Super 8 Los Angeles Downtown
Written: Mar 04 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: HBO, microwave, refrigerator, handicapped parking
Cons: no view, directly on Sunset Boulevard
The Bottom Line: A pleasant stay at this Motel that is near Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles.
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| bonniesayers's Full Review: Super 8 Los Angeles Downtown |
The rainy season has hit the Southern California region with power outages this past week affecting my residence for 14 plus hours. This Super 8 Los Angeles Downtown is located in close proximity to Dodger Stadium. I saw this Motel being built several years ago and always wanted to check it out.
Tuesday morning at 4 am the power turned off, but did not come back on by the time my son headed off to school. In the past our power returns in under two hours, but this was not the case for portions of Los Angeles.
The local Walgreen's and Rite Aid had power so I stocked up on batteries for my portable tv and radio and purchased more candles. I had been at the emergency room Sunday for a flare up on my face and was feeling very uncomfortable with no ventilation in my house as a result of the power outage.
Once I picked up my oldest son from school we headed off to the library to use the computers and then visited the Super 8 Los Angeles Downtown to see what the rooms looked like and make sure they had microwaves and refrigerators available.
The lobby was very nice and bright with yellow couches and glass windows to see Sunset Boulevard. The girl at the customer service told us to take the elevator to the second floor where rooms were open and we could look at them.
I was given the price of $85 as the price for one adult and two children. There are three floors total with the stairs easy to access as well. The parking lot has three front spaces, two handicapped along with the garage and several other sections.
The room we walked into had two large beds, a table with two chairs, desk and chair, refrigerator with microwave on top and a decent sized bathroom. The television was very large with the same channels we have at home plus HBO was available.
The smell of the room was a bit musty and I think it was a smoking room. I tested the controls for the temperature and noticed heat, fan and cool all worked. It seemed fine for our needs to be close by with the necessities for one night.
We visited about 2 pm and learned that check in is at 3 with checkout at Noon. I started packing things at home around 3:30 when the power had still not returned. We arrived at the Super 8 Los Angeles Downtown around 5 pm with a different person at the desk. He was not the most pleasant person to deal with having just come on shift.
I was asked if I had a AAA membership for a discount, which I do not. I inquired for an Allstate Motor Club offer, but they did not have anything. The price was $78.00 for the room with $10.92 the tax. I used my debit card without incident and was told I would get a receipt at checkout.
We were in room 225, not the same one we had visited earlier, but an identical room just the same. The bathroom had a blow dryer and a ventilated fan plus the light switch. There was ample counter space around the sink and over the toilet so I had all our plastic baggies lined up with our medications and toiletries.
There were plenty of towels and racks, extra toilet paper and two bars of soap, one of facial soap with two Pantene tubes of shampoo. The blow dryer did work as I utilized it the following morning.
The beds seemed to be Queen sized and I removed the bedspreads and kept them in corners near each bed. We did not use the three drawers in the dresser. I did find clean ashtrays - one in bathroom and one on the table that I placed on top of the dresser cabinet.
I was able to hook up the portable DVD player on the desk for one child to view a movie. The lamp on the desk had an outlet, but I used the one on the wall that was open. The other outlet was filled with the lamp and clock radio. The clock was set to the right time so I programmed it to wake us up the following morning and set the time on the television for it to turn on at a certain time. The television swiveled around, which delighted my son who could watch it from bed and at the table.
The microwave was easy to maneuver by pressing time and the number of minutes for the meals we brought along. There were several plastic cups for drinking, ice bucket and two small garbage containers with no extra bags. There was another outlet plug next to the refrigerator I used for a nightlight brought from home.
The fan and air conditioning worked very good bringing a crisp feeling to the room quickly. The dark green curtains blowed when the A/C was on, but not when the fan was circulating. The view was an apartment building next door where we could see into several kitchens.
There were the two overhead lights next to the beds with each able to turn on or off independently of the other. The table had phone books and the Bible with a phone on top. There was also a phone on the desk that was very large and had an empty drawer.
The closet had about six wooden hangers with an iron on the floor. There were visible smoke detectors plus a Hollywood magazine with notepaper, television channel listings and guidebook for visitor information.
I did not use the phone to call the DWP number to find out about power being restored since it cost forty cents per call. I do not own a cell phone so waited for the next day to learn about power at my residence. The cost for sending a fax at the Super 8 Los Angeles Downtown is $2.00 to US with $4.00 for the first page International.
The payment options at this Motel were American Express, Visa and MasterCard. The Continental Breakfast was from 6:30 - 10:30 am. I grabbed a powdered donut for my son who loved it along with a glass of orange juice. The room was clean and well stocked for the breakfast offerings. I noticed one other person grabbing some goodies.
The cable channels on the television included Disney, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Food Network, National Geographic and many more. The lobby had a large fish tank that kept my son's attention while I checked in and grabbed more items from the car. This was located directly next to the elevator.
There were three vending machines at the second floor after the elevator. One consisted of candy and chips, another was soda and water with the third one a Toombstone pizza machine with costs at $3.00 and $3.50. It looked like you would insert money and receive frozen item to place inside the microwave.
There is also an option for a rollaway bed at five dollars. Visitors could call the desk at 0 for taxi or wake up call. The alarm and television both went off at the time I set them. The street noise did not affect us at all and I only heard a little bit of traffic outside before we went off to sleep.
We left early in the morning to take my son to school and then found out power had been restored. An hour later my other son and I went back to pack up and check out of the Super 8 Los Angeles Downtown. I signed the receipt and gave the keycard to the customer service person.
There was another family checking out and having breakfast at a table in the lobby. In the morning when we left for school I noticed the parking lot was quite filled. I was able to park in the handicapped parking each time we arrived.
At night I had to go outside in the parking lot to the dumpster to toss out the food and diaper as there was no garbage can anywhere to be found. The clerk told me where to find the dumpster.
Overall the room was comfortable and convenient for us to spend a night instead of dealing with candles and poor ventilation. My kids were able to eat and watch television and sleep soundly. My skin improved quicker since I had the air conditioning on all night.
Later that day I checked my banking account online and noticed an amount of $101.40 that I did not recognize. This turned out to be the amount that Super 8 Los Angeles Downtown authorized, although they blamed the bank for the amount.
The next day the correct amount had been deducted from my checking account. My kids were pleased with the size of the room and the beds. I was able to sleep in one bed with my younger son while my almost eleven-year old delighted in having such a large bed to himself.
I liked having the sink in the bathroom as opposed to in the room as we had in the Holiday Inn last spring break at San Diego. This bathroom was larger in size with much more counter space.
If we ever encounter any emergency situations here in Los Angeles again I would not hesitate in staying at the Super 8 Los Angeles Downtown.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
bonniesayers
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 - Top 50 |
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
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