Isola Bella

I stayed here for 4 months during FAA training. I noticed walking by many of the other apartments that I had been put in one of the outdated units. It still was not too bad. Smelled a little off when I first moved, and it’s very dimly lit, but had everything I needed otherwise. The property is great I enjoyed having a lake and gym. The gym could use some updating as well, but again has everything I needed.
My only big complaint was the food that was provided. It is over-​the-​top greasy and unhealthy night after night. Other than the salad bar, you could expect a reasonably healthy meal no more than 2 nights a week.
Staff is great, very helpful and friendly. Great option for FAA employees, especially considering the shuttle service. I will stay here again if I wind up back in OKC.

We decided to get a room somewhere because we had been without power for a couple days when the ice storm hit right after Thanksgiving. I didn’t realize what part of town these were in until we got there.
We called and reserved a two bedroom one bath and was told that it would be a total of $ 108 including tax after she looked it up on one of those discount sites on the internet. When we go there she said it was going to be $ 148 because of the two extra people although we told her on the phone it was for 4 people. After arguing for a few minutes, we decided to take it because my son needed electricity so he could use the nebulizer for his asthma.
This «hotel» used to be apartments, and not that decent of apartments either. I’m not sure if they converted all of the rooms to a hotel or if half of them are still apartments.
It seemed clean and there were no signs of bugs but most of the furniture was broken. The couch literally let your butt almost touch the floor when you sat on it. The recliner didn’t recline. The computer chair had a broken wheel and the base was split.
The kitchen had some pots and pans, glasses, cookware, etc but the fridge and freezer were not very cold so I ended up setting the food we brought outside on the patio (it was way below freezing) and hoped no animals got it.
The beds were about 75 years old and the springs were sticking up. The queen size bed was tilted up at the feet so when you laid down, it felt like you were going to slide into the headboard and the middle was broken down so much we kept rolling into each other.
The toilet was so close to the wall, you had to sit on the toilet almost sideways so the toilet paper roll that was mounted to the wall didn’t hit your side, but then your legs and feet were squished into the side of the bathtub.
Despite all of the things wrong, it was late when we checked in and it was warm so we were going to stay. Then the power went out. We looked at some of the other buildings and they had power so we called the front desk and asked if there was another room that had electricity and she said she would find another room for us and call us back. We dozed off for about 45 minutes waiting and then called back but found out the front desk closed at midnight. It was 11:45 when we called so she just told us she would find another room because she knew she was leaving and wasn’t even worried about doing her job. What kind of hotel doesn’t have someone at the front desk 24 hours a day?
We left because I would rather be cold but comfortable in my own home than cold and uncomfortable in a crappy hotel room in a bad part of town. I’m glad we were able to finally find a generator so we didn’t have the same problem when the next ice storm hit after Christmas!

So this is a hotel/​apt. Half is apts and the other half are used as hotel rooms.
Rooms were clean and fully furnished and full kitchen which was nice because we stayed for four days so we were able to go to the store and buy food instead of having to eat out every meal.
Only mirror was the vanity mirror above the sink which was a big problem as four of us were trying to get ready for a wedding!
Husband used the gym which had almost anything you could possibly need. It was not brand new equipment but it worked and seemed cleaned. Includes basketball court, boxing, ton of weights and cardio machines.
Good location, down the street for major stores and restaurants.
Average «hotel» but the apartment thing make me feel very awkward for some reason. Also it is also an older apartment building nothing like the new hotels you would normally see in a major city.

Best deal in town. Love it here. This was my second time and will return again. TV didn’t work and it was fixed within 1 hour after reporting it. Stay on lakeside. Very close to Pavilion. Food is great. Don’t understand the complaints I haven’t had any huge problem.

I highly recommend staying at Kim’s Place instead. Worst experience at IB in February. Mold all throughout unit. Cable wires hanging around walkway. Maintenance left sawdust all over floor. Broken furniture. WiFi never worked away from living room and barely worked in the house-​they completely ignored my complaints. Horrible food. Day use cars were extremely smoked out from constant cigarette use. Overall horrible stay, never again. UPDATE: Now they are putting flyers in our mailboxes at Kim’s Place because they have run their own business into the ground.

This place is absolute trash. Let me itemize the reasons why:
The «weekly» maid service showed up once over a 3 week period. I brought it up several times, for lip service, but no results.
The offer both hardwired and WiFi access. The hardwired Internet is so slow you can barely get through an episode on Netflix in twice it’s runtime due to buffering (and it randomly frequently disconnects entirely) and the WiFi was not present at any time for the 2 months I was here. They also knew but chose not to fix the wifi; one of my classmates complained about it and they moved him to a different room on the other side of the complex. Instead of, you know… fixing it. They saddled him with the burden of moving all his stuff.
On that note, 7 people from my FAA training class stayed here for our 2 month course. All 7 had at least a few significant issues throughout their stay. 6 of us had to be moved apartments at LEAST once.
My apartment has a minimum of 3 potato bugs lumbering around at any given time. Try smashing a huge beetle with your bare foot a couple times. It’s as pleasant as it sounds. Also, flies and mosquitos. A couple big spiders.
My washer was broken when I moved in. I made the mistake of trusting it to work, and put my clothes in it. It took them 8 days, with me riding them with almost daily reminders to fix it. My soapy wet clothes sat in it the whole duration.
The staff is incompetent. When I reported the internet being garbage, the lady apparently came into my apartment, tested it herself, then wrote me a catty email saying she «played games, streamed video, got on Facebook, and can’t see there is any real problem.» I had to screen capture a few times where it said «connection lost» or something to that affect to even get her to take me seriously, then they STILL never fixed it. They chalked it up to «it’s performing how it should». The fact she basically tested to see if I was lying, then took no corrective action was infuriating.
Their rates are unbelievably high. Even IF they delivered a product/​service that wasn’t complete garbage, their rates would be spendy. For what they charge, I could get a nice apartment in downtown San Diego, not the sketchy part of OKC.
On the sketchy matter: a man with a gun kicked down one of these apartment doors 3 days ago and fired 2 shots. That’s all the NEWS said and that’s all I know. The managers for this place sent out a mass email saying there was no proof this happened… except all the cop cars and everyone hearing the shots.
For the FAA people: the commute on the best day is 20 minutes. There are much better and much closer places to stay.
Just stay somewhere else. I had a bunch of buddies staying here, and some of their stories are worse than man. This was not an isolated incident. Also, we refer to their fitness center as the «prison gym», because that’s what it resembles.
Update: one of the apartments caught fire this last week.
I wish I could give this place a zero stars.

The pictures on the website are not at ALL what it looks like. It smells like a nursing home and everything is severely outdated. Idk if it’s because we got a «pet friendly room» but it’s pretty bad for what we pay to be here. Not to mention our door has been broken the entire time we’ve been here and has yet to be fixed, they just gave us 2 master keys… yes master keys meaning we have access to anyone’s apartment… not safe to give those out. I’ve gotten locked out of the apartment because of the door issues multiple times and one time I called the pavilion because the office was closed and the maintenance number was not posted, and the lady was a huge witch. The only positive things are the cheap beer and super nice bar tenders –I think one of their names is Alex.

I didn’t even want to give this place a star but I have to.
Well first, this place REALLY sucks. I’m in a lease for a year so I’m stuck unfortunately.
Let’s talk about when we first moved into this place, it was horrible. The carpet was disgusting in the bedroom, none of the outlets worked except one, the hardwood floors were cracked in many places, the cabinets in the kitchen were falling off and they weren’t even screwed in, it was hanging on a nail. The fridge was gross, the ice machine never worked, the toilets are bad!
The first week after we moved in, we walked outside to go to our car and it was gone… We were freaking out, we went to the front office and the manager, which is a complete bitch by the way, she said, «can I help you!» And we were like, «umm yes our car isn’t where we parked it!!» And she stated that they had it towed… She stated it was in someone’s spot that is handicapped, well first of all they had no sign and the sign «painted» on the concrete, you literally had to bend down on your knees and look to see it. We had to go up tree and find out for ourselves that it was towed and they say they give you a notice well the notice is on your car… The car that they had towed… That you can’t see till you go get it.
Another thing is that they love to fine you about anything they can. We were fined cause we didn’t pick up our dogs mess, well first of all we always do and their proof is someone calling to tattle on them.
I can go on and on…
They raise your rent even if it’s just 14 bucks. Without notice, and they state cause things went up.
This place isn’t a great place at all. I cannot wait to move.
Please don’t move here, ever.

Back again one month later. What a huge difference. The room has been renovated and the wireless works great!
During check in the ladies at the desk were great and asked what kind of room worked best for my stay. I got to the room and saw all new furniture, paint, and satellite tv. I tested the wireless and it works better than most places. Thanks for fixing the rooms!

Perfect stay for FAA & USAF members taking courses in the area. They literally have EVERYTHING you need and more (i.e. Gym, food, bar, pools, wireless e-​net)!!!

Pretty decent inside. If it rains then prepare for a shoe stained apartment from coming outside. But bed are nice. TVs in each room. Kitchen, washer and dryer all come nicely equipped. Silverware, pots & pans along with cups and plates come included. No Bowls tho… but the bathrooms are nice and clean. All and all it’s a nice little place.

1^st the pic’s on the website was NOT a room that was available. I do not believe the renovations are complete this place was awful!
Dingy linen on the bed. The door looked like someone cut the molding off around the lock and though the kitchen had everything you may need some of utensils were rusted.
I paid for 7 days and it was so bad I left after 2. My non-​smoking smelled like stale smoke.

FAA students and family travelers, this is the place in OKC. Room renovations nearly complete, and the amenities cannot be beaten by any other hotel in OKC. FAA long term you get apartment style one or two bedroom unit, fully furnished with two t.v.‘s, full kitchen with all the dishes and cook ware, dishwasher, fridge, washer and dryer in the room. Also breakast buffet 7 days a week and dinner buffet 5 days a week. Courtesy car rentals free for two hours and the best gym and pool /​sauna in town. FAA short term all of the above and a rental car for a dollar a day. Best thing is the staff. If you ask for anything from cake pans to allergenic pillows they come through for you. The only thing keeping them from five stars is some of the rooms are not yet renovated so they have old t.v. and poor couches, and the grounds are sometimes messy from construction trash but it never lasts over a day or two. This is a family oriented place that accepts pets and does not charge extra for spouses or children. Reserve early because FAA students are filling the place up lately. Ask for a new room and you will not be disappointed. The rooms now have phones, internet and wireless. I used wireless to watch a movie and it was perfect. They recently switched internet providers due to issues reported about previous service. That is example of customer service I am referring to. They are fairly new to FAA housing but they respond to anything you request and that is what sets them above the rest.

I am an FAA employee and decided on Isola Bella based on getting a car as part of the package. This was my fourth trip to Oklahoma City and have stayed at Walnut Gardens (meh) and La Quinta in the past.
After reading an ad on «stuck​mic​.com» and viewing the website I was decided this place seemed fine. I was happy to be able to stay in a new or freshly renovated apartment with a washer and dryer for a change. The place is pretty far from the academy, nobody in my class of 18 people was staying that far away, although 20 – 25 minutes is not that unreasonable.
Upon check in I was greeted by a friendly woman who helped me check in. They had my reservation and there weren’t any issues. I was able to get my iPhone onto the wifi network at that time. I then got my car, a Toyota Corolla from 2010 with only 12k miles on it. Off to the room…
As far as I can tell there are about 400 apartments here, and I must assume they are in varying states of renovation. Mine had newer carpet that was fairly dirty, new furniture including several flat screen TVs. The kitchen floor was an ultra-​cheap laminate that was lifting in several areas. There were complete sets of pots and pans as well as dishes and a microwave, fridge and full sized oven. The bathroom was not in very good condition at all. The tub and toilet and toilet seat were obviously original. The tub/​shower had had some sort of coating sprayed on it to cover up the cultured pearl look that was popular in the 70’s, but it was peeling badly and looked awful.
The beds were okay, perhaps a 5 on a scale of 1 – 10 as far as comfort goes. I’ve slept on worse and much better. As I was starting to unpack there was a knock on the door, as I walked over the maid started letting herself in to deliver me some freshly made cookies. Apparently she didn’t know I had checked in a bit early and was already in the room. That was sort of awkward. The cookies were good though and the welcome card is a nice touch.
I have both an iPhone 4S and an iPad2. Once I got to my room I could never get my iPhone on to the wifi network. My iPad could get on for about 15 minutes at a time and then it would get kicked off. I used my phone throughout multiple places in Oklahoma City and was able to use wifi at all of them, so I am not sure what the issue was. I did call the front desk to ask about it and the girl said she would reset the router, she followed up with a call to see if it was working or not which was great.
Also of interest is there is no land line phone in the rooms, and no phone books either. This was the first time I have ever stayed in a hotel that did not have that.
The other major issue I had was that EVERY room is advertised to have a washer and dryer, but mine did not. I just checked their website a minute ago to verify that claim. I called the front desk when I discovered this anomaly and the girl was also confused. After a minute or two on hold she came back and verified that my room did NOT have them. She did offer some tokens to use the laundromat on the property which I passed on, as I did not have the time or desire to sit around for a few hours waiting for my clothes to make sure they did not get stolen. I am not sure if the other 399 other rooms have a washer and dryer or not, but to claim each room has them is either an oversight, or a lie. Either way I was pretty disappointed in this.
The community is «gated» but the gate stays open for at least a minute and multiple cars drive right on in. So while it’s more secure than some, the entry is not monitored for nefarious intruders.
In closing I think there are probably worse places to stay while in OKC, but you can do much better. The Marriott had rooms with breakfast for $ 45 a night, and you can pick up a cheap rental from Thrifty for $ 25 or so a day and end up closer to the academy with better accommodations. I will attach a few pictures that I took of my room.