Econo Lodge

What People are saying

Almost Gave them a Two - But I Was Feeling Generous

JAMES Son 11/07/2016 05:08

First of all, This is the worst Econolodge stay I have ever had and I will not stay here again. My grandson and I biked down the Katy Trail and stayed here during our stay in St. Louis because it was accessible from the Metro Train.

If you are traveling on I-70 get off at the Natural bridge Exit by Lambert Airport. If you are traveling East turn right and then turn right at the first stoplight which is Natural Bridge Road - Next, you will see the hotel sign at the first stoplight which is Woodson Road. There is no shuttle service from the airport - so you can take bus # 49 (if the buses are running) from the Busport or take a taxi (it cost myself and my grandson $11.50) from exit 16 of terminal 1.

If you have to go to the airport using the bus system stand on the side opposite the covered bus stop. Warning - make sure you are hanging from a noose attached to the bus sign or the bus will not stop!

Now the explanation for the rating.

Pros- 1) When we got to the hotel the room was clean.
2) The hotel is close to the airport and is relatively inexpensive.
3) Our situation did improve before we left - which is why I raised the rating from two to three.
4) The room had a desk, a dresser, a microwave, and a refrigerator, and a large digital TV with lots of cable channels.
5) The room did have plenty of outlets for recharging electronic devices and the outlets are easily accessible.
6) The password protected WiFi was easily accessible and was fast enough to anything we wanted to do.
7) My grandson locked his key in the room and did not have any problem getting a temporary key to get in the room.

Cons-1) The room was a smoking room (We do not smoke.) but there were no ashtrays for smokers. So, if you do smoke bring your own ash tray.
2) There was no coffee pot or coffee.
3) The Room was about the same size as a single bed room in the other Econolodges I have stayed at and it felt crowded (See photo to judge for yourself).
4) There was no bathtub only a very small shower stall (See photo).
5) There is only one ice machine near the check-in desk.
6) The hotel is laid out in a confusing maze.
7) There are no laundry facilities.
8) The breakfast was very sub par - only a couple of cereals, some old-tasting doughnuts and bread products. My advice is skip the breakfast. I am diabetic and there was nothing I could eat.
9) There is no swimming pool. I mention this only because I am sure when I booked the hotel in March - I thought it said there was one - but it was not on the current listing - so it may have been wishful thinking on my part.
10) The remote did not work for the TV. I went to the desk and complained the next day and they said I would be fixed - but they never did. On the Third Day I figured out how to re-program the remote myself.
11)We checked in on Sunday and the room was not cleaned nor the beds made until we went to the manager and complained on Wednesday. They did a good job the last few days we were there - which is why I did not give them a two. It is possible the cleaning staff was not properly trained. However, they did change the towels in the "bathroom".
12) Security is not high. We came back at 10 or 11 pm on two nights and opened the outside doors without our door key - even though signs said you needed to use the room key. Anyone could have come in these doors - so make sure you keep your door locked.

Conclusion: The facility is intended for those who are only going to stay a night or two - probably just before or after a flight at Lambert or traveling elsewhere. If this is your intention - this is the facility for you. The airport and I-70 are easily accessible. Most of the cons I mentioned would not apply to you and the lower price will appeal to you.

If a single overnight stay is not your intention - then stay elsewhere.

Stay Away!

Susan Kon 25/04/2016 16:59

Certainly don't want to sound disgruntled; however, I travel a lot and this hotel is not even close to what it shows online or acceptable to stay. First no free airport shuttle as listed on site and when calling to find out when the shuttle comes I was told "there is no shuttle, take a cab" and hung up on me about 8:30 pm. There is no way out of the STL airport unless by car or shuttle. I was furious & since I had a reservation with Alamo the next morning next door so I pleaded with the driver to take me and he did. Bed seemed new & room looked renovated a little (had a way to go yet) but most disturbing was at 6:25 am someone was trying to get in the room but with deadbolt on not possible. I thought it might be housekeeping so I opened the door and an older man (I believe was Mr. Patel the general manager I found out later) was standing there asked "you still here?" and I said thought checkout was at 11, he said someone gave him the key, as if I had someone in the room with me and he was checking. Felt like the Bates motel and almost afraid to shower but I did and got out quick. The breakfast didn't even qualify as continental. Don't even think this is a safe place with construction workers roaming the halls. The manager told me they are not part of Choice Hotels independently owned although he was standing under the sign that stated they were along with cards showing Econolodge logo on desk. I usually try to find something nice to say in addition to why someone shouldn't want to stay in my reviews; but there is absolutely nothing good about this place, and hope to contact Choice Hotels about doing some quality control work or taking their name off this establishment which certainly tarnishes the good reputation I've experienced at other Choice hotels. Everything written is true and accurate--save yourself the aggravation this place should be closed or new management.

Only in a pinch

Dick Hon 02/07/2015 04:34

This place is OK in a pinch (can't find another close to airport with an open room) as we were.
Best part of the stay was the gal on the front desk when we checked in as she had a super nice personality.
Room was OK, for a cheap motel (bedspread had a big hole in it, bed was a hard as a brick, only two "SMALL: PILLOWS" on the bed) but fairly clean. Walls had some poorly patch holes in the walls .
At checkout the two behind the desk could "FAIRLY" speak English and didn't when talking to the other in front of you so you had no ideal what they were saying.
The two rating was only because of the super nice lady who checked us in.

Awful!

InHisGripon 01/07/2015 04:29

Terrible place! Don't stay here! The desk staff can hardly speak English and were very rude! We arrived at midnight and very seedy characters were lurking around the parking lot. It was noisy & felt unsafe. We ended up NOT staying here with our six kids. Just did not feel safe.

Do Not Stay Here!! Don't let the cheap price fool you!

Nik Ton 25/04/2015 15:12

I arrived at 1:30pm on the day of check-in only to be rudely told that I could not check in until 3pm by one of the staff members, the other staff member there actually took my name and checked the computer to see if any rooms were ready to use, when it was confirmed there wasn't, I went back out to my vehicle and drove around attempting to find another hotel, even considering booking one nigh at a much more expensive place and spending the second night in my van, because my experience had already soured. I wish I would have followed through with that because when I returned to the hotel lobby at 2:45 there were two families attempting to deal with the staff and getting absolutely no where. One woman, as far as I can tell, was just trying to get checked in to any room they could give her, while the other family was upset because the woman at the desk had charged two of their credit cards twice for the same reservation. They were upset because the refund would not appear on their cards for 2-3 days and they were in the midst of a trip that would be effected by the money not being available immediately. They were upset because it was the mistake of the hotel and they were not doing enough to correct it.

The owner or head manager of the hotel yelled (and I mean literally yelled) at the woman who had made the mistake in front of all the customers then turned to yell at another employee who had just returned from checking on rooms demanding to know why she had allowed the first woman to make the mistake. Ultimately the police were called and a semblance of order was restored. At this point I had been in the lobby waiting for almost 15 minutes. In the course of waiting my 2 year old had gotten sick and vomited on herself, so I had done my best to clean her up and was eager to check in so that I could more thoroughly take care of her.

The family ahead of me was concerned about the cleanliness of the rooms since the police fiasco had included complaints about smells and dirty rooms, so one of the employees was dispatched to check all the rooms that were supposed to be assigned to the family to confirm they were clean before the family paid for the reservation.

When I finally got to the front of the line, I was informed that because of a mishap with Expedia, my reservation was not available. I explained to the woman that I had not reserved through Expedia. She kept insisting that Expedia had overbooked and that they did not have a room for me. The owner's wife (I assume) reiterated what the other woman was saying. I explained that I did not have other options. I was 4 hours from home and in town for a convention, my child had gotten sick and I was just trying to check in to a room, at that point any room. I was offered a smoking room (which was not what I reserved), but I said I would take it as long as it didn't stink. That caused an uproar and instead of giving me the room they gave it to the person behind me in line. I kept telling them that I was willing to take the room, but I was ignored. Then I was told again that there were no rooms available.

I called customer relations while standing in the lobby and around that time two more employees arrived for work, bringing the total number of employees to four plus the owner and his wife. Customer relations spoke with the owner's wife and then one of the employees who had just arrived and within a few minutes after getting off the phone, I had my room, however, when I inquired about a discount for my trouble and the fact that I was still getting a smoking room, I was told by the owner that he was giving no discounts.

When we got to the room, it was fairly clean except that there was a grease spot on one of the bed headboards and the toilet had not been cleaned nor were there enough towels for the guests in the room so we had to call the front desk to come re-clean the bathroom and bring the right amount of towels. The next day, I got up for the "continental breakfast" to find two kinds of cereal, milk, white bread (that had seen better days), two donuts, condiments, and under concentrated orange and apple juice. On a separate table were bruised apples, oranges on the verge of going bad and mostly green bananas. I took pictures because it was so pathetic. I have one more night to stay, but I wish I could check out now and go somewhere else.

This is the worst experience I have ever had and I will NEVER stay at this location again and will think twice about Choice Hotels as a whole. If this is what I can expect from a Choice Hotel, I'm much safer paying the higher dollar amount and knowing I will receive consistently great customer service.