So I was going to take a bunch of pictures as well but I totally forgot on our last day. This was our first time at Desert Inn and Suites and we are used to Embassy so I was a little worried we would be disappointed.
We arrived at 9:30 am so we dropped our bags at the hotel before heading to the park. The front desk people were friendly and nice. We were allowed to leave our large bag with the front desk and the rest had to go into a locker. The lockers are $1.00 and quite large. We fit a carry on sized suitcase and two backpacks in there.
We forgot our sunscreen in the large backpack so we headed back to the hotel at around 1:00 and they were able to get us checked in early. Check in was quite quick and easy. The first elevator is a little confusing in that it doesnt go all the way to the 5th floor, only to the 3rd. So if you are higher than the 3rd floor you have to walk down to the second elevator. Not a big deal. We never had issues getting on the elevator relatively quickly our whole trip.
On to the room! The first room is pretty small. It has a couch and a smallish flat screen TV on a dresser. The room was smaller than I imagined but in the end we didnt care too much. It would have made more sense to have the bedroom area been smaller and extend the front room to include the refrigerator and microwave area, etc. It was fine to suit our needs. My son is a super early riser so we would send my son in there in the morning to hang out so we could sleep a little. There is a sort of odd fan you turn on to circulate air between the two rooms as there is no air vent in this smaller room. It makes a nice white noise to drown out the television noise in the other room
The rooms are a little run down as far as scratches and dings on the furniture and scraps on the walls. I was prepared for this so I was not disappointed.
In the bedroom area we had two queen beds. I am picky about my sheets so I actually just brought a queen set from home for one of them which worked out GREAT. It barely took any room in our luggage at all. The mattresses were not great but they were not awful either. We have memory foam at home so we are a bit spoiled anyhow. I never woke up sore so I think it was fine. The pillows were not what I usually like, they were standard cheap and a little too firm for me. Next time I would bring at least one from home. We always check one bag so we dont have to worry about toiletry sizes so we have lots of room.
Again in the bedroom area some dings and scrapes. There was an ironing board and iron which we never used. The closet area was a rod behind the door. There was a desk with a chair that made an ok spot to eat, etc. The refrigerator was surprising large and had plenty of room for all the breakfast items we ordered from Vons. I dont recall ever using the microwave. I brought Starbucks via for coffee so we never tried the in-room. I just used the small coffee pot to heat up water.
There were not many plugs that were accessible so next time I would also bring a multi-outlet if you have more than one device. We had two phones, an iPod, and an iPad. It would have really come in handy. There was no plug in by the desk which seemed weird but I left the laptop at home so it didnt bother us.
The Wi-Fi does indeed suck. We didnt notice too much and just turned it off. We werent there to use the internet really and we not in the room much except to rest.
We went with the Jacuzzi tub room thinking it would be nice for soaks after a long day in the park. I think it was like $10 more per night maybe? The tub was huge! Way bigger than our own Jacuzzi tub back home. It would fit two large adults easily. It was nice at shower time as well because it gave you a lot of room to move around. The water pressure in the shower was good. I will say there was a strange odor in the bathroom that was a bit unpleasant. I would have added some air freshener to our Vons order had I been able to modify it at all. I dont know if this is an issue in all rooms or just ours but I would play it safe next time and bring some kind of air freshener. There is no plug in in the bathroom so maybe some of the hanging ones you use in a car would make it better I think. The towels are your typical low end scratchy hotel whites. I bring mine own so I dont notice.
On our last day our shuttle to the airport wasnt until 6pm. I asked about late checkout but the best they can so is 12:30 and then you have to call first thing in the morning to try and snag one. I should add also that we left our do not disturb sign on the door the whole time so I cant comment on house cleaning. We are not messy people and besides I hate my sheets tucked in and I was a little worried they would take my sheets from home to the laundry or something by mistake, So I just grabbed towels of the carts when we needed them and used our bags from Vons for trash which we dropped off on our way to the park.
We got groceries from Vons so we never even visited the free continental breakfast so I cant comment on that
So overall we would TOTALLY stay here again. The location cannot be beat and the room is not bad if you arent looking for perfection. We all enjoyed our stay here and would book it again in a second. Next time I will bring pillows and air freshener and then it would be even better
I will gladly answer any questions any one has
We arrived at 9:30 am so we dropped our bags at the hotel before heading to the park. The front desk people were friendly and nice. We were allowed to leave our large bag with the front desk and the rest had to go into a locker. The lockers are $1.00 and quite large. We fit a carry on sized suitcase and two backpacks in there.
We forgot our sunscreen in the large backpack so we headed back to the hotel at around 1:00 and they were able to get us checked in early. Check in was quite quick and easy. The first elevator is a little confusing in that it doesnt go all the way to the 5th floor, only to the 3rd. So if you are higher than the 3rd floor you have to walk down to the second elevator. Not a big deal. We never had issues getting on the elevator relatively quickly our whole trip.
On to the room! The first room is pretty small. It has a couch and a smallish flat screen TV on a dresser. The room was smaller than I imagined but in the end we didnt care too much. It would have made more sense to have the bedroom area been smaller and extend the front room to include the refrigerator and microwave area, etc. It was fine to suit our needs. My son is a super early riser so we would send my son in there in the morning to hang out so we could sleep a little. There is a sort of odd fan you turn on to circulate air between the two rooms as there is no air vent in this smaller room. It makes a nice white noise to drown out the television noise in the other room
The rooms are a little run down as far as scratches and dings on the furniture and scraps on the walls. I was prepared for this so I was not disappointed.
In the bedroom area we had two queen beds. I am picky about my sheets so I actually just brought a queen set from home for one of them which worked out GREAT. It barely took any room in our luggage at all. The mattresses were not great but they were not awful either. We have memory foam at home so we are a bit spoiled anyhow. I never woke up sore so I think it was fine. The pillows were not what I usually like, they were standard cheap and a little too firm for me. Next time I would bring at least one from home. We always check one bag so we dont have to worry about toiletry sizes so we have lots of room.
Again in the bedroom area some dings and scrapes. There was an ironing board and iron which we never used. The closet area was a rod behind the door. There was a desk with a chair that made an ok spot to eat, etc. The refrigerator was surprising large and had plenty of room for all the breakfast items we ordered from Vons. I dont recall ever using the microwave. I brought Starbucks via for coffee so we never tried the in-room. I just used the small coffee pot to heat up water.
There were not many plugs that were accessible so next time I would also bring a multi-outlet if you have more than one device. We had two phones, an iPod, and an iPad. It would have really come in handy. There was no plug in by the desk which seemed weird but I left the laptop at home so it didnt bother us.
The Wi-Fi does indeed suck. We didnt notice too much and just turned it off. We werent there to use the internet really and we not in the room much except to rest.
We went with the Jacuzzi tub room thinking it would be nice for soaks after a long day in the park. I think it was like $10 more per night maybe? The tub was huge! Way bigger than our own Jacuzzi tub back home. It would fit two large adults easily. It was nice at shower time as well because it gave you a lot of room to move around. The water pressure in the shower was good. I will say there was a strange odor in the bathroom that was a bit unpleasant. I would have added some air freshener to our Vons order had I been able to modify it at all. I dont know if this is an issue in all rooms or just ours but I would play it safe next time and bring some kind of air freshener. There is no plug in in the bathroom so maybe some of the hanging ones you use in a car would make it better I think. The towels are your typical low end scratchy hotel whites. I bring mine own so I dont notice.
On our last day our shuttle to the airport wasnt until 6pm. I asked about late checkout but the best they can so is 12:30 and then you have to call first thing in the morning to try and snag one. I should add also that we left our do not disturb sign on the door the whole time so I cant comment on house cleaning. We are not messy people and besides I hate my sheets tucked in and I was a little worried they would take my sheets from home to the laundry or something by mistake, So I just grabbed towels of the carts when we needed them and used our bags from Vons for trash which we dropped off on our way to the park.
We got groceries from Vons so we never even visited the free continental breakfast so I cant comment on that
So overall we would TOTALLY stay here again. The location cannot be beat and the room is not bad if you arent looking for perfection. We all enjoyed our stay here and would book it again in a second. Next time I will bring pillows and air freshener and then it would be even better
I will gladly answer any questions any one has
