Travelodge La Mesa, La Mesa

The service is the best. My family was so happy we stayed at the Travelodge of La Mesa, they said they are impressed in my choice. All the staff is always so nice and friendly. They have many suggestions to help plan your vaca and are fun to talk with after a busy day of sight seeing. My wife loved the rooms (clean freak). I will go back. Thank you.

******WARNING******* we recommend this hotel all the time because it is in an easy convenient area and it is nice inside has a nice pool but this past time we had terrible customer service! Horrible hotel they canceled our second night and treated us like criminals for having one extra person then planned on in the room, they had us escorted out of the building!!! We are good rule following people, they didn't give us any warning and locked us out of our room and said you cannot have visitors in their hotel as a guest at anytime in the pool or in our rooms! What???? Thanks for kicking us out on my sons birthday! Never going there again! Disappointed because I had liked the location before.

The parking lot is small and the spaces are tight. I saw the owner purposely take two spots one day. I have a Ford Escape with two new dents because of this parking lot. I save a total of fifty bucks from this booking. Was it worth it? No. It's about 12-15 miles from San Diego and the attractions/beaches. The rooms were equivalent to the other hotels I stayed at around Hotel Circle.

I'm not sure why there are so many bad reviews of this place. I stayed here with my boyfriend on two separate nights (two different rooms) and thought it was a really great hotel, undeserving of only a 2-star rating. We booked only one night through Expedia and were going to stay in another part of San Diego for the second night, so we booked a Best Western (also a 2 star hotel for the same price). That hotel was absolutely HORRIBLE, so we got our money refunded and booked the Travelodge for the second night. It felt like the Hilton compared to the other place. Very clean and comfortable bed, microwave and fridge in the room, extra toiletries (e.g., toothpaste, breathe right strips), fresh waffles and fruit in the morning, and Sinatra in an elegant lobby. The manager was super helpful, too. At check-in, we asked where we could go for dinner around the area, and when we came back down from our room to go out, he had printed out directions to the restaurant area and drew us a little map of the restaurants. This place felt like a bed and breakfast. He did mention that they are very strict when it comes to smoking and too many people in one room (due to noise), and said that he has kicked people out for violating their rules. So as long as you keep these two things in mind, you'd have a pleasant stay like we did. Great value for the price. Would come back here again.

We just came home after spending our annual three weeks with these fine folks...Nothing much has changed except some personnel (all for the better). We expected the best and received it. Breakfast is now an event. Try it folks, if you like peace and quiet and a well managed motet. Love it more and more...Arkansas travelers

I had a reservation but during the check in process I was grilled by the manager, lots of question. I thought it was just chit-chat. He used the information to find an excuse to kick me out. It was bizarre and strange and surreal. I couldn't believe it- I didn't do anything wrong and I'm a quite respectable person. The night manager was rude, haughty, and borderline nasty. He basically told me to shove it. Rather than argue with him and get no where fast, I simply left in stunned disbelief. The manager told me to take up the refund issue with Travelocity, which I sure did and got a refund from them. This is the WORST MOTEL ON THE PLANET. Ok, it's cheap and no frills but I received the worst treatment of my life by a motel or hotel of any number of stars. This place is a zero because of their management. Please don't go there. Look at the other reviews. I had the same bizarre treatment as others. Very odd.

This is a copy of review I posted on Expedia, because that is where I booked my trip. Much of this is simplified, but I can assure all other "1" reviews are telling the true story. I have a case opened in BBB in San Diego, against this hotel. Please consider these reviews here seriously, or you will be sorry. Travelers beware. If you have kids, you can be cheated by crooks like this owner. I booked for 5 nites. After 2nd nite and we came back, the key did not work. Asked front desk, and they changed the key, and the owner handed me a slip to charge me $60, saying the bed and sheet have been urinated. I have 5yr and 24yr traveled with me. 5yr sleep in same bed with me. I KNOW she did not wet the bed. I kept arguing, and the owner just said "just sign it" My 24yr girl also started to argue with him, and he shouted out "you are NOBODY, you are not customer so you are NOBODY" I made a poor judgment to ask my 5yr to make sure she did not pee. She, of course, got very scared b/c she thought she was blamed on something she did not do. The owner threw us out, trying to leverage on putting family with kid out at 10pm at night to look for hotel. I do not know if that is legal or not, but crooks have his advantage at that point. When we have got our room opened to pack, what did we found!!!! The bed that they rolled away was the bed that my 24yr slept on!!!! I do not find this to be funny, but it has its humors. The moral of this is that if you are look for hotel, and you have kids, beware!! When your kids are tied after a long day of play, the crook could leverage this to cheat you on extra money. I know it is his words against mine, and you have to make your own decision to take this chance. I have read reviews here that mentioned owner threw them out, and I took a chance... This is barberic, and I hope to find ways to take away his operation license. Good luck.

He's an Indian by the name of Anal Shah and he can be extremely rude. He will throw you out for the slightest thing. You would think he manages the Ritz-Carlton, not some cheap motel far away from the main attractions in San Diego. Read what some travelers wrote about him on other travel sites like "Tripadviser". Believe them. I didn't and I really regret it. During my stay, I witnessed a woman being asked to leave but I didn't really think anything of it. Two days before I was supposed to check out, the same thing happened to me. He made up this lie that "I wouldn't let him into the room for four hours to shampoo the carpet (that got a little wet from the a small leak in the ceiling)". There was simply no reason for him to kick me out. I didn't break any rule, damage anything, or bother anyone. I even paid for my room in advance. He simply wanted me out of there because I called the corporate office to complain about him. After pocketing my money, he called the cops and they threw me and my child out into the street like trash. What a nasty way to thank me for my business. I DO NOT recommend Travelodge La Mesa. Do not waste your money at a place where the manager treats customers anyway he likes. There are many other hotels in the San Diego area with far better service and equally low prices.

I booked this trip via Expedia and paid for 4 nights upfront. I don't travel much haven't really traveled anywhere in the last 20 years. I booked the hotel because it was near my sister's home who I was visiting for the last time as she has terminal cancer. My adult son, who suffers from kidney failure and is on dialysis, came with me to help me get around San Diego as I am from Texas. Not having stayed at a hotel in 20years I was unaware of the deposit for incidentals which in this case turned out to be $150.00. The premise and rooms are clean. When I arrived to check in I was informed of the deposit and I paid it via my debit card (1st mistake). Well the next morning, I checked my bank account balance and found that the car rental co. had double charged me and I had very little money available to use for food etc.. during my 4 night stay. I called the Car Rental company while they were working on correcting my account I did ask the manager of this hotel if they could release any part of the deposit hold they had on my debit card because I was in a hardship situation and I didn't know how long it would take the car rental co. to resolve and plus Expedia never told me of the deposit. This was a calm and friendly conversation. The hotel manager informed me that they would be unable to refund the deposit hold until I checked out. I asked him kindly to reconsider as i was desperate but he refused. I told the manager o.k. if you can't refund it I have to live with that but I am not happy. As I turned to leave the front desk the manager became Irate and said I had to leave the hotel. I asked why I had to leave and he said "because I can't make you happy". Not having any other place to go I then said "ok let's just say I'm happy then" . He then said "I have already given you an opportunity to say you were happy. It's too late now. I'm calling expedia and you will need to find another hotel." Expedia agreed to refund me the 4 nights I paid for upfront but of course it would take time for the refund to be processed by the bank so the funds would show available. So of course I didn't have the money to pay for another set of rooms and whatever incidental deposit that the new hotel would want. Luckily a family friend came to my rescue. But this was the worst experience and worst service I have ever received in any service or industry I have encountered in my 62yrs. And just in case you are wondering I want all readers to know at no point did I become Irate or even raise my voice. I was so upset I started crying but this manager had no heart. It's like some foreign dictatorship where if the manager doesn't like something you said he will put you out even if you go ahead and agree to the policy or rule or apologize for any misunderstanding. Just saying that you are unhappy is enough to get you put out of this hotel. Please Please Please don't stay here. this incident just happened today (4/16/2010) I am still in San Diego but when I return to Texas I will go as far up the chain as possible to see that this general manager is punished. Travel Lodge should remove their name from this establishment. They shouldn't want their brand associated with such abysmal customer service. I know this sounds unbelievable that I was put out for just saying I was unhappy. I know you must think there was some sort of argument or confrontation but I swear there was none. You just can't say anything about their policies or procedures even if you agree to abide by them or you will be put out. Even though I realized Expedia should have advised of incidental policy and told the manager i misunderstood and apologized they would not let me stay

We were treated shamefully by the staff here. Our group (10 mature and responsible high school students, 4 parent chaperones who were scheduled to compete in a robotics competition the next morning) reserved with this place well in advance. We told them about our groups' size and needs in advance, and the motel assured us that all would be well. We arrived around 11 pm. We went (nicely, politely, quietly) into the lobby to check in. The young woman at the desk was unfriendly; she was soon joined by the manager/owner (Mr. A. Shah), who unexpectedly went ballistic (picture the "Soup Nazi" from Seinfeld) and started calling us "liars" and accusing us of either having too many people per room and/or of lying to them about the numbers of people we planned to have in the rooms. Dumbfounded, we tried to explain (nicely, politely, calmly) that we had been assured by his motel in advance that we could have as many as 4 people per reserved room, so long as one of the 4 was an adult, and that since we had 4 rooms reserved, 4 adults (1 per room), and would have no more than 2 or 3 students per room (again, we had 10 students), we were well within the "rules" that Mr. Shah kept yelling about. Throughout our attempted explanations and conversations with this man, he kept interrupting and raising his voice, telling us to leave and to stop lying. Then he accused one of our students of taking his photograph, and demanded that the student stop taking photos. So far as I saw, none of the students had in fact taken his photo. No matter; Mr. Shah just continued yelling and generally creating the impression that he is a part- or full-time belligerant, paranoid lunatic. Seeing that we were not dealing with a rational person, we started calling other hotels and motels in the area. Mr. Shah continued yelling at us to leave immediately, making it very clear that (a) he would not honor our advance reservations and that (b) he would nevertheless charge our credit card (the one we'd given to the hotel in advance to book the rooms) for the full charges for the 4 reserved rooms (yes, the ones he wouldn't let us into). He did in fact charge for the 4 rooms!! Thankfully, we called the Days Inn (less than a mile away at 7475 El Cajon Blvd. in La Mesa) and they were able to accommodate us immediately in very very nice rooms (probably better than this Travelodge, since Days Inn had 1 bedroom suites (2 queen beds) with separate living rooms (and fold-out couches) and kitchens for just $79 each). We drove to the Days Inn and checked in without any problems from them. In fact, the Days Inn desk person, Mr. Hitesh Patel, was extremely pleasant and professional. I CAN'T WARN YOU STRONGLY ENOUGH -- AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE. Maybe you'll be lucky, as some reviewers have apparently been, and enjoy the "privilege" of having your reservations honored by these people. But you could easily be another unfortunate traveler like us, finding yourself without shelter late at night for no discernible reason and despite all your best efforts. I have no idea what kind of problem -- mental, legal, criminal, whatever -- the staff here is experiencing, but there is absolutely no excuse for this kind of harassment and treatment. Someone else in our group made the reservations, and this would've been my first stay at a Travelodge. I will never attempt to stay at a Travelodge in the future (like another reviewer below stated, the Travelodge corporate office told us that they would forward our complaints on to the staff at the Travelodge La Mesa for response -- fat lot of good that will do, since obviously these are the same people who acted so badly in the first place!). I will be contacting the La Mesa Chamber of Commerce and anyone else I can think of starting tomorrow to complain further about this place and its crazy management staff. Proceed at your own risk.