Barely worth it
Written: Sep 21 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Convenient to the airport, cheap if you book on-line
Cons: Just about everything else.
The Bottom Line: If price is your overriding consideration, this is the place for you. Otherwise, you can do better.
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| Penguinlady's Full Review: Extended Stay America-Sacramento |
We had a very early flight one morning last week, and didn’t want to have to do the slightly-more-than-an-hour drive to the Sacramento airport in the middle of the night. In the past when this has happened, we’ve stayed at the Quality Inn in Natomas, but I thought it would be interesting to try a new place. So I booked us into Extended Stay America - Sacramento.
LOCATION
Extended Stay America - Sacramento is located at 3825 Rosin Ct., Sacramento, CA 95834. Phone: 916/920-8199. Fax: 916/920-8198
To get there, exit I-80 at Northgate Blvd. and turn south. Go to the next traffic light at Rosin and turn left. Swing around to the end of the street and there it is.
To get to the Sacramento Airport, get back on I-80 westbound for a mile or two and take I-5 northbound for five miles. The total distance to the airport is about eight miles.
THE MOTEL
Extended Stay America - Sacramento is a 3-story building with external walkways and a central elevator. The office is small and can be hard to find. It’s also locked after 9:00 pm, so you have to use a phone to buzz the night manager to let you in.
The motel is designed for travelers who need a place for a few days, so each room has a small kitchenette.
I had booked a king bed, non-smoking room, and that’s exactly what we got. In addition to the bed and a single night-stand on one side, it contained a club chair, a pair of dinette chairs and a small dining table, and a low dresser with the TV on it. There was a lamp on the night-stand and an iron and board in the open closet.
The bed was extremely firm; at first it seemed too firm, but I actually slept quite comfortably.
The kitchenette contained a small sink, a 2-burner electric coil stove, and an apartment-sized fridge. There was a small microwave on a shelf over the sink and a toaster in the cupboard. It was equipped with four plates, four cups, four plastic glasses, two forks, two knives (one of which was plastic,) two spoons, two saucepans, a skillet, and a pancake-turner. There was a potholder and dish-towel in a drawer.
A coffee-maker, packet of coffee, and two plastic cups were on the kitchenette counter.
The bathroom was pretty spartan: two hand-sized soaps, two bath towels, two hand towels, and two face-cloths.
We were at the very end of the building, so it was quiet, but we didn’t have a window on the end wall, so there was no cross-ventilation.
Natomas has a mixed reputation; part of it is rough, but the area around here seems OK. There were several people standing around smoking on the walkways, and the open door of the room next to ours revealed a large young man in a tank-top, earbuds in his ears, pounding away on a laptop with the TV at full blast; his room looked as though he'd been living in it for a while, without the benefit of housekeeping services. He turned the TV down shortly after we arrived.
WHAT WE LIKED
The location is as good as it’s going to get for access to the airport in this price range.
The room was clean.
The price was definitely right - see below.
WHAT WE WEREN’T SO CRAZY ABOUT
There was only one bedside stand, so only one lamp. That made reading impossible for one of us.
We didn’t need the kitchenette, but if we had, we’d have been in big trouble. Plates for four but flatware for two? No cooking utensils? I don’t expect a full kitchen, but if you position yourself as a housekeeping hotel, there should be as much flatware as there is dinnerware, and maybe even a cooking spoon, for a big splurge.
There was no hair-dryer anywhere.
There were no extra blankets or pillows in the room. That wasn’t a big problem for reading in bed, since only one person can do so because of the lack of a second night-stand and lamp, but it made watching the late news on TV uncomfortable.
TARIFF
This is the good news. By booking on-line, I got the room for $60.
SUMMARY AND VERDICT
This is by far the most spartan place I’ve ever stayed. The entire impression created, from the locked and empty registration office to the lack of flatware for the poor schlump who thinks he’s getting a housekeeping room for a few days, was that management was doing the absolute minimum they could get away with and really doesn’t care about your comfort. One reading lamp, no hair-dryer, careless and inadequate equipping of the kitchenette - I certainly don’t expect luxury for $60, but even for that price, I do expect some of the basics.
That said, recommendation is tough - I wouldn't want to stay here again, but it's quite acceptable for a single night if your primary consideration is cost. The room, while uncomfortably spartan, was clean and quiet.
Extended Stay America - Sacramento is not a place I’ll be returning to. I don’t know how their other motels are, but this one's sole asset is its convenient location. Next time I'll pay the big splurge of $70 and go back to the Quality Inn next door. One star.
Recommended:
No
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Penguinlady
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