Travelodge Tucson - Ina Road

Our Members Say

 "Average Motels" are: Super 8, Motel 6, Travelodge - you know, the average group for people who don't have or won't spend more than an average amount of money, like, say, $30 to $60 per night.

What I got here on West Ina Road was exactly what I expected: a motel room that was "fine" as long as I didn't look too closely at things. So the tub fixtures were a little grubby but the shower curtain appeared relatively new. The toilet was "clean enough" and it worked properly. The towels were thin and well-used but not threadbare and were what I expected to find - and I had no problem getting more of them when I needed to. The bed didn't interfere with my sleep and it sported the exact tired, floral bedspread that I expected to find at this and any other average motel room in the US. The TV worked well enough but didn't have as many channels as I would have liked; but then, I wasn't in Tucson to watch TV, was I? Everything else was working in an average sort of way. The upholstery was predictably grimy but not so grimy that I wouldn't sit on it with clothes on - but then, how many people used my room over the years to bring about the griminess and just how much are those Mexican chambermaids paid to deal with it? Their job is to "re-average" my room for somebody else when I leave - just as they did before I arrived - and I got what I expected to get.

Does anybody really use that coffeemaker to brew that awful coffee? Does anybody really expect their "Continental" breakfast in the lobby to be anything other than an afterthought shaved off of the price of their room? Hell, Denny's is a three-second walk away and if you really desire a Continental breakfast, you can walk 83 steps east and get decent 'coffee and Danish' next door at the Circle K.

The managers, or proprietors, there were friendly and helpful. The chambermaids, broken English and all, were, too - which created an open, casual and welcoming atmosphere. I didn't feel that the neighborhood was in any way threatening or even slightly dangerous and, overall, I got what I wanted: several nights stay at an average motel. And as for those trains? I loved them. I grew up hearing trains go by in the distance, late at night, and that sound has always been a comforting one for me. As far as I was concerned, the trains were an ADDED FEATURE and I said so to the manager when I first noticed their sign in the lobby.

My only caveat here is that, because I was in the desert, I made sure to look around the ceiling corners and the tub enclosure, lift the toilet seat before I used it and, generally, pay cautious attention JUST IN CASE there MIGHT HAVE BEEN "critters" like (odd and potentially dangerous) spiders and bugs visiting my room. Although I FOUND NONE at all, it's always wise to keep this sort of thing in mind anywhere you go in the southwest.

Would I stay there again? Sure. Why not? If I'm considerably richer next time I visit Tucson, I might just go whole hog and pig out on some fancy place somewhere but that'll be a decision for another situation in another time.

One other note: I booked in at their regular rate of about $45 per night. Tucson's annual Gem Show was due to begin soon after I arrived and they raised their rates to about $60 for that period of time. 

602 members live in Tucson