Metro Plaza Hotel - Los Angeles, USA     

I "Googled" the Metro Plaza Hotel and was taken to Booking.com to make my reservation. I chose it mainly because of its proximity to LA's Union Station as I was taking a round-trip private dome car rail excursion to San Diego the next day. Driving in from the Ontario Airport, the Metro Plaza was easy to locate off the I-10 and CA 101. One of its best features is very reasonably priced in-house parking (I paid an average of $6/day!). The hotel's lobby is on the ground floor with rooms on the 3rd and 4th floors. The desk staff is Asian, helpful, and eager to please (I was immediately given a tube of toothpaste as the TSA Nazis in Kansas City had confiscated mine). The building has a number of other commercial ventures on its first floor and is convenient to several Chinatown restaurants as well as Phillipe's, (a big favorite of mine and LA folks owing to the terrific French dipped roast beef sandwiches) and that little, touristy Mexican "village" rife with restaurants and gift shops. My room had two queen-sized beds, a mini-fridge (very important as I need to chill my insulin), a table with 2 chairs, a built-in desk with chair and a portable room safe on which I could mount my Bi-Pap machine. The maid had inexplicably left the drapes open during a heatwave (108 degrees when my plane landed) and it took the air conditioner almost 3 hours to adequately cool the room. However, once cooled, it was very comfortable. I paid a rate of $89/night plus taxes and parking which, for downtown LA is a bargain. No, it's not the Biltmore, the Bonaventure, the Marriott, or the Omni, but it's clean, has the basics (an abundance of towels in the very large bathroom) and is convenient to public transportation (two Dart lines and the Red and Gold lines at nearby Union Station to say nothing of standard bus lines on the corner). The halls were quite stuffy, but again, there was a heat wave.

Check In: Straight forward and speedy. Although the lady at the front desk didn't seem to be a very nice person. I asked for a receipt for the travellers cheques I left to settle our balance, as I didn't trust her. She may have been a nice lady, but I didn't get that inital impression. Location: A 2 minute walk from Union Station, surrounding neighbourhood seems OK. About a good 5 minute walk to a shopping mall also. Sat right next door to a Subway for all you sub fans! Hotel: We were checked into room 330 on the 3rd floor, this was a 1 king bed room, I was not happy with the room. There were iron burns on the carpet, but my main complaint was we were next door to a smoker, who decided to open his window to smoke, he also had his air con blasting, which was right next to our window, so everytime this guy decided to smoke we could smell his cigarettes. Plus the door that seperates the rooms was letting smoke in. Quite a silly tactic to check in smokers next door to non-smokers.. particularly when they are literally a few feet apart room to room. I went downstairs and spoke to a very polite and understanding gentlemen on the front desk and he initally said there were no suites avaliable for us to be moved, so I went back upstairs, we tolerated it for another few hours, I went down and complained again, he then moved us to room 335 on the 3rd floor, which was a very nice and spacious 2 queen bed suite. This room was great! No complaints at all and he also let us have it for the same rate at 79 bucks a night! This suite was normally 100 and above I believe, so it turned out really well. Free wireless internet is great, they have free breakfast, although I was never up early enough to sample it! One thing I will mention is there is a general kind of smell to the hotel, without being offensive to anyone, I would describe this as a kind of 'Chinese smell'. I had to use an air freshener in our suite to get rid of this smell, which I personally didn't feel comfortable breathing in over our 3 day stay. Staff: Everyone I dealt with was great, apart from the lady who checked us in. She seemed very moody and miserable. Overall: I would recommend this to anyone who wants cheap and decent accommodation in Los Angeles. The rooms are well worth the money and this is the best feature, cheap and good quality accommodation. The suite I was initally in was fine, considering the rate, but providing we weren't sat next door to a smoker! The new suite was a great bonus for us, so thank you to that kind gentleman who resolved our issues.