This was the worst place I’ve ever stayed, and I have traveled a lot. From start to finish, this was the worst stay ever. We arrived several hours after check-in time, and our room was not ready. The front desk clerk had to call the housekeeper to have the room cleaned. We had to wait in the poorly ventilated, hot lobby for 45 minutes while this was happening. We’d been driving for hours and did not appreciate having to wait. We got to the room, and the air conditioning was not working. This was during a summer heat wave, so that meant the room was uncomfortably warm. The front desk clerk told us no other room was available but that a technician would be up soon. Another 40 minutes later, he finally showed up and got the air conditioner working. From check-in until then, we had a 1 1/2 hour wait before we had a working room. We finally were able to relax and shower. The next morning, we were packing and at 11:10 am, we received a knock on the door stating that we were late for check-out. I said that given we were not able to use our room for an 1 1/2 after check-in, perhaps they could give us a few moments grace. We were out of the room by 11:15 am, and as I dropped off the keys at the front desk, the woman there, Janet Thomas, raised her voice and accused me of giving her attitude. I said that given the difficulties we had encountered the night before — and the fact that we did not have use of our room for 1 1/2 hours after check-in — it seemed they could have given us a few moments’ grace during check-out.
The rooms were dingy and poorly maintained. Not something I expected of a La Quinta Inn. In most of the west, they have properties that are of higher quality. The included breakfast was of poor quality in an unpleasant dining area.
Between the lack of professionalism of staff, poor maintenance, the dingy rooms and common areas, I would stay far away from this hotel. AVOID!!! I booked online based on my previous experience with La Quinta hotels, and there were not a lot of choices in Helena, Montana. Stay at the Hampton Inn instead.