We stayed at Candlewood Suites at other locations, and liked the hotel very much, but this experience with the Las Vegas location was the worst of all hotel experiences I had.

We checked in around 4pm. The check-in was fast, and the clerk was very nice. Went to the room, the room temperature was at 96 degrees, and the AC was not running. When we approached the AC, it started to run, and we checked the wallunit which sets the room temperature at 75 degrees. As we settled, and took a rest, the AC would stop, but when we move around, it would kick in again. That prompted us to think that there was a motion sensing device. The problem is it stops running when everything is quiet in the room, NOT when the room temperature reaches the set 75 degrees. Also, when it stops running, it makes annoying clicking noise. We reported the problem immediately, the front desk (Larry) promised to call the maintenance and get back to us. And that never occured unfortunately.

We went out, and came back around midnight to a steaming 96 degree room again. The AC kicked in immediately when we entered the room. When we went to sleep, the AC would stop running after 5 minutes of quietness and completely disregard the thermostat setting. I complained to the front desk, and the lady clerk appologized, and said the whole hotel is all booked, and there is no room to switched to. We wrestled with the AC for about 2 hours, and finally, my wife cannot stand it, and went downstairs and confronted the frontdesk lady. The clerk sent an elder security man to our room to check on the AC unit. The gentleman was baffled as we were about the AC unit. Upon my wife and the gentleman's return to the front desk, miraculously two rooms are available to us to move to. The clerk said it was cancellation, and that probably would not pass the dumbest lie-detector. Cancellation at 3am, and the two vacant rooms being across the hall and next door make it hard to believe it is a coincidence.

So at 3am, we moved to the room across the hall way. This room does not have a thermostat on the wall to set the temprature, and the AC was either on or off. The AC was rather noisy when it was on constantly, but at least we were able to go to sleep.

When the front desk lady told me there was nothing she could do, I took her words for it, and that was the part that hurt the most. I wanted to say that to her in the morning, but she was off duty when we checked out. She offered us 50% discount, but I rather had a better stay.

Having been sent to Las Vegas for work purposes, I was put up for an initial two nights at the Candlewood Suites until the rest of my collegues turned up and were due to move to a Best Western. However, at the last minute we made a block booking at the Candlewood and those two nights became five. There was a little bit of kerfuffle about moving me from my initial single booking to the block booking - but the guys at the front desk handled this efficiently with the minimum of fuss.

Despite the booking not being in my name (rather, it was in the name of my boss), the staff at the front desk made sure everything was okay. They explained the honour system for the "cupboard" and where all the facilities were. I was most impressed to see a free DVD library in operation - something that other hotels would charge an arm a leg for.

The room was big and roomy (certainly enough to set-up a fair amount of computer equipment) and the kitchen was invaluable for the occasional snack, and for breakfasting. The bed was comfortable, and the recliner was a welcome break from working away for hours on end.

Internet access is provided via ethernet - but is still free. They do not provide (to the best of my knowledge - I had a ton of cables due to my business trip) cables - but there's plenty of places in Las Vegas where you can get one. They filter most network protocols which makes anything other than web access extremely slow - a pain in the backside at times.

The bathroom was clean, the towels fresh and clean (unlike some people have reported). I like the fact that the maid service only comes once a week - which forces you to re-use towels (although they can be exchanged for clean ones at reception) and keep things tidy yourself.

The TV was big, had access to all the important channels, and there is a dual VHS and DVD player to boot.

The free microwavable popcorn was a good touch. The "food cupboard" which is based on an honour system (i.e. you either pay in dollars there and then by dropping the notes/coins through a slot - or you fill in a little piece of paper which has the prices of the items plus the quantity you've taken of that price range, plus your room number, and drop it through the slot). The cupboard is extremely reasonably priced indeed.

Location wise, it's a nice 20 minute walk to the Strip itself. Or if you're driving, everything is very accessible by the roads. It's a wonderful location for the Las Vegas Convention Centre - which is again, around a 15-20 minute walk.

Over the road you have the wonderful Bahama Breeze restaurant serving a variety of Caribbean food and drink (I'd highly recommend the Aruba Red beer and the Jerk Chicken dish), as well as a Starbucks and other dinning facilities.

All in all I've had a great time at the Candlewood Suites. I was a bit aprhensive about the place having read some of the reviews here, but ultimately it's a very pleasent place to stay. I'd be very happy to stay here on holiday.

I was really pleased with my stay. I did a lot of reading before I stayed at this place, but I didn't have much of a choice due to finances at the time. Admittedly, after reading others' reviews, I was really concerned. A friend of mine used his Holiday Inn points to pay for our stay. I was frankly shocked and ecstatic to find that the experience was so favorable. There were two couples staying in one of the Queen suites with the fold-out couch. The cleanliness of the room was acceptable; the staff was friendly. I don't mind getting my own towels and not having someone clean my room on a daily basis (I'm paranoid, the less they're in my room, the better), so these conditions did not bother me. It was great for four people - the privacy of the separate "bedroom" was invaluable. I can easily imagine an extended stay being comfortable. The fridge/dinette area allowed us to eat cereal in-room in the mornings and cool/store bottled water. They give you a complimentary bag of popcorn and a few other amenities. Location is FANTASTIC. I go to Vegas a lot, so I really don't want to stay on the strip. The novelty is lost on me with strip hotels, and I enjoy the quiet of off-strip accommodations. This place is great for that, and its location allows you to bypass the strip traffic while maintaining easy access to all the casinos. The pool area was clean and appeared to be well maintained...the hot tub was a welcome treat for aching feet at the end of a long day. I can't say that this was a life-changing experience, but I'd definitely stay there again. For the price, it can't be beat.

My room seemed dirty from the moment I walked in last night. I slept with my socks on - just in case - and didn't touch anything I didn't have to. But this morning I almost had a heart attack with I unfurled my towel to dry off and there was a giant hair ball (the size of my hand!) lying in wait. (Without my contacts in, at first I thought it was a huge bug.) Totally grossed out, I dressed as quickly as possible and hurried downstairs, where the morning front desk supervisor comp'd my room. I don't care about the free room, I would never advise anyone stay there unless you don't care about the cleanliness of your room!

In addition, a few more complaints about the property:
- my room was cold and the thermostat had to be set to at least 74 to turn off the air conditioning
- the property is under the flight path to McCarran Airport so all night long, there are tons of airplanes flying overhead
- upon checking in, the front desk staff mentioned the complimentary pantry of food, but when I went for a snack it's an honor-system pay set-up
- the clock in my room was set 2 hours fast with both alarms "on" and no instructions for fixing it (I was able to turn off the alarms, but never did figure out how to change the clock) and finally...
- at 9:10pm the front desk staff called to check on how my room was. (What if I had already been asleep?)