I stayed at this hotel for a month, after booking online at ExtendedStay America's website. I had business in downtown Buffalo, which is typically about 20 minutes away by car. Using the ESA website was easy and effective. They send you reminder e-mails regarding your reservation. Do note, however, that ESA does not have any sort of rewards/miles program affiliation with anyone, nor do they have their own program. That was disappointing but I knew that ahead of time. I stayed there mainly for the price, which I got for less than $60/night. The hotel is right off of I-290, at exit 3 (Niagara Falls Blvd). You're ten miles down the road from Niagara Falls (driving north - although it's a congested road so it's not a quick ten miles). Or, you can go another way and hop on the I-290 to I-190 and take sort of the scenic route (across the bridges over the Niagara River through Grand Island) but be prepared to pay a 75 cent toll each way. The University at Buffalo - North Campus is the next exit down (exit 4) and you will be there in 5 minutes. The South Campus is 15 minutes down Niagara Falls Blvd (going south).

Regarding the hotel itself - it's beside a Holiday Inn and a more appealing and newer-looking Sleep Inn next door. Turning into and out of the hotel (onto Inn Keepers Ln) requires patience. It's a busy road and you have to be careful. The hotel itself is down the road from all the places you would need, should you specifically be staying for longer periods of time. There are two Wegman food stores nearby (one with a carry-out Sushi bar) that are awesome, a Target, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, a 24 hour FedEx Kinko's, many car repair/tire stores, and the Boulevard Mall (search their website for available stores). Not to mention many other stores and banks and the Amherst post office which is less than a couple miles down the road.

The hotel has adequate free parking, although can become crowded late at night around 9-10pm or later. Lighting outside is adequate also and the area around the hotel, and Amherst itself, seems safe. I wouldn' t recommend the hotel for single, young female, as the type of customers seem to be more of a construction worker or lower class single male type. Although just keep this in mind, for there were also families/couples also staying there. Checking in and out is a breeze, although be prepared for the old-fashioned, weird hotel key cards with holes in them (not the credit card swipe type of entry key). The staff is made up mainly of young 20-somethings who were all very friendly. They are always saying 'hello' as you walk in or out and are generally receptive to your concerns. The staff does not operate 24 hours. They are closed 11p-7a, but if you need to check in or out after hours (or have an emergency) there is someone available to call. After hours, you have to use your room key to enter the building.

The hotel isn't really well kept inside, but I think it's more due to a lack of employees (it seems only 2-3 people actually work in the hotel at any one time) than people not doing the work. You could always see people doing something, but I think part of the ESA idea is to use less employees to give lower rates. The trash containers often can be seen overflowing. The carpet in the hallways is vacuumed some, but occasionally is dirty. A few times, the stairs had dirt up and down them (appearing to have come from some people's shoes). The one elevator ALWAYS smells different and disgusting to the point where I just took the stairs most of the time. Also, in general the hotel has a smoke-like smell, even though I supposedly had a non-smoking room. The rooms are clean and everything was working. Cleaning service is every few days unless you stay a week at a time (then it's once a week on your scheduled day). They change your linens (which always seemed to slide off the mattress by the way) and clean your bathroom, and they vacuum. They restock your toilet paper and tissue box, and give you one bath bar and one facial bar but that's it. Bring your own shampoo/conditioner and other amenities. Bathrooms are too small - there is maybe one inch between the edge of the door when it's open and the toilet. Water pressure is good and there is plenty of hot water. Rooms are spacious, with separate small kitchen areas and a couple of tables/desks and a recliner, which I never sat on due to not being sure how clean it was. Bed was comfortable (but I sometimes sleep on the floor in my home so don't use me to judge in that department). Pillows weren't adequate. Luckily, I brought my own with me. Refrigerator was clean and kept things very cool and fresh (my grapes lasted 3 weeks). The main comforter on the bed was dirty (I guess they don't change these often) so I just didn't use it. Iron/ironing boards worked just fine. They say on your guest check-in sheet that your room is supposed to be dusted during cleaning, but it's obvious my room wasn't.

On-site laundry room is safe (right beside the lobby) but also isn't kept up. You get quarters from the front desk to use. There were a pair of socks and an old laundry basket in the laundry room the whole time during my stay. One of the four washers didn't work. People always complained about the dryers not drying (it took about 2-3 cycles to dry a standard load of clothes). The clerks try to help, but I think it's not really in their control.

High-speed wi-fi internet access is available (for a $4.99 fee per stay), which is nice, although it's not fast enough. At peak times (Sunday afternoons, some nights) it would be so slow that surfing was almost like being on dial-up. Although, most of the time it was fine. But don't expect to stream any video or do any downloading, or you'll get kicked off for excessive bandwidth and will have to call the 1-800 number to get back on.

For the most part, the hotel is quiet but there was one guest on my floor who aggravated others on the floor by blasting music all hours of the day/night. Front desk tried to get him to turn it down, but he never really did. It was quite annoying and didn't resolve until he checked out.

Overall, the hotel isn't anything to write home about, but for rates around $54-60, it does the job for someone (preferrably someone on business) who has a long stay and is looking for better long-term rates and a just a quiet, normal place to stay while doing his/her work. I wouldn't recommend it for someone looking for a nice vacation in Buffalo/Niagara Falls/Canada, although it's location is nice and central to many things. If I returned to the Buffalo, NY area, and it was for somewhat long term, I would probably use them again due to the price but if it was for a weekend or so, I would go elsewhere.

Nice rate of 49.00.The room were clean.The hallways smelled like a smoky bar.Check in was fast .The hotel is localed near great resturants. Original pancake house,Bob Evans,and TEDs.

This was my first experience with the ESA chain and I was very disappointed. I was in-search of a place for my daughter and I to stay for the night before an out-of-town swim meet and booked the subject hotel via Priceline.com after bidding $41/night for a "two-star" hotel. The room was dirty and the advertised "Queen" bed was nothing more than a double. The mattress/pillows were of low quality and very uncomfortable. Additionally, only facial/bath soap was available in the room; no shampoo or other commonly provided amenities. The hotel is also directly adjacent to I-290 in Amherst which results in heavy traffic noise.

Stayed here for two nights with my wife over a weekend. We have stayed at an "Extended Stay Deluxe" property once before, and I must stay the feel was almost the same without the Deluxe tag. Studio Suite, very clean, nice kitchen with utensils, plenty of parking. As expected, only bath soap is provided, and housekeeping only once a week. Fresh towels available from reception, but we never needed them. There is no breakfast. High speed internet is available for $4.99 for entire stay if you ask for it. We did, and no problems. Could see the highway from our window but there was no noise. Check-In and Check-Out were quick and easy.

The area is great for shopping. Read somewhere that Amherst is supposed to be the safest town in America, if that matters. This place is midway between The Nigara Fashion Outlets and the Walden Galleria. The Boulevard Mall is about a couple of minutes away. Anything you want to buy or eat is nearby. While turning the street for the hotel, I was put off by a dilapidated property being renovated, but luckily that turned out to be the holiday inn. After that came the Sleep Inn followed by Extended Stay. I must say the Sleep Inn also looked good from the outside.

Found a great rate from the hotels website by clicking Special Promotions->Weekend Rates which list the properties with about 20-25% off for the next weekend or two. In summary, stay here if you prefer a studio-with kitchen room like me, but dont want to pay too much for a couple for extra frills which you probably dont need anyway.