Like many others, we were on a weekend visit to Carlsbad Caverns. We had a free coupon for one night that we earned during a promotional period last year. We paid for the second night. Our room was on the ground floor, and while yes it had a cracked tile in the bathroom and the curtains could be hung better, overall it was a very pleasant room.
We had a king size bed with lots of pillows, thinner but adequate linens, the TV worked fine, two bathroom sinks and tons of counter space. I liked that the toilet and shower were separate from the sink area. Plenty of hot water and toiletries. We were in the wing farthest from the lounge and lobby. We like to keep the fan on to drown out other noises, but we did not hear any noise from other people or traffic.
It is a short walk down to Chili's, and there are sidewalks to use, another plus. We did not eat in the hotel restaurant for any dinner, but we did take advantage of the free breakfast buffet in the morning. The food is probably institutional in the way that means I'm sure it is not freshly made gravy, it is probably frozen or canned. That is not to say that it is bad, it's just missing that homemade or gourmet touch. There were pancakes, biscuits, gravy, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs and sausage patties on the hot buffet. The other side of the room had breads, cereals, and fruit.The friendliest wait staff you could hope for kept our coffee mugs filled and were on top of keeping the buffet stocked even near the closing time for later arrivals. They earn their tips.
We did stop into the lounge on our Friday dinner at Chili's; there is a cover charge of $5 but it is waived if you are a guest in the hotel. There was a DJ and lots of security, not obtrusive but present. The DJ played a decent variety of country, only a few hip hop songs and some line dance type of party music. It became more and more crowded, mostly 20's and 30's, but we did not feel out of place. Plenty of people dancing and having a good time. We left about 10pm; they make you exit through the outside where all the smokers are hanging out, but it was not a big deal.
The hotel is located on the main street of the town, just after a curve, so it was a little tricky making a left out of the parking lot but there is that middle lane to sit in while traffic clears. Carlsbad Caverns is less than an hour away, I didn't keep track very closely but maybe about 30 minutes. I would stay here again.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.