Extended Stay America Austin - Downtown - Town Lake

Worse than a lack of customer service

Prós: Better than a park bench?

Contras: Upon arrival I realized my hair dryer was broken. Rather than try to provide any support to fix my broken hair dryer, the front desk told me I would receive one night stay gratis. I foolishly believed this. Later when I asked where my refund was, my requests for information was ignored and I realized how upfront this deception had been. Wow, not many can lie outright. Other than that, I was surprised that I needed to bring dirty towels to the front desk to get new towels, front desk again for hangers, tissue and toilet paper. A very expensive hotel for this level of service. Finally, it was dirty and noisy.

Filthy, thin walls, great location

Prós: The location is close to the Plalmer events Center with lots of parking.

Contras: Every surface was dirty. The draws had crumbs in them, the mirrors had layers of toothpaste and make-up caked on them, the sheets were full of hair, the comforter was visibly dirty, and the shower still had the last occupant's hair. "Newly renovated" apparently means platter painting the existing tile and counter surfaces and faux finishing the light fixtures. They didn't even bother to replace the moldy caulk around the tub. The walls are so thin than you can hear people using the toilet from the hallway!

Great location, but you get what you pay for.

Prós: - Inexpensive compared to other local hotels - Great location right next to downtown Austin. It is under a mile to many fun areas downtown and along S Congress Street. - Complimentary Wifi (slow, but free, so can't complain) - Complimentary "grab-and-go" breakfast (very limited, but again, free) - Lots of free parking

Contras: - Front desk staff hung out chatting in the office behind the desk and needed to be called. - The maid on our floor seemed to spend extensive amounts of time on her cell phone in the hall (she probably should have spent more time cleaning rooms) - Our first room had a live cricket in the bathroom, a spider in the bed and long black hair on the towels, toilet and sink. We requested a second room and they obliged since they said bugs were a health issue. - Our second room had a dead cricket in the middle of the kitchen floor when we walked in (not sure how it was missed during cleaning). We didn't want to change again so we stayed, but we eventually noticed black mold in the shower and woke to find a beetle cozying up with us on our last morning. - The first night we requested coffee mugs at the front desk. The employee told us he had some paperwork to complete and then he would bring them up to our room; an hour later they had not arrived and there was no one at the desk. The next day they were handed to us in 5 seconds when we asked - not sure why that didn't happen the night before. - The tub spout diverter was broken, but with some muscle I was able to get about 50% of the water to come out of the shower head. (even with only 50% the pressure was acceptable) - No business center with a printer for boarding passes. - We were charged a $69 cleaning fee after we left which we are fighting. Besides wet towels hanging in the bathroom, trash in the garbage, and an unmade bed, the room was exactly as it was when we arrived. I even fixed the aspect ratio on the TV.

Wanted a place close to downtown, but got less

Prós: It was cheap.

Contras: It was dirty, and somehow I tried to book an address that was other than what I was given.

OK if you're not going to be in your room much...

Prós: I didn't have the cleanliness issues others did; the hotel needs a refurbishment but it was clean. There aren't many luxuries offered and the room is laid out strangely. It wasn't overly comfortable to hang out in but we didn't plan to be in our room all that much.

Contras: I had a challenge with a late check out and there were no apologies offered even though I watched the night clerk record the request in her evening log. Service was not great here but it was the cheapest hotel for the evening so I guess what does one expect?

Prós: Was there for ACL and it was close in proximity between Zilker Park and Downtown Austin. A quick bike ride to either location on a B-cycle and under 30 minutes is free. The location was about the only redeeming factor.

Contras: The room was dirty. If it had been any other weekend than ACL, I would have left and found another hotel room because it was not what I would consider to be acceptable. I am by no means a germaphobe or overly picky person by any means, I understand that there is only so much you can do with a hotel room and you inherently accept some level of dirtiness - but I would consider this above the acceptable threshold. The garbage bins were not cleaned out from the previous customers, there were several drawers with crumbs and dirt in them that wasn't cleaned out, and the bathtub was gross and had mildew. But, since every other hotel in the area was booked solid, we decided to stay. I had to go around and kill all the bugs in the room first, as well as disinfect the counters and bathtub. The comforter, with all of the unsightly stains on it, was removed from the bed immediately and put on the ground - where it stayed for the weekend. The crumby drawers were off limits and instead we just lived out of the suitcase for the weekend. We asked for fresh set of sheets and pillow cases and changed the bedding and that made it okay for the 3 days we were there. I ended up saving probably $150-200 total by staying there versus another hotel in the area, so I guess you get what you pay for.