Woodspring Suites Tucson Arizona Hotel Review: Hotel or Halfway house?

Oof. Let’s have a talk about the Woodspring Suites Tucson hotel chain. Because I’ve never stayed there before until now. And now that I have, I’d love to tell you all about my experience staying at a Woodspring Suites Tucson hotel. Let’s just say that this is the Spirit Airlines of extended stay hotel rooms — and you’ll see why in a minute.

The Woodspring Suites hotel is an extended stay hotel and from the outside of this place, it looks like a Holiday Inn Express or a Fairfield by Marriott. In other words, it looks promising. In fact, we have one of these hotels at home that sits alongside a freeway I frequently pass, and it always looks inviting.

So when I found myself in Tucson, looking for somewhere to stay that wasn’t incredibly expensive (because for some reason, hotels in Tucson on the dates I needed were pretty pricey), I saw the Woodspring Suites Tucson pop up for a very reasonable rate for the two nights — and they got great (8.0+) ratings on Booking.com. So I booked it.

Also, it looked to be a fairly new property, and it was located right next to a Costco and a Planet Fitness, both of which I like to visit when traveling.

Check In at the Woodspring Suites Tucson

First thing I noticed when I pulled up was the lack of automatic doors to enter the building. This is a pet peeve of mine with hotels because it’s a pain in the ass to have to open a door while struggling with your luggage.

I walk in and was immediately put off by this place — the lobby looked fine and everything – there was a table and chairs and coffee, but what got me was the extra security to reach the rooms. You have to scan your key card to access the rest of the hotel, and enter though glass double doors – again, no automatic doors.

RELATED: I stayed at a MyPlace in Tucson too. This is another cheap ass extended stay hotel, but it’s a little better than a Woodspring.

Check in was quick and painless – but I noticed literature at the desk advertising that they are selling pots, pans and flatware sets to use in their room’s kitchen. How odd.

Rooms

Every room at the Woodspring Suites Tucson is a suite, in that you have a full size fridge, two stovetop burners, a microwave and a kitchen sink, and cabinets. There is no dishwasher.

Rooms do not have Kleenex. There is no hair dryer (but you can rent one from the front desk for an extra charge). You get the bare minimum of towels — two small bath towels and two tiny washcloths. And those towels have to last you for the rest of your stay, else you must PAY for them. I’m serious.

In general, the Woodspring Suites Tucson was very clean. I didn’t have any issues with the cleanliness of this hotel. It’s just way way way too bare bones for me. The decor seemed very outdated – the furnishings were made of dark particle board that looked like it was from 1994. The counter was a dark brown Formica — again, super outdated, super cheap, super crappy.

The bed is a cheap ass platform bed with a shitty foam mattress, and you can feel every metal spring in the flimsy ass mattress. Sheets are threadbare. Again, they went with the cheapest possible option here.

I was put on the top (fourth) floor, which I was happy about as I knew I wouldn’t get any stomping noise from rooms above me. In general, the hotel was very quiet, which was nice, but if you’re sensitive to traffic noise, you should look elsewhere because you can hear the freeway easily from your room. This doesn’t bother me though.

Apparently, long term ‘residents’ of the Woodspring Suites Tucson get put on the first floor.

Amenities

Amenities? What amenities? Well, the Woodspring Suites Tucson does have a gym, and it did look okay, but I didn’t use it because I went to the Planet Fitness just a few blocks away.

There is no breakfast, no pool or hot tub.

There is a laundry room that they brag about being “Open 24 hours.”

Housekeeping is done once every two weeks and if you want it done more, you have to pay. That’s right, you have to pay for housekeeping! That’s pretty gross and overall ridiculous. Especially because they won’t give you clean towels unless you pay.

I would hate to think what happens when you run out of toilet paper. Do they charge you? I wouldn’t be surprised.

Other notes:

I was happy to leave. The clientele of this place looked like they were up to no good — lots of sketchy long term residents — which explains some of the strange policies of this place. I seriously felt like I was in a prison. Well, more like a halfway house where you have to check in with your probation officer (front desk) each time you leave and enter. It’s so weird and unwelcoming.

This is not a place you want to stay at long term. I lived in a hotel for nearly 2 years from 2020-2021, and I know what works at a long term hotel stay. This is not what you want. Trust me, if you need a long term hotel stay, spring for a Residence Inn or a Home2Suites by Hilton. You don’t want a goddamn Woodspring.

I swear to god, if my employer sent me to a Woodspring Suites for a long term work assignment, I’d quit on the spot.

Woodspring Suites is actually part of the Choice Hotel umbrella, but you do not receive any points or, well, anything staying here. I’m guessing that the Woodspring Suites is competitive to the Extended Stay America, My Place, Candlewood Suites class of hotels but I seriously think this place is worse. At least those hotels have beds with a box spring, and it still feels like you’re at a hotel and not a halfway house.

Nevertheless, this location gets great reviews – it was clocking in at an 8.1 rate on Booking.com which is really good — and another reason why I booked it. You usually can’t go wrong when you see review rankings that high on Booking, but they got me.

Related: The ‘amazing’ Booking.com reviews got me at this place in Iceland too.

I will not be staying at this chain ever again. Always remember, folks – you get what you pay for!