La Quinta Inn Ste Irvine Spectrum

This hotel is not super close to any one attraction but it is located within 12-15 miles of multiple South Orange County destinations. Room could have been cleaner. We found a cockroach crawling around the trashcan. He was moving slowly so he may have been already poisoned, but it was still icky. Towels are very small and thin; and it's not too easy to get more than two (for 2 people, 3 night stay). You have to sign up to have your room cleaned or towels replaced when you first check in, but since we weren't told that (it's at the bottom of the check-in form but it wasn't brought to our attention), we had to argue with the front desk. Breakfast looked fine but we didn't actually eat it (no time plus one guest has multiple food allergies). The hotel is very close to a major freeway, but the sound proofing works for all but really loud cars/motorcycles. Parking is adequate; pool looked clean; there are multiple eateries within walking distance, elevator was slow, but clean.

At first we were given a room with cement walls! The room had an odd shape too. All not too inviting. We asked for a different room. We were given another room with painted walls and the usual shape. Much better and acceptable. Nothing fancy but clean. When we came back at night the second day rather late, we were shocked to see the room was not made up. Towels from showering were still on the floor, beds not made up and fresh towels or linens were not provided. Complaining at the rather late hour to the downstairs clerk, she told us the policy was not to make up the room unless specially asked to do so. I told her I never heard of such a policy and they should have told us that when we checked in. She said she didn’t have anyone to make up the room but handed us replacement towels. The breakfast was good and well attended and have no complaints there. Parking was good. Would I stay there again? Maybe. I would have to be guaranteed I would not be given a cement room and that the room would be made up daily , even if I didn’t ask for it.

I stayed at La Quinta in 2019, and had a pretty good stay. It was right in the middle of a hectic move, and I appreciated the fact the hotel was there for us. So, when I had to stay at them again recently due to a home improvement issue, I didn't hesitate. However, things have very strangely gone down hill since 2019. A few points: 1. In my previous stay, I stayed at the building attached to the main hotel. This time, I stayed in the silo, and it was a world of difference. While I appreciated the historic aspect of the rooms, the rooms had a brutalist aesthetic that I suspect a lot of people will find depressing. 2. Because of how the silo is situated, the parking lot is a hotbed of weird activity. I got out of the car after picking up my key, and immediately found drug needles on the ground. There was also weird drug-related activity at night, which basically made me not want to leave my room. 3. The elevator smelled, and 4. My room didn't smell fresh. I walked in, and the room clearly hadn't been thoroughly cleaned in some time - e.g. I found a giant wad of gum on the lights, and there was a weird, permanent ring around the bathtub. And things got weirder. 5. I quickly realized the toilet seat was old, and creaked LOUDLY every time it was moved. I also developed a weird rash from the bedding, which hasn't gone away even after a week. 6. The keycard mysteriously stopped working on the room the first morning there. I could get INTO the building using the cards, but couldn't access the room. When I brought this up to the front desk, they claimed I must have demagnitized the card through my phone. Okay, but how did I get into the building then? And when I pointed THAT out, they claimed the lock must be broken. But their handyman was able to get into our room easily using his master keycard, so what was going on with the keycard? (I later looked it up on Yelp - someone else experienced the keycard issue while staying here too.) I checked out early, since I just didn't want to stay here anymore. It's kind of a bummer to realize what this hotel has become!