ROOM (2nd Floor - King Room)
FRIDGE (Yes)
MICROWAVE (Yes)
COFFEE POT (Yes - Individual Cups)
IRON & BOARD (Yes)
TV (LG 32" LCD HDTV)
ACCESSIBLE OUTLETS (8)
DESK (Yes)
COUCH (Solo Chair)
FOLD OUT BED (No)
INTERNET (Free WiFi & Wired)
BUSINESS CENTER (Yes)
FITNESS CENTER (No)
POOL/HOT TUB(Yes/Yes)
PARKING (Free Lot)
RATE (August, 2014 - $104/night)
PROS
** Great Location
There are a lot of hotels in this area of Joplin. Not sure why, but it must be a kind of hub for business travelers (I can't imagine that it'd be for tourism). There are a lot of restaurants nearby. Ruby Tuesday is literally a stones throw from the parking lot, and Pitchers Sports Bar & Grill is across the street. And you know you're in Business-Travel-In-A-Dinky-Town Heaven when there's a McDonald's and a Starbucks right in front of you (breakfast and coffee, respectively). Heck, Sonic is next door too if you want a late night snack or a drink. Lastly, there's a 24 hour Food 4 Less grocery store behind the Starbucks! Every single national chain restaurant (i.e. no In n Out) is within a 5 mile radius of the hotel!
** Free Lemonade & Cookies at the Front
A nice gesture!
** Spacious
Obviously it's because it's the Executive King Suite, as opposed to a regular room, so I get this extra seating area. Sometimes when working late at night, I actually like to pace back and forth to help think, so these extra spaces are always welcome.
** Outlets-A-Plenty
Surprisingly, the King Suite I was in last time had only 1 accessible outlet. This regular King room has 8, 4 of which are by the bed and 2 of which are on (not under) the desk. Perfect!
CONS
** Bright at Bedtime
Last time I had complaints about the outside being too bright, and I was facing north. This time, I'm still complaining about the outside being too bright, but I'm facing south. Outside my window is Sonic, which has a freaking LED animated display, McDonalds, Starbucks, Pitchers, and a Conoco gas station, and gas stations have stupid numbers of stupid bright white lights. I know the typical response is, "close your curtain then!" Well, I like waking up to sunlight, so unfortunately, I can't have both here. Happy to report that I never heard a train this time around.
** Insecure Business Center
Now for some, this is considered a good thing, because the more security there is, the harder it is to do anything productive on them. Well, this has NONE! There is no login, no nothing. I went to my email and downloaded a PDF, which downloaded automatically to a folder on the PC. I went to print it, and then permanently deleted it (as much as Windows can do), but I browsed some of the files in that folder, which there were hundreds of, and I couldn't believe the stuff that was kept there! I actually saw a bank statement! Who was stupid enough to do that? Someone with $11,000 in their checking account. That's who! Well, if you're not very computer savvy, and you care for your security, and you don't HAVE to get whatever document right now...try to avoid it.
OTHER NOTES
The last time I was here, there was some construction being done, but this time, the entire first floor is gutted! The dining area is closed off, so they've basically taken one of their 1st floor rooms, removed the bed and the micro fridge, and put a few tables in there. Guess that's the new breakfast room. They also put the 1 computer and printer in there.
I miss the extra pacing room of the King Suite, but the outlets in regular King room is enough to make me want to stay here as opposed to the suite. read more