La Quinta Inn & Suites Denton – University Drive

If I learned anything from staying here, it’s that I’ll never stay in another LQ again. The quality was far below average. The walls were peeling in the bathroom, the beds were uncomfortable, and there was even a tile in the entrance that was popping off. When we informed the staff, they told us they would fix the tile after we left… Never mind the hazard of the children cutting their feet. The rooms are poorly insulated, so forget any sort of quality sleep. Do yourself a favor, stay somewhere else.

While the hotel is new… the amenities at the hotel are below par. Specifically, the internet is terrible. It’s slow and «shut’s off» on you regularly. There also appeared to be issues with the drainage system as my shower water was not receding in the tub. In addition, there were people who were clearly smoking in the hotel (it’s supposed to be non-​smoking). Thankfully, the hotel staff moved us to a new area of the hotel where there wasn’t any smoke. Overall, not terrible but also not up to par.

I stayed at this place for less than 12 hours. When I returned home I found I had been charged for 3 nights in two separate debit card transactions. Over the course of a month, I called back 8 times, explained the situation politely, was sent to the manager’s voice mail, left a message with all the details for the manager. The manager has never called me back. Each time I call back, I have to re-​explain the entire situation over and over. Eventually they insisted that I fax in my bank statement to prove it. I did so. Finally they refunded me for one night’s worth of charges, but not the second. The front desk staff apologizes and said the manager is very busy. Apparently the manager does not care about overcharging their customers. I have wasted a lot of time dealing with this and it’s been very frustrating. They still owe me $ 100. I will never stay at another La Quinta Inn and certainly not this one. Don’t make the mistake I did.

I’ve stayed in a large number of La Quinta’s around the country mainly because they are pet friendly without a big fee or deposit. This is a newer property so it has a modern fresh feel. The room was clean and our king room had good space. The staff was extremely pleasant and efficient. There is a bit of deferred maintenance around the property and a bit surprising for its age. The hallway carpets need to see a steam cleaner badly. For the price point and style of hotel it is great. A reoccurring complaint of mine with the brand and their «free» breakfast is the carb and sugar filled choices. I may grab a banana, but we generally don’t partake. If the common areas had been attended to I would have given it 5 stars.

Desperate for new sheets. Everything else about the hotel is average (for a LQ) but I’ve stayed 3 times in the past 6 months and the sheets are so old, some have holes. On the most recent stay, there was a 6″ diameter spot on the sheet where it was so thin I could see through to the mattress pad. Also, the housekeeping staff is apparently incompetent, as they have to mark the corners of the sheets and mattress pad with a letter corresponding to the bed size. (Noticed when doing my usual inspection for bed bugs) it’s extremely tacky.
I hope they can improve this bed situation since that’s the main reason people come here!

Decent but could be so much better! Take the fitness room for example, they bought cheaper equipment to save a buck and now two out of the three machines don’t work. Your welcome to walk across the driveways to the Holiday Inn Express, which is owned by the same person, and use their fitness room. That’s convenient. Not that I mind the walk, since I am trying to exercise, but should I really have to do that when I’m staying at a newer built hotel?!
Then there’s the refrigerators, which I don’t think are maintenance issues, once again, they purchased cheaper equipment. If you turn it to the coldest setting it will get cooler after a day or so.
Then there’s the confusion of employees. One morning the girl behind the desk was in her pajamas, wearing earbuds. I’m not joking, I took a picture! Are we a professional hotel or did I check into a hostel?!
There’s several things in our room that needed fixing; some of the tiles on the bathroom floor were loose, the shower faucet was coming out of the wall, the water pressure was horrible and it didn’t get very hot. BRING YOUR OWN PILLOW! All seven of us hated the cheap, puffy pillows. On the positive side, it was pretty clean, employees were kind, and the towels weren’t paper thin.
The breakfast wasn’t much to brag about. It was free and there were some hot and cold options. I did buy my own cereal and just used their milk… enough said.
There’s lots of room for improvement here but in spite of that I would stay here again. It was pretty clean and we got a good price for 3 rooms.

Relatively new property. We checked in around 1700, and, the hall carpet was a bit dirty with dead bugs on it. Not sure what that was about. They have decent sized rooms with a fridge, and, they are clean. Our shower was weak on the pressure, and, the tub was sloooow to drain. They are pet friendly, and, didn’t charge a deposit!

La Quinta is one of several hotels that line I-​35 in Denton. I have stayed here a couple of times. It is decent, but I usually prefer to stay at the Holiday Inn Express across the parking lot. On my last visit, Holiday Inn Express overbooked their hotel and relocated me to La Quinta (same owner) without giving me a choice. The girl at the front desk was nice, but I wasn’t happy to have been moved without even being notified. She said «well you should have received a courtesy call letting you know what was going on and that we moved you.» Well, obviously I didn’t or I wouldn’t be checking in here instead of across the street!
La Quinta is aesthetically pleasing, but has low quality. The hotel is clean and comfortable, although the rooms are cleaner than the hallways which needed vacuumed. Each room has a comfy bed, microwave, and refrigerator. Our refrigerator only chilled our food at best. We had come with meals for a couple of days, and by the last day we didn’t eat them because the food temp just wasn’t safe. I wasn’t too happy to have to waste food because of inadequate maintenance. My Mother-​in-​Law was also staying in this hotel and had the same problem with her fridge, although to a lesser degree. The hotel also has a small indoor pool, workout room, and hot tub.
The rooms aren’t terribly quiet. The walls are pretty thin and on the second floor I could hear kids on the floor below in the swimming pool. But again, it isn’t a terrible expensive hotel, so I didn’t expect sound proof walls.
The breakfast in the morning leaves a lot to be desired. The best feature is the waffle maker, but there can be a bit of a wait for it. They also serve biscuits and gravy, a few store bought, pre-​packed pastries, toast, powdered scrambled eggs (too watery, yuk!), cereal, whole pieces of fruit, yogurt (the cheap, highly processed kind), and juice. They have coffee on a separate table in the lobby, but it was a bit too weak for my liking. The breakfast was alright, but nothing was freshly prepared. Everything was just warmed from the woman who ran the breakfast area. I have seen better selections for free breakfast from other hotels.
I think a 3 star review is a pretty accurate rating. It is one of the nicer budget hotels on that particular strip of I-​35, but there are nicer hotels if you continue down the highway. The staff was friendly, the room was comfy. This won’t be my first choice the next time I am in Denton, but I would stay here again if other hotels were full.