My family and I were relocating from Washington state to Virginia last month and has the misfortune of finding one of our trip stops in Oklahoma City. Because we had our two cats with us, finding a pet friendly hotel was a priority and we'd been staying in La Quintas the entire way to our destination. But on this night, we discovered that not all La Quintas are created equally.
Upon arrival we were met with an empty parking lot which was our first clue that this was going to be an odd stay. While my husband and I were checking in, my brother said he witnessed a man pushing a cart of empty cans through the parking lot. Lovely. Our room was on the complete opposite side of the hotel from the lobby despite being empty. Once we found our room, the issues with the hotel becoming glaringly apparent.
Firstly, all of the other patrons of the hotel for the night were huddled in rooms together as if we all could find safety in numbers. Three quarters of the hotel is hauntingly empty with tattered curtains hanging in the window and pitch dark inside. Secondly, the railings and condition of the building were so rusted and dilapidated, that it reminded me of the current condition of the Titanic which rests at the bottom of the ocean. The grounds were littered with sandbags, bags of concrete and dead and dying grass. Our room was the only bright spot of the experience if by bright spot you mean the slight sheen off a fresh, wet turd. It appeared to be recently remodeled but the clothing rack was barely hanging onto the wall and the bathroom floor must have been polished with corn syrup. There was a used towel on the back of the bathroom door. The air vents emitted what reeked of stale urine and the sheets smelled of smoke.
The three of us had a serious conversation about leaving and even my cats wouldn't get out of the carrier (and at this point, they'd been in there for hours but though that was a better alternative than to walk on the carpet). "It's only one night," my husband said and I gave in. I called my Mom to let her know where we were in case we were murdered during the night. We all slept with one eye open just waiting to hear the sound of glass breaking as one of our cars was broken into. It didn't feel safe, at all. There were some loud people and our room butted up against a party/mini golf place which played loud Top 40 hits for hours.
I set my alarm early so we could leave the next morning as soon as possible. You know you're in a crap hole place if you are pleasantly surprised to awaken to your car windows intact. After this stay I read the other reviews and were happy to report we didn't see any cockroaches, though that probably would have convinced my husband we should have left so I don't know if that's a blessing or not.
Please, go somewhere else. (And I mean this to Nick, the nice guy who checked us in- you're too nice to work in such a septic pit!). There's another La Quinta down the freeway a bit that looks so much nicer. We passed it five minutes down the road the next morning. And shout out to the photographer who took the online photos of this hotel- you must be quite a talent to polish a turd like this place.
Update: This place has since closed! Unbelievable, right?
Update: This place has since closed! Unbelievable, right?
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