Short-term housing in Denver (Glendale: extended stay, apartments, rental)

[rburtoncpa]

We are moving to Denver in the next couple months, and we need a furnished short-term apartment or house rental there for about 45 days until our house is ready. Can anybody here recommend a place that might do this? Ideally, they would allow our 2 dogs as well, but I realize that's a long shot.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

[BlueWillowPlate]

There used to be Homestead House not far from the central Denver Target, in Glendale, on Leetsdale Blvd.
And some kind of place, under the auspices of Holiday Inn (but not the Holiday Inn) called Staybridge Suites, very very close to Target.
These places exist, just not sure if they are what you want, or if they allow dogs.

[SwedentoDenver]

Does anyone know if the hotels that cil mentioned are safe and kid-friendly?My brother who lives in Florida claims that extended stay hotels have a bad reputation and that he wouldn't recommend it for families - how is it in Denver? I would really like to know, because it would be an affordable way to be able to stay in Denver while looking for a place to rent - the homestead hotel was only about 60 dollars per night for the whole family.

[SwedentoDenver]

Pet policy for homestead studio suites denver: (from their homepage http://www.homesteadhotels.com/minis...asp?HotelID=19

One pet is accepted per guest room. The general manager has the authority to allow additional pets per room, based on his or her own discretion.
Guests with a pet will be charged upon check-in a fee of $25 per day, up to a maximum of $75.

The guest room carpet is cleaned, all bedding is washed, and a professional exterminator treats the room after a guest with a pet checks out. Occupied guest rooms with pets are similarly cleaned monthly in the event of a long-term stay.

Please note that there is no longer a weight restriction for pets.

[rburtoncpa]

I've only stayed in one extended stay hotel in the Washington DC metro area (actually in Falls Church, Virginia), and I would not have been comfortable with my family there. I am looking for something nicer than that.

So far, the best I have found is a place called Oakwood Apartments in the Denver area. They have multiple locations and some allow pets. They seem to be a little more expensive, but not outrageous. They quoted me $150 per night for a 2 bedroom including our 70 lb. Labrador and 10 lb. Yorkie.

[BrianAggie95]

I may be in a similar situation... can anyone give details as to WHY you would have been uncomfortable with your family staying there?

Size of room?
Quality of Furnishings?
Location of Hotel?
etc...

[rburtoncpa]

Brian,

I was most nervous about the other people staying there. There were a lot of working crews like survey crews, utility crews, and what looked like construction crews. In the evenings, when I would return from the office, they were outside drinking beer, cooking on the barbecue pits, and just generally being rowdy.

Now, before anybody gets upset with me, I'm not trying to stereotype these guys. But I smelled marijuana almost every night, there was a lot of very bad language being thrown around, and just generally bad behavior. It was not where I would want my wife and daughter staying during the day while I'm at work.

Brian, if your handle means what I think it means, imagine being in the parking lot of the Chicken at closing time. Definitely not a family atmosphere.

[BlueWillowPlate]

I've never been inside Homestead, but it was an okay neighborhood.
My brother stayed at Staybridge Suites, and I was inside that place and it was very nice, and conveniently located, can't tell you about the kid policy though.

[dullnboring]

I used to work in a Homestead Suites a few years ago in Northern Virginia. The hotel is okay. It's not a sleazy roadside motel, but I wouldn't call it family-friendly either. There's just not really all that much for kids to do. The cable is fairly limited and there's no pool and the hotels tend to be geared towards business travelers so are therefore located in somewhat ugly and desolate areas like business parks or near an airport, with little to see or do within walking distance. Out of the 60 rooms, I would say maybe only two or three at any given time had children in them. I would say some 20 of the rooms or so were people who were living in the hotel or staying for an indefinite period of time, another 20 were contractors and most of the rest were business travelevers with a few random tourists thrown in there. We fielded a decent number of complaints about the construction crews that would stay with us who tended to be rowdy, playing loud music or shouting or being drunk. We also got a few complaints complaints about suspicious behavior in some of the rooms where people were suspicious of prostitutes using them or drug use inside of them. No doubt that happened, as it is apt to in any hotel, but it wasn't that commonplace.

If you're going to stay in any Extended Stay facility, don't bank on what guidebooks or their websites say. Call them up and ask about pricing and their amenities. Our hotel's website was completely incorrect. It said we had an outdoor pool, a sauna/hot tub, barbecue grill, and a gym. We had no pool, no hot tub, the grill was broken, and the gym was actually a discount at the local gym, around three miles away, for $5 a visit. On the plus side, we did have wireless internet for something like an extra $3 fee (may have been per day...I can't remember). Pets are allowed as they are in many extended stay facilities. I remember there being a fee which may have been a refundable deposit but I can't quite recall (and oftentimes, the front desk clerks didn't even bother charging extra). Cleaning is not daily. If you'd like your room cleaned daily, there is an added charge. If I remember correctly, the rooms of longterm residents are only cleaned once every 5-7 days or so; with a "refresh" every 2-3 days where towels and sheets are replaced. Of course, all rooms are cleaned once a guest checks out prior to another guest checking in. Cost is negotiable. If you're going to be staying for a long period, you can try to negotiate a cheaper rate with the hotel manager and they'll generally allow it. There was one guy who had somehow negotiated a $20/night rate at our hotel who had been staying there a year and a half. There was another family who was paying around $40/night which seemed to be the average.

Would I personally recommend staying there for a long time? Not really. I mean, you figure that $40/night is approximately $1200/month which I feel could be put to better use renting out a temporary room in someone's home which I feel would be of more comfort. Then again, at least the hotel is all yours and you have someone cleaning for you, but still, I don't think it's worth it. I couldn't believe so many people at our hotel stayed there for longer than six weeks.