Mentor Hotels

Check-in parking is kind of odd, and not clearly delineated. Yes, there is a circular drive in front of the door, but no good place to actually park. The guest parking lot is far enough away from the front door so as to make for a bit of a hike (but I needed the cardio, after all).

I arrived at 9:30pm on a Sunday night. In this area, the streets are rolled up before then, so almost nothing was available for a late dinner. The hotel restaurant closes well before this time. I ended up at a nearby Denny's (strike 1 for me, as I'm not a Denny's fan).

I also noticed that the common areas (hallways, essentially, as those were the only common areas I traversed) were unusually cold (it was in the upper 30's Fahrenheit outside that night, but it felt like there was no heat inside the hotel building itself - very chilly). When I arrived at my room, I found that the climate control was completely off, so no immediate warmth was to be had there. Thankfully, it only took a little while to get the chill out of the room. Still, this could have been more welcoming.

The room itself was comfortable, the HVAC unit was quiet enough, and the TV was large enough to be seen from across the room. Wi-Fi was consistent, and logging into the captive portal was fairly straightforward. There was adequate lighting in the room and power so as to allow for some productivity that night before bed.

The bed was comfortable with a firm mattress and plenty of supportive pillows. The blanket was warm enough, and the sheets soft and clean. The alarm clock worked, too (though I always set the alarm in my tablet, anyway). The light by the bed was easy to turn on and off (a definite plus, as I've had some experiences where it seems the switch has been intentionally hidden).

The little bottles of shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner were a bit tricky, too (though I've had my experiences with these little gremlins). It's almost impossible to get enough conditioner out of the bottle without taking the top off, and the top doesn't unscrew. Oh, well. The content was nice, and the shower was hot, so I'll make an allowance for a little frustration with the one bottle.

The last odd bit had to do with the toilet paper dispenser. The dispenser, built into the front of the vanity, housed a spare roll behind the active one. Unfortunately, there isn't quite enough depth for both rolls to fit, so the spare roll provides excessive drag on the active roll, making it difficult to roll out more than one or two sheets at a time, one-handed. Ultimately, I tired of the challenge and cheated by removing both rolls, setting the spare atop the vanity, and replacing the active roll, so it would spin freely.

The Lavazza coffee in the k-Cup for the Keurig brewer in the room was a really nice touch. Now, had there been Mini-Moos instead of powdered creamer, that would have been truly outstanding (as it was, I couldn't use cream in my coffee the next morning anyway, as I was having blood drawn, so this wasn't a big issue for me, but I would have likely had my coffee black, anyway - or gone out in search of some half and half - if I could have had my choice).

I will definitely stay here again, in spite of the few minor issues I had. Hopefully, I'll either remember to push my departure time up a bit or the restaurant hours will be extended by then (just a limited late night menu would be sufficient). [Less]