Background:

I was attending a meeting in Los Angeles so I went looking for a motel. The meeting was being held in a transit authority building behind Union Station so I wanted to find someplace close to downtown so I wouldn’t need a rental car.

I checked Travelocity and Hotwire but nothing was really reasonable (the Bonaventure I booked for $60.00 a few months earlier was $90.00 for this weekend), so I started checking other websites.

I found a rate for $65.00 at the Best Western Dragon Gate Inn which is in the heart of Chinatown so after exhausting all of my other options, I went ahead and booked it.

The Motel:

Address: Best Western Dragon Gate Inn
818 North Hill, Los Angeles, CA 90012-2395
213-617-3077

As mentioned, the hotel is located in the heart of Los Angeles’ Chinatown which is ok during the day but can be scary for some after dark. The hotel as a total of 52 rooms.

The hotel is 3 stories with an open courtyard with the first level having the front desk and various shops.

Advertised Services:

-Business Services, Free Breakfast, Dry Cleaning & Laundry, Room Service, Free Wireless Internet Service, and Fitness Center.

Check In:

There was one person in line ahead of me when I went to check in. After he left the front desk agent asked if he could help and I told him I had a reservation. The rate I got was a special internet rate which required prepayment. He looked at the computer, looked around the desk, and then went into a room behind the front counter. At this point I was starting to wonder if I hadn’t made a big mistake.

Finally the guy came back out from the other room and asked me to fill out paperwork. I am a Best Western Gold Crown member and prepaid for the room and I will have to say that they require more paperwork than any motel/hotel I have every seen.

The person behind the counter also had a difficult time with his English which made the process even more difficult. It also turned out that I was charged twice for the room (see below).

However, after a couple of minutes we got everything worked out and he gave me the key to the room. I wished he would have told me at this point that I needed coupons for the continental breakfast because when I tried to get them in the morning the he was too busy (fortunately they served a small breakfast at my meeting).

Then another guy came from the office behind the counter and asked if I needed any restaurant recommendations. He also handed me a menu for the restaurant owned by the same people who own the motel.

The Room:

I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the room as it was large and clean. As you enter the room the bathroom is to left with the vanity then a separate room for the toilet and full sized tub.

Next up on the left was a closet that was small but should suit most people fine. Beyond the closet you entered the main part of the room. To the right was the king size bed and to the left was a desk and chair with the telephone, then an armoire with a television. Beyond the armoire the wall on the left jogged and you entered an extension of the room that had a table & chairs and a second desk.

The rooms were tastefully decorated and being in Chinatown they did have an Asian theme although minimal it was pleasant, not over done like some places can be. There was a selection of about 35 television stations, and they also include a leather bound three ring binder in the room which mentions the hotel’s services and area attractions.

Parking:

There are a couple of spots next to the building for checking in but overnight parking is in a valet garage in the basement and they charge you $7.00 per night for using it (much better than the $25.00 for the Westin Bonaventure).

However the valet is only there at certain times of the day. The second morning when I went down to retrieve my car to take it back to the airport there was no one present so I went upstairs to the front desk and after several minutes of searching they found the keys and I headed downstairs.

Then it turned out that the car was blocked in by another so I had to go back upstairs where the front desk person came back down and moved the car that was blocking mine.

Services Advertised by Not Provided:

On the Best Western website, the hotel advertises that they offer a shuttle to Union Station. When parking my car I noticed that there was a shuttle van sitting in the parking area. However when I went to ask about it (since I was going to be going to Union Station a couple of times during my trip) they said that taxi’s provide service and they would pay a portion of it.

Well it was not that far of a walk to Union Station from the hotel so I decided to just to walk back and forth.

In the area:

As can be expected since this hotel is in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles, there is a large number of Chinese Restaurants in the area. The hotel also owns a restaurant that is located next to the hotel.

In the lower courtyard of the hotel there is a pharmacy and a café. Other places of note are listed below.

Union Station ˝ Mile
Olvera Street ˝ Mile
Dodger Stadium ˝ Mile
Federal & State Courts ˝ Mile
Little Tokyo 1 Mile
Convention Center 1 ˝ Miles
Staples Arena 1 ˝ Miles
Old Town Pasadena 8 Miles
Hollywood 2 Miles

Overcharged:

While the room was clean and comfortable the issues with the front desk and the parking made the visit less than pleasant.

The first issue was that I was double-charged, this had to do with a wrong expiration date entered for my credit card. The front desk person said he could do nothing and I would have to call the reservation center to have it taken care off. Well I called the reservation center once I got to my room and they said the motel made the mistake and will have to take care of it. The next morning when I was heading to the airport to drop off my rental car since I only needed it for one day I explained the situation to the gentleman at the counter who apparently was one of the owners but he just gave me a blank stare and said “know nothing, must talk to person who will be in at 9:00AM”. Great; since my meeting started at 9:00AM so I left a note for the person.

When I came back from my meeting, the person from last night was back and I told him the reservation center told me that they, the hotel, would have to take care of the over billing and he said it was taken care of. Fortunately I did get my refund after a couple of weeks of phone tag.

Overall:

Would I stay here again? Well, maybe, but only if the rate was really good. Their regular rates on the website range from $125 to $145 which is outrageous for what you get.

Dealing with the front desk people can be difficult at times, but everything worked out fine. The room turned out to be very nice although the area surrounding the hotel is not the best.


Recommended: No