We will not be back
By caithlin, 04/24/09
We had stayed at a La Quinta in nearby Fruita the previous year, found the accomodations quite satisfactory and so had no reservations about staying in another one before an early morning flight out of Grand Junction.
Sadly, our experience left us with too little sleep and the decision to never return. The room was stuffy, smelled a little "off" and the thermostat on the air-conditioner wouldn't go lower than 65 degrees. Almost every button on the T.V remote ---not only the channel up/down but also the mute, menu and, most curiously, the volume control--caused the T.V to change channels. I was watching a favorite program and hit 'mute' during a commercial break. Suddenly I was watching a sports channel. Pressing mute again did NOT bring me back to my program but to yet another channel. It took several minutes to find my program again as there was no T.V guide in the room and nothing I pressed on the remote would bring up a menu on the screen....every button just changed the channel. There was no fan in the bathroom and the pillows on the bed were like rocks making it impossible to get comfortable when we went to bed. The din of the air conditioner also made sleeping difficult. We tried opening the window instead but there was too much noise from the interstate and bright lights from the parking lot. After a restless few hours we got up and decided to take our things to the car. We found that the elevator was shut off. I have no objections to taking the stairs for three flights but what if I had had a broken leg and couldn't manage stairs very well? What is the rationale behind shutting the elevator off at night anyway? To top everything off, when I went to the front desk at 5:45 a.m to return the keys and get a printed receipt, there was no one there. There was no bell to ring so I yelled "hello" repeatedly but got no response. I did see a younger guy standing on the sidewalk outside the lobby doors talking on a cell phone who looked like he could be the clerk due to the way he was dressed but he made no motion to get off the phone and come inside when he saw me go into the lobby.
I would recommend you spend your money and the night elsewhere. I chose La Quinta over the Marriott Courtyard (which has always been a good experience) because I wanted to save $50. I won't make the same mistake again.
