We are so happy to have discovered the Candlewood Suites chain on our roadtrip. On our trip we stayed at three different locations of this chain and each time had a very good experience. This was our favorite location we stayed at. Had there not been a hitch with internet connectivity we would have given it five stars across the board.
We checked in with our three beagles with a small pet fee and no problems. We made our reservations on the road from about two hours away. The desk staff was friendly. They printed out directions to a nearby liquor store for my husband. The parking lot was well lit and there was a huge designated dog walking area on a lot with a small pond. I felt safe walking my dogs around the hotel no matter what time it was.
Our suite room had a seperate livingroom/ kitchen and bedroom. In the livingroom/ kitchen there was full size fridge,stove, dishwasher, dishes, etc. was a large workspace area, and a large tv with a DVD player. In the bedroom there was a small desk, bed, dresser, nightstand, and another large TV. The rooms were spotless and smelled very good, especially for a smoking room. The bed was comfy. The hotel has a full pantry area (toiletries, snacks, tv dinners, etc.) and the prices are very reasonable (50 cents for a soda). There was a gym and a laundry facility with free washers and dryers.. you just provide the soap or buy some it the pantry. We had no outside or hallway noise in our stay. Several places for food, shopping, and gas nearby.
We did have internet problems. :( Our room was located on the fourth floor at the end of the hallway and we could not get a connection. We called the desk and asked for an ethernet cable and were told that they were all being used by other guests. The desk staff contacted tech support for us and we got a call back from them within 10 minutes. After a few minutes on the phone we were told that the server for the part of the hotel we were in was down. My husband works online while we travel so we really needed a connection. We finally got smart and took our laptop to the business center and we had great access from there and the gym as well (hubby wanted to watch baseball and could in the gym). It was an inconvienience to have to make several trips back and forth downstairs to return e-mails and download projects. But al least there was a solution to our problem. We just wish the staff had pointed it out to us instead of us having to figure it out ourselves. Hopefully this is not an ongoing problem.
The only other negative thing I can say about this chain is that you have to make ice with the icemaker in the freezer in your room. The icemaker is very slow. We just know now that when we stay with them we need to stop for a bag of ice nearby. Not a biggie for us.
After three stays in a Candlewood Suites we have decided that whenever we are on the road, dogs or not, it will be the hotel we look for first.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC