I stay in hotels over 2/3rds of the year on business. I tend to frequent Staybridge Suites, Residence Inns, Towneplace Suites, and similar suite hotels that are nice, but permit pets. Last year I was in hotels for over 300 days.
On two occassions I have reserved a room at this hotel. Both times, the reservation was not honored as made.
On both occasions, the desk staff was not remotely accommodating.
The first time, they seemed peeved that my checking in was interrupting their conversation about their weekend plans. When they did finally stop talking to check me in, they refused to assign me the room I had been preassigned. This room had been prearranged by a sister Staybridge hotel and also confirmed by me earlier in the day. The reservation was not honored, the room was downgraded on a front desk clerk's whim, and I was moved to a highly inconvenient location, even though the hotel was definitely not crowded. I asked why they were moving me to an inconvenient location and they told me it was "for my convenience"! (What the heck?!?) I asked if the room that I had originally reserved on the first floor near the door was still available and they said yes, but they simply refused to assign the room to me. It appeared the entire episode was simply on the desk clerk's whim.
The room that I was assigned was upstairs in the center of the hotel, which meant that I had to move my business equipment and multiple suitcases much further than necessary and also had to ride in an elevator with my dog (a 50 lb collie), which can be intimidating to other customers. It was a very bizarre decision by the desk clerk, to say the least.
After getting to the room, the key did not work and we discovered that they had issued me a key for someone else's room a few doors down. (Makes you feel very secure, I know.) I had to then ride back down the elevator with the office equipment and dog and get a new key, and repeat the whole process. This was the *good* part. The internet also didn't work and of course, no other priority club amenities were available because of the room switch. And after the key and internet episodes, it truly went downhill! I finally switched hotels in frustration (and it was 10pm at night).
The next day, I received a profuse apology from the sales manager and an offer of a comped stay. A few months later, I decided to give them another try. This second time, my reservation was simply cancelled. I spoke to management, who was of no help and quite rude. I was pretty astounded and found the manager's attitude unprecedented.
When I tried to investigate this, I was informed that this hotel is independently owned and doesn't have to follow the same rules as the hotels owned by Intercontiental Hotel Group. So, don't expect to have any complaints or issues resolved.
On the plus side, the accomodations are nice if you completely ignore the staff. The rooms are brand new and have standard Staybridge amenities. If you are a long-term traveler and can manage to get someone to check you in who is trying to be helpful, it might be okay.
But getting checked in and having your reservation honored appears to be a very big "if" at this location. If you don't mind taking a chance on whether your reservation will be honored, it might be worth a try.
I would avoid this place if you are looking for reliability. You may luck out and be treated nicely or you may be treated like I was. I think it's definitely a coin toss at this location.
There are plenty of nicer accomodations that are in a more convenient location. I would recommend an "Uptown" hotel near I-40, as there are a ton of shops and restaurants in this area and lots of nice hotels. This Staybridge Suites is on the northern outskirts of town and feels a little unsafe to me. It's isolated and near some sort of auto-body shop, and just makes me a little nervous late at night with a lot of stuff to unpack.
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