Super 8 by Wyndham Emporia

Worth it! Having moved on from a three night stay at same brand in Kansas City Missouri with a horrible experience to this place for a week I held little hope. Wow was I surprised! As with all my reviews we will start with the good, and here there were many. Check in was quick and flawless and the folks that own/run this place are charming and friendly, but still professional. They live at the hotel and even their pre-teen son was a pleasure to deal with. I asked for an extra blanket upon arrival and was promptly brought one. My room was at the end of the hall, bottom floor, which I had requested on my reservation and I was accommodated accordingly, with a king size room that had a 44 inch flat screen tv with more channels than should be legal. Even better was the heated massage chair that was comfy and a bit of heaven after a long days work. The heating/air conditioning unit worked well. Internet was fast. The room appears to have been recently renovated and mine was bright, cheerful and welcoming. The bed was comfortable as were the several pillows. Sheets were crisp and clean, duvet in top notch condition as well. Plenty of lighting throughout the room and a dedicated work space. The window coverings appeared to be new, with one roll up 'black out shade' and the other a 'privacy' shade that lets in the light, but people cant see in. Towels were plentiful, along with a wash cloth just for make up. The added plus was the cute sign in the bathroom asking guests not to take the towels. The mirror in the bathroom, when touched gave additional lighting for makeup applying. Unique was the bathtub faucet, which, to use the shower you pull DOWN on the spout. The wall mounted hair dryer was powerful. Iron board cover appeared to be new, crispy and shiny. Laminate flooring was clean, not sticky like many places seem to be. Breakfast was ok with hot waffles, (regular or chocolate chip) pancakes and sausages. I liked making the pancakes, wrapping the sausage in them and having a 'pigs in a blanket' with syrup. There are boiled eggs, apples, cereals, bread, yogurt, oatmeal packets and generic plastic wrapped pastries. The coffee maker in the breakfast room was broken, so that was a bit of a bummer, but they had carafes that they kept continually filled. Juice machines as well. The breakfast room is small though. It appears that the hotel has a lot of construction or laborer workers here during the week, with their trucks, on the weekend they were gone, to return the following Monday. I was always greeted respectfully by them when in the halls or outside. This hotel is dog friendly, and I was lucky enough to meet a few of them. They have what they call a 'picnic point' which is a large gazebo at the far end of the hotel that also has a barbeque grill and another designated area with chairs with ashtrays. The picnic area is well lit with bright halogen lights at night. It is so bright in fact that the birds in the area seem to be confused thinking night time was in fact day light, and they would be flittering about catching moths or just sitting on the white vinyl fence that enclosed the picnic area on one side. The parking lot was also well lit. Now, dont judge me, but I am a smoker, and an insomniac so going outside late at night, or 3 in the morning I never felt unsafe here. Ok, now the not so great. While not a biggie, I am a Diamond member and was not recognized as one at check in. We earn this status by being faithful guests, it should be acknowledged. The shower ran out of hot water when I tried to shower at around 11 a.m one day. Perhaps because they were doing mass amounts of laundry. There was no alarm clock in the room, thank goodness I travel with my own. And, of all crazy things, there was no way to plug the tub, which I needed to soak after a long day and my ankle and knees hurting. Since I am in hotels 200 days out of the year I have learned many hotel sinks and tubs are missing plugs, so I travel with my own and this drain was not made to accommodate the one I had. One last negative, the bathtub non slip mat came up on one side and I noticed some mold growing along the edge. Yuck. Would I stay here again? A resounding yes. The price, at an average of $88. a night is reasonable for this place.