The LaQuinta Inn on Buffalo Speedway in Houston offered an adequate, less expensive but clean room for four nights from November 1 to November 4, 2012. The location was very good for me, as it was only 20 minutes to downtown during morning rush hour and about 15 minutes to the Galleria.

All of the rooms are accessed on the outside of the building. There is no way to get upstairs with luggage other than hauling it myself. But I was glad to see the covered outside stairwells when we had rain.

My nonsmoking room smelled very strongly of scent apparently sprayed by the housekeeping staff. The front desk was willing to move me, but let me know that all of the rooms are treated the same way.

Amenities did NOT include a fitness room or public computer for flight checkin. Except for the "free breakfast," this location had just the basic motel services.

The breakfast included hard-boiled eggs, apples OR bananas (alternating days), juice and coffee, dry cereal, waffles and instant oatmeal. The last day I was there, the juice machine was out of order but no packaged juice was made available instead.

The front desk personnel were polite and professional, but not friendly or unfriendly; rather, they seemed completely neutral. They did want to please, and politely provided the extra towels I requested.

For safety reasons, I would have preferred a room that was accessed from inside the building, as I am female and was traveling alone. But the LaQuinta was adequate for my needs and I was happy to save money. Given the same travel circumstances (next year for International Quilt Festival at George R. Brown Convention Center), I might choose the same hotel again.

We stayed here Oct. 8-10, 2012, for my mom's consultations in the medical center. Overall, it's a good deal for the price. Our first room was non-smoking, but smelled of smoke. The front desk was responsive and moved us to a different room which was fine.

Pros:
- The continental breakfast with sufficient variety (waffle machine, yogurt, cereal, oatmeal, bananas, etc.) is more than adequate.
- Reliable WiFi
- Hourly shuttle to the medical center
- Surrounding neighborhood with Starbucks, grocery stores, restaurants

Unexpected bonus:
- Flat-screen Samsung TVs (~27-32inch) with HD channels

Cons:
For those with medical conditions, motel-style exterior corridors with no-elevators for 2nd/3rd floor rooms may present challenges.

Overall:
A reasonably priced, clean stay with adequate amenities, good services and responsive staff.

Was in town for my granddaughter's final heart surgery, so was already stressed out anyway and did not need anymore. Check-in, stay, and check-out all went very smoothly. Room was very nice, clean, and quiet. Everything was perfect for my needs. Only improvement I could suggest would be some type of convenience counter to sell small snacks and drinks. Every might I was there, would get back too late to get anything to eat, and nothing was really within walking distance. Lobby could use a little more decor and smelled too much like disinfectant. Other than that, it was a great value for the money!

We arrived in Houston, TX after driving for over 18hrs from Illinois and the welcome we received from the LaQuinta staff was warm and assuring. They were very helpful in assisting us with a room to our liking after minor issues but everything turned out great! The staff was very nice and the breakfast was satisfying. I would highly reccommend this hotel to family and friends.
PS, trust me after a long drive like we had, the pillowtop mattresses were just what we needed!