La Quinta Inn Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport North

I spent five days in this property which is located about 6 miles from the airport. There is nothing special about this particular LaQuinta. The rooms although they were non-smoking reeked of something upon check-in and was mostly offset by running the a/c constantly.

There was the standard free breakfast consisting of a variety of food. The muffins were individually wrapped Otis Spunkmeyer. They probably bought those from Sam's Club or Costco.

All the rooms face to the outside for the most part though mine was in a corridor of sorts even though there was no secured door for guests.

There was supposed to be wireless internet but I could only get it to work in the lobby and breakfast area and not in my room. I did report it but it was never resolved so I used my Verizon card for internet access.

The only redeeming quality of this property if you can call it that was that it was cheap. I paid about $50 a night including taxes so I figured it wasn't worth complaining about the smell or internet. Plus it is conveniently located just a few blocks from a shopping center that has a Target and some casual dining establishments.

My next trip to the Phoenix area will not include this property as a possibility.

La Quinta Inn Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport South

This is one of those properties you should only stay at if you are seeking a cheap place to sleep and for only one night like I did.

I have never been a fan of the motel type setting of many chain hotels and this is no exception. What I mean here is that every room has an entry door to the outside world rather than being in an enclosed facility. The room was stark but I managed to get a decent night's sleep.

The benefits of this property are the price $58.65 plus $7.09 in taxes, a free airport shuttle, free wi-fi and buffet breakfast.

My plane was departing at 5 a.m. which was too early for the shuttle or the breakfast so I needed a $15 cab ride that took 5 minutes.

This property is definitely not a place I would take my family on vacation, but as I said it serves the traveler who needs a cheap place to stay by the airport.