbs.
The room has a nice 19" color TV, complete with remote control. The picture and sound are good. There is no HBO, Showtime, etc. but they do include some cable channels such as Discover or The Learning Channel. (I always get them mixed up, the one that Lynette Jennings is on.)
Decor
The room was newly and nicely decorated. The floors had teal rugs, and the draperies, which closed nicely,(but yet did let in some daylight) were mauve in color. There were two wooden padded chairs, a beautiful, quilted bedspead with one blanket, and two pillows. I was rather disappointed in the pillows, they seemed a bit flat. We are used to feather/down pillows at home, and anything less than about 4" thick to us is flat. The bed is queen sized, although one also has a choice of two doubles. Handicapped rooms are available. Although the bed seemed very comfortable, both my husband and I complained of minor stiff backs the next morning. This happens to me on the average of 5 times a year, so it is possible it was just one of those things.
Although I had no need to, I opened the drawer of the nightstand, and the drawer seemed to be on ball bearing rollers, very sturdy and took almost no effort to open. It had a Gideon's Bible and a phone book. Speaking of phones, the pamphlet says if you need to dial out, dial "8", then your number. Incorrect. Dial "9", then your number. There is no charge for dialing 1-800 numbers. There were several pamphlets/booklets on things to do in Lincoln, as well as a free copy of the Omaha World Herald at the front desk.
Looking up at the top of the mirror, there was a heater vent. When they remodeled the room, I think they forgot to change that, as it was a bit discolored, having somewhat of a marbled look.
There is a safe with a key inside your room. It is approximately 12" square. We got charged a $1.07 safe fee, even though we didn't use the safe. They aren't responsible for theft and the housekeeper will not make the bed if you leave your personal belongings on it. There is a sign in the parking lot to make sure you don't leave any personal items inside your vehicle. In looking at a copy of the Lincoln Journal/Star, there appeared to be about 20 incidents of items being taken from cars in a one week period, in this town of about 250,000 people.
You Like Mirrors?
If you like mirrors, this is the place for you. There are AT LEAST FOUR mirrors in this room. There is a series of about 4 mirrors, about 6' tall, which line the side of your bed. Use your imagination... There is also a mirror although not attached to the dresser, matches it, and is placed above it. As well, there is a full length mirror toward the corner of the room, about 1' to the right of the dresser mirror. (to check how you look in a certain outfit?) AND a mirror above the 4' wide white "marble" vanity.
Guys
My husband informs me that the seat won't stay up.
You Can Lead a Canine to the Grass, ...
Again, we took our canine's with us. We know how they act at home, but we can't guarantee that in a strange place. Howard Johnson's charges a $25 damage deposit for pets. We used our debit card, so we incurred no additional expense, unless the girls disappointed us, which they did not. (The $25 deposit was good for all three of them, not individually, and it is fully refundable, with no damage.)
The only "green space" we found was directly in front of the motel, about a 30' wide strip of grass along the front of the building. Some times "the girls" complied, and they got room privileges, other time they did not, and got crated until they complied. This grassy area looked relatively clean, they might pick it up once a day. We forgot their food and water dish at home. When we ate out earlier that night, we asked our server for an extra takeout container and turned the top half into a food dish, the bottom half into a water bowl.
We were given a non-smoking room, and at least it didn't have any smoke stench, the way another room did that accepted pets in an earlier review. (I have nothing against smokers, I used to smoke 2 packs a day in my earlier years, and know the craving can be overpowering.)
Coffee, Anyone?
Well, I guess you can have coffee, as long as it's decaf. While Lincoln has a fair amount of 7th Day Adventists in its' population, I don't believe this is the reason behind the decaf coffee. When we discovered we had no regular coffee, I figured I'd go to the front desk and ask them for some, figuring it was an oversight on the housekeeper's part. Seems they were running low on regular coffee. The overworked front desk clerk found a 3 lb can of Folgers, went and had DaVinci's Restaurant open it, the clerk cutting her finger in the process. She handed it to me, I took it to our room, and I discovered that our coffee maker required filters and our prepackaged coffee, already in our rooms, was pre-filtered. (There was already a filter surrounding a premeasured amount of coffee.) All that for nothing. Oh well. Mc Donald's is just across the street.
As well as McDonald's being across the street, Burlington Northern has a track just across the street as well. The property was quiet as there are no nearby intersections that the trains have to toot for. As well, I could not hear any noise from the traffic along Cornhusker Road, even though we were toward the front of the complex.
Did you forget something at home and need a spare? 27th Street is a couple of miles to the west, and has a plethora of restaurants, a grocery store, as well as K-Mart and Wal-Mart. Unless you're a football fan, you may want to avoid the city on weekends the Huskers are playing at home. It tends to be a bit crowded with an additional 20,000+ people in town.
I would rate this as a recommended property, but my husband might disagree, as he was lamenting over the lack of a hot tub, no coffee and no free breakfast (but they never advertised a free breakfast.)
Pros
Newly remodeled
WARM pool
Accept pets
Free Paper
Lunch and dinner restaurant on premises
McDonald's across the street
Helpful staff
Cons
No hot tub
No free breakfast
No regular coffee
(402) 464-3171 5250 Cornhusker Highway Lincoln, Nebraska
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
remnjava
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Zekiah born 11-3-03 6lb 14 oz 19 3/4" dark curley hair blu eyes
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