Find the Cheap Laurel Hotels

When I first walked into the hotel, it seemed fine. Lemonade and ice water was in the lobby, which was refreshing. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there. Although the lobby and hallways were well air conditioned, the room was extremely warm. I turned on the air as cold as it would go and waited – nothing! It was so warm I jammed my room door open with a shoe and opened the window (on a hot end of June day – that’s how hot the room was) hoping for a cross breeze, as the hallway was nice and cool. It worked okay, but was awkward leaving our door open. Then we went to the pool. We noticed the pool was low; barely covering the top step, but quickly discovered why. Tiles were broken off along the top, so they had to keep the water below the broken off tiles. The top pool step was slimy and I almost slipped getting in. the entire bottom of the pool was chipping away, so you’re walking on granulated cement. The hot tub looked gross, was in the same shape as the pool and the jets did not work. Everything needs to be drained and fixed. Went back to the room; it was still too warm, but we had to close the drapes to keep from being blinded by the parking lot lights and the drapes blocked any breeze we may have had. And, who wants to sleep with their hotel door open?? I asked for a different room and was told “the air is broken and most, if not all, of the rooms have no air”. I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 because the beds were comfortable, rooms were clean, the water pressure was great (important because I have very long hair and if the water pressure is not strong enough, I can’t even wash it) and breakfast was a STANDARD BW breakfast and was okay (BW+ has a much better breakfast). I marked sleep quality as poor, even though beds were comfortable, because it was too hot to sleep well. I avoided this hotel on my way home and drove an extra 5 hours to a BW+ in Missoula. It cost more, but was well worth it!

Breakfast has eggs, bread, sausage, milk, juice, bananas, etc. The hotel is about 100 meters away from the main road. It is quiet at night. There is a gym, swimming pool, and high cost performance.

I’ve been staying at the Residence Inn in Billings for nearly a decade and, up until now, had been consistently satisfied with my visits. Even though I reserved a 2 bedroom suite for my latest stay, on arrival we were informed the 2 bedroom suites were no longer available. In place of the 2 bedroom, we were offered 2 separate 1 bedroom suites — which were not attached — for the same rate as the original reservation. Wanting to stay together, we opted for a single 1 bedroom unit and were eventually given a nicely reduced rate after it was clear we weren’t pleased with the situation.

 It’s a bit of a puzzle why and how the hotel determined to give up our 2 bedroom in particular. Not that it means much, apparently, but we have Marriott Titanium Elite status. Perhaps the Residence Inn staff felt it was at least an equal trade? They might consider that some families may not appreciate spending their vacation apart in separate (not even attached) hotel rooms and might consider such an arrangement a downgrade. We didn’t get the impression the staff treated our reservation change as an exceptional situation, so perhaps this is not an unusual occurrence? We just wish the staff would have reached out to us in advance to work with us or even assured us that this was totally not normal and would not happen again. Or, they could do like the airlines do when a flight is overbooked and ask for volunteers willing to give up their seat (room) in exchange for a bonus (Bonvoy Rewards Points?). 

I guess shortly before check in for future stays I would triple check the Marriott reservations web site to confirm there are still rooms available in the same room category as on my reservation. If there are none, I would consider canceling and looking at other lodging options in Billings.