I asked to see a room and the receptionist said she didn't have a way to do it. That was a lie; they use programmable key cards. She offered me some bad photos taken 6 months ago as evidence of how clean the rooms were. No thanks.

I recently stayed for several days at the quaint University Inn Hotel, near the hill and campus area, in Boulder, Colorado. WHAT A PLEASANT DISCOVERY!! It's a small property, near everything that's Boulder and CU. The staff is remarkably helpful...the accomodations are warm, comfortable and clean.
My husband and I walked to an area called, the hill and ate at a very 60's hangout called, The Sink. GREAT FUN, GREAT FOOD, GREAT PEOPLE!!
The Pearl Street Mall was also within walking distance. We went there day and night. Lots of fun and so VERY Boulder. Although I'm from the midwest, I feel I've become a "crunchy granola", too.

The hotel does not have a restaurant but provides a great continental breakfast. There are plenty of other restaurants very close for other meals.

Based on some Trip Advisor reviews as well as a university rate, we booked a room here for a 4 night stay in Boulder. I'll just break it down to keep things simple:

Cleanliness - 3/5 There was a cigarette butt in our toilet when we checked in. Everything else seemed relatively clean. Sheets and pillows were old, but clean.

Comfort - 2/5 The heater blows air directly at bed/face level and much too close for comfort. It was very hard to regulate the temperature in the room. Also, the "queen size" beds which the owners swear are indeed queen size, are not the same size as my queen size bed at home. Maybe in 1950 these were queens, but they are not anymore. They are Full at best. Pillows were clumpy and hard and probably from 1950 too. To settle this discrepancy, maybe the owners could take picture with a tape measure!

Noise - We didn't experience a problem from noisy people, tvs, or voices but the hotel itself is noisy - creaks, squeaks, and garbage trucks. We were woken up at 1AM when a late check in arrived in the room above us. But, to be fair, the guest wasn't loud - the floors were. Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, and then finally quiet.. .only to be interrupted again at 6AM with a garbage truck followed 15 minutes later by the recycling truck. This happened on our 3rd night and was the last straw. After not getting one really good night's sleep, we checked out and changed hotels for our last night.

Convenience - 4/5 Walking distance to the campus, Pearl Street, and Boulder Creek. But, if you have a car, parking is plentiful - stay somewhere else. Rates are some of the cheapest for a downtown location, but for us, the savings wasn't worth the other hassles.

We moved to the Best Western Boulder at 28th & Baseline. The price was the same and the king bed was HUGE! It was also relatively quiet and provided 4 pillows for us to choose from. I'd definitely stay there again.

Stayed here on business because this was the only place that had rooms at my employer's per diem rate. The hotel has been updated and looks nice enough for an old-fashioned motor court type motel. It was basic but clean. The front desk staff was pleasant.

However: The wall, and floors are paper thin and this hotel seems to be a gathering point for young people and their sweeties. When the couple in the room above me began to engage in vigorous amorous activity, I was horrified to find that I could hear all of it quite clearly. I might as well have been in the room - there was so little privacy. When they finally collapsed into an exhausted slumber, somebody in another room started in. Slightly less audible, but definitely noticeable.

I fled the next morning. I've stayed in some pretty sketchy places but never anything quite as bad as this.