What more could a frequent Gainesville traveler want? Many rooms are far enough from US 441 that you can't hear traffic, even with the AC fan off (see Helpful Room Tips, below). On our first stay we went for breakfast 15 minutes after closing time. Sanjay not only opened the door to the breakfast room, he made a fresh pot of coffee and offered to warm scrambled eggs and biscuits with gravy! Plan your Gainesville trip to avoid Gator football weekends and freshman arrival days, when all motels within a 15 mile radius are filled to capacity and room rates are much higher.

The very best things about this hotel - breakfast, close to campus, and surprisingly comfy beds. Also, the staff is quite helpful.

Details:
1) We were initially booked in a king room - it was just around the corner from the lobby, at the base of the staircase, and the smell of smoke hit us in the face the very moment we opened the door. I could NOT do it; we immediately went back to the front desk to ask for another room. Interestingly, the clerk already knew what we wanted before we even told him. Even though the hotel was overbooked, he gave us the option of looking at another room (a double "suite" at the top of the same staircase) and decide between the two. Very good customer service.

2) We were down for the UF v. LSU game - this location is perfect. The only thing better would have been the Holiday Inn on University, which was booked of course. We could have walked to campus and been in the middle of it all. It also was not far, but not walking distance, from what I guessed was the downtown strip - although in a city the size of Gainesville, is anything really "far"?

3) The continental breakfast was quite good. I expected to see bagels and coffee.... and that's it. It was much more of a spread - waffle maker, eggs, sausage, biscuits, fruit, cereal, muffins, eclairs, toast, juice.... and of course bagels and coffee. ;-)

I'm sure I left something off, but all in all, for a shot trip this hotel will do. Be aware that it is clearly an older hotel - small bathrooms, no flat screen TV (old school tubes), suite not much of a suite - but it is clean and the best price this close to campus on a home game weekend. AND since I tend to choose hotels almost solely based on the bed (and location), it must be pretty alright because I slept like a baby.

We stayed at this hotel in June, and it was one of those, "oh wow the photos are rather misleading" experiences. The photos make the property look enormous, the pools look inviting, and the rooms look bright and airy. In reality the parking lot was small and the property crammed in next to a strip of retail stores that look rather questionable. The whirlpool was green. Four of the guests were having fun trying to taunt a snake that they'd startled in the pool area, using the pool's rescue hook. The non smoking room smelled like an odd combination of sharp mildew and wet ashtray (partially because the rooms nearby had smokers staying in them and the smokers would stand outside, right by our room, and smoke near the intake of our A/C unit.) The toilet rocked on it's base and if you wore anything over a size 10, getting the door of the bathroom closed without standing in the toilet or shower itself, was a feat of gymnastic skill. Also, the fridge wasn't working properly and looked like someone had hit it, in the driveway, with a compact car, a few times. What saved this trip from being a 1 to 2 star rating however, was the absolutely sweet staff with cheery dispositions and the willingness to TRY and help out. This wouldn't be one of our top three choices for a return trip but it would be one of the top five for the budget savvy traveler. It's safe, dry, and secure, if nothing else, with VERY nice staff.

The Quality Inn was clean, but a room that would normally cost $69 per night was $99 because we had the bad luck of scheduling our visit during the week that parents were bringing their kids to University of Florida for the Fall Semester. I imagine that the same level of price gouging goes on when there's a sports event, too. The rooms open to the outside, not a hallway. There was a giant jacuzzi in the room (not in the bathroom -- in the room) -- personally I wouldn't consider getting in a jacuzzi in a hotel room and I don't even want to think about what has happened in that jacuzzi in the past. Even looking at it creeped me out. There was also an empty beer bottle outside our door for half-a-day. I wouldn't stay at this hotel again.