Wichita Airport's BEST Hotel? Red Roof Inn Review!
Red Roof Inn Wichita Airport: My Honest (And Slightly Messy) Review
Okay, folks. Let's be real. When you're booking a hotel near an airport, you're usually not expecting the Ritz. You're expecting… well, you're hoping for something clean, with a bed that doesn't actively try to throw you off, and maybe, just maybe, some decent coffee. I recently took a trip to Wichita, and since I was flying in and out, the Red Roof Inn near the airport was the obvious choice. And, as always with these types of reviews, I'm diving into the deep end of the pool. Buckle up, because this one got interesting. META-THINGY (SEO Stuff - Bear with me!)
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- Metadata: Title: Red Roof Inn Wichita Airport Review: The Good, The Bad, and the Questionable. Description: A brutally honest review of the Red Roof Inn near Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, covering accessibility, cleanliness, dining, amenities, and the overall experience. Keywords: Wichita Airport Hotel, Red Roof Inn, Hotel Review, Accessibility, Cleanliness, Wi-Fi, Airport Hotel.
Let's Get Down To Brass Tacks (And Maybe Some Coffee)
First Impression. The outside? Standard Red Roof. That iconic… well, red roof! It's not winning any architectural awards, but it looks like a Red Roof. And that's what you're expecting, right? It's perfectly fine. The parking (car park [on-site], Car park [free of charge]) was plentiful, which is a huge plus for any airport hotel, especially if you're leaving your vehicle there for a few days. And, after a long flight, the ease of access is critical.
Accessibility (because it matters!)
- Accessibility: For a good look at how easily it is accessible
- Wheelchair accessible: I, fortunately, do not require any special need to access the hotel, however, what I could observe around the hotel, it appeared to be wheelchair-friendly.
Inside the Belly of the Beast (The Room)
- Available in all rooms: Additional toilet, Air conditioning, Alarm clock, Bathrobes, Bathroom phone, Bathtub, Blackout curtains, Carpeting, Closet, Coffee/tea maker, Complimentary tea, Daily housekeeping, Desk, Extra long bed, Free bottled water, Hair dryer, High floor, In-room safe box, Interconnecting room(s) available, Internet access – LAN, Internet access – wireless, Ironing facilities, Laptop workspace, Linens, Mini bar, Mirror, Non-smoking, On-demand movies, Private bathroom, Reading light, Refrigerator, Safety/security feature, Satellite/cable channels, Scale, Seating area, Separate shower/bathtub, Shower, Slippers, Smoke detector, Socket near the bed, Sofa, Soundproofing, Telephone, Toiletries, Towels, Umbrella, Visual alarm, Wake-up service, Wi-Fi [free], Window that opens.
Okay, so the room. I’m going to be utterly honest here. It wasn't… fancy. But it was clean. And after a long day of flying, clean is the only thing that matters. The bed was… well, let's just say it was a bed. It was a place to sleep. The pillows weren’t the best I’ve ever encountered, but they also weren't actively trying to strangle me, which is a win in my book. I had a room with a desk, which was good because I worked from my laptop a lot which was a plus. The room had a fridge, which was a saving grace for my snacks. One negative was there was no outlet near the bed, which had me running around while I charged my phone. Also, the air conditioning worked (thank goodness!), and the blackout curtains did a decent job of keeping the sun out. My room had a window that opened, which was a nice fresh-air bonus, especially when you've been cooped up in a plane for hours.
Regarding soundproofing, the room was good enough to not hear the neighbors next door or the outside road, that's another plus.
Cleanliness and Safety – Fingers Crossed!
- Cleanliness and safety: Anti-viral cleaning products, Breakfast in room, Breakfast takeaway service, Cashless payment service, Daily disinfection in common areas, Doctor/nurse on call, First aid kit, Hand sanitizer, Hot water linen and laundry washing, Hygiene certification, Individually-wrapped food options, Physical distancing of at least 1 meter, Professional-grade sanitizing services, Room sanitization opt-out available, Rooms sanitized between stays, Safe dining setup, Sanitized kitchen and tableware items, Shared stationery removed, Staff trained in safety protocol, Sterilizing equipment.
This is where things got interesting. They had the… gestures vaguely… everything. Hand sanitizer everywhere. Signs about social distancing. And the staff seemed genuinely concerned with keeping things clean. The room did look like it had been thoroughly sanitized. (And a very nice touch, opt-out on room sanitization). I'm not a germaphobe, but the cleanliness did give me some peace of mind.
The Internet: A Love/Hate Relationship
- Internet: Internet access – LAN, Internet access – wireless, Free Wi-Fi in all rooms!
Okay, the Wi-Fi: free, and pretty reliable, which is a godsend. Now, this is a minor gripe, but I’m putting it here because it's my review. The Wi-Fi did sometimes lag. It was good enough for basic browsing and checking emails. I wouldn't necessarily stream movies, which is fine. I could do my work.
Breakfast… (or the lack thereof)
- Dining, drinking, and snacking: Breakfast [buffet], Breakfast service, Breakfast takeaway service.
Breakfast was listed as included. Apparently, "included" meant "a sad little continental breakfast" (the buffet was not available). They had some pre-packaged pastries, instant oatmeal, and coffee. Let’s be honest, it wasn't going to win any awards. I’d recommend going outside for breakfast.
Amenities and Services – The Fine Print
- Services and conveniences: Air conditioning in public area, Cash withdrawal, Concierge, Contactless check-in/out, Convenience store, Currency exchange, Daily housekeeping, Doorman, Dry cleaning, Elevator, Facilities for disabled guests, Food delivery, Gift/souvenir shop, Invoice provided, Ironing service, Laundry service, Luggage storage, Meeting/banquet facilities, Meetings, Meeting stationery, Outdoor venue for special events, Projector/LED display, Safety deposit boxes, Smoking area, Terrace, Xerox/fax in business center.
- Getting around: Airport transfer, Bicycle parking, Car park [free of charge], Car park [on-site], Car power charging station, Taxi service, Valet parking.
The check-in/out process was easy (contactless!), and the staff was friendly and helpful. There's a convenience store, which is always a plus, car park [on-site]. Airport transfer was excellent; the shuttle was timely and reliable. But let's talk about the "concierge." I saw no concierge. Maybe I missed them.
Things to Do…(Spoiler: Not Much Inside the Hotel)
- Things to do, ways to relax: Fitness center, Gym/fitness, Swimming pool [outdoor].
Don't come here expecting a spa day or a world-class fitness center. There was a basic gym with a few machines and a swimming pool (outdoor). It's not a resort. It's a place to sleep.
Dining and Drinking – Fuel Up Elsewhere?
- Dining, drinking, and snacking: Asian breakfast, Asian cuisine in restaurant, Bar, Coffee/tea in restaurant, Coffee shop, Happy hour, International cuisine in restaurant, Poolside bar, Restaurants, Salad in restaurant, Snack bar, Soup in restaurant, Vegetarian restaurant, Western breakfast, Western cuisine in restaurant.
Now, this is where I encountered the most disappointment. The hotel had a small bar. So I figured, after a long flight, I might be able to grab a beer and a snack. No luck. No restaurants on site. I ended up getting delivery in both times I stayed.
The Overall Vibe – Would I Stay Again?
- Hotel chain, Fire extinguisher, Front desk [24-hour], Non-smoking rooms, Pets allowed, Room decorations, Safety/security feature, Security [24-hour], Smoke alarms, Soundproof rooms.
So, would I stay at the Red Roof Inn Wichita Airport again? Honestly? Yeah. But with some caveats.
The Good: Clean rooms, decent Wi-Fi, convenient location near the airport, free parking, friendly staff, and reasonable prices. I felt safe.
The Bad: The breakfast situation needed some serious love. The lack of on-site dining was a bummer.
The Questionable: The "amenities" listings -- let's just say they're a little ambitious.
In a nutshell: The Red Roof Inn Wichita Airport is a perfectly functional, no-frills airport hotel. It's not glamorous, but it's clean, convenient, and does the job
Escape to Paradise: Okinawa's Hidden Gem, Hotel Yanbaru!
Okay, buckle up buttercup, because this isn't your grandma's meticulously planned itinerary. This is a Red Roof Inn & Conference Center Wichita Airport adventure, and honey, we're gonna live it. Here we go, unfiltered:
Red Roof Rampage: A Wichita Whirlwind - OR, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Carpet Stain
Day 1: Arrival - Airplanes, Anxiety, and the Art of Praying the Shuttle Doesn't Suck.
- 1:00 PM: Touchdown at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ICT). Let the games begin! Honestly, approaching the airport, a wave of… something… washes over me. Not excitement, not dread, more like a vague, low-level existential dread mixed with the faint aroma of recycled air. This is going to be good. Or terrible. Probably both.
- 1:15 PM: Locate the Red Roof Inn shuttle. This is where the real gamble begins. Will it be a rusty beater driven by a guy named Dale who smells faintly of stale cigarettes and broken dreams? Or, (fingers crossed!) a slightly less-rusty beater with Dale, but a Dale who's had a recent shower? Praying to the travel gods here…
- 1:45 PM: Shuttle arrives! Turns out, it's a slightly-less-rusty beater with Dale, but Dale seems… reasonably okay. Maybe he showered this week? A small victory. Load up, trying to avoid direct eye contact with my fellow passengers (airport fatigue is real, people).
- 2:00 PM: Check-in chaos. Red Roof Inn front desk. The lobby is… well, it's a Red Roof Inn lobby. You know the vibe. Slightly weary, vaguely fluorescent, promising a weekend of… something. Hopefully not bed bugs. The person at the front desk looks like they've seen some things. I feel a kinship.
- 2:30 PM: Room inspection. Ah, the room. Let's be honest, I don't expect luxury at a Red Roof. But… the carpet. Oh, the carpet. It's a tapestry of stains, a historical document detailing the many, many lives lived within these four walls. It’s… fascinating, albeit a little nauseating. Am I brave enough to touch it? (Narrator: She was not.) But the fact that it’s there, in all its glory, makes me feel strangely… grounded. Comforting, maybe. Reminds me “it could be worse.”
- 3:00 PM: Unpack (or, rather, unpack, survey the situation, and decide that 90% of my luggage can stay in the suitcase). The TV remote? Sticky. Classic. A quick Lysol wipe-down – just in case – and I’m ready for the adventure. (Or, you know, a nap.)
- 4:00 PM: Okay, I need sustenance. The hotel's "continental breakfast" is… questionable. I'm pretty sure the muffins are made of dust and regret. Gotta face the world, gotta find food…
- 4:30 PM: The Great Escape to the Local Diner. A recommendation for a local diner was given. The waiter said it was his favorite place. His family were working there too. I was hungry and the locals said, “go there.”
- 5:00 PM: The Local Diner was awesome. The food was amazing, the locals were amazing.
- 7:00 PM: Back to the hotel. Relaxing around the TV. Staring at more stains.
Day 2: Delving Deeper… Into Wichita, Maybe?
- 7:00 AM: Wake up to a faint feeling of hope which instantly gets stomped on like a bug when I see the stained carpet again. It’s like an old friend at this point.
- 8:00 AM: Attempt to eat breakfast at the hotel. The coffee is akin to burnt motor oil, but hey, at least it's wet. The plastic-wrapped danish offers a fleeting moment of joy then crumbles into dust on my chin.
- 9:00 AM: Actual Plan: Venture forth!
- 9:30 AM: Stumble upon the Keeper of the Plains!. It was surprisingly beautiful and made me feel like maybe Wichita wasn’t so bad. Definitely a good spot.
- 11:00 AM: Old Town Wichita. Cute, charming, and full of potential for overpriced t-shirts and slightly-better-than-hotel-breakfast coffee.
- 12:00 PM: Lunch at a local burger joint. The burger was… a burger. Solid, decent, and exactly what I needed. The fries? Crispy. The highlight of my day so far, to be honest.
- 1:00 PM: Return to the hotel. The couch is calling.
- 2:30 PM: Pool time! The pool is cold. So cold. But I’m here, so I might as well. The other inhabitants of the pool are… interesting. A couple loudly playing a game of Marco Polo, a guy in a Speedo who seems to be doing laps at a glacial pace, and me. We're all connected by the shared understanding that we are, in fact, in a Red Roof Inn pool in Wichita.
- 4:00 PM: Nap. Needed it. That cold pool, y'all.
- 6:00 PM: Dinner at a slightly-less-sketchy restaurant.
- 8:00 PM: Back to the room to read my book.
- 9:00 PM: Lights out.
Day 3: Farewell, Wichita, and the Stained Carpet Saga
- 8:00 AM: Wake up. The carpet. It's still there. And it's seen things.
- 8:30 AM: The hotel breakfast. Avoid.
- 9:00 AM: Last-minute souvenir shopping (read: gas station snacks and a single, overpriced postcard).
- 10:00 AM: Check-out. The front desk person is still there. Same tired look. We exchange a silent, knowing nod, a bond forged in the crucible of budget travel.
- 10:30 AM: Shuttle back to the airport. Dale is driving. He's wearing a different shirt. Progress!
- 11:00 AM: Airport security. Standard chaos. I feel like I could write a dissertation on the hidden anxieties of airline travel at this point.
- 12:00 PM: Departure. Goodbye, Wichita. Goodbye, Red Roof Inn. Goodbye, stained carpet. You were… an experience.
- The Aftermath: Back home. I realize how much I needed a good night sleep, good food and rest.
Final Thoughts:
Look, this wasn't a glamorous trip. It wasn't perfect. But it was real. It was a little messy, a little weird, and a whole lot of human. Would I recommend the Red Roof Inn and Conference Center Wichita Airport? Maybe. If you're looking for a genuine experience, a dose of reality, and a good story to tell, then yeah. Just… bring some serious cleaning supplies. And maybe a hazmat suit, just in case.
Montpellier Getaway: Kyriad South's Hidden Gem!
So, what *is* [Your Topic Here], anyway? Like, *really*?
Ugh. Okay, the *official* version? Blah, blah, blah, technical jargon. Honestly? It's like trying to herd cats. It’s a… a… *thing*. A process. A whole *situation*. Think of it like… baking. You gotta have all the ingredients and then somehow, magically, a cake appears. Except sometimes you forget the sugar and you end up with something you can barely choke down. That’s [Your Topic Here] at its finest. Or, you know, worst. Depends on the day, really. Right now, I'm feeling a little like that cake.
Is it hard? 'Cause I'm not good with hard.
Hard? Honey, let's just say I nearly threw my laptop out the window the *first* time I tried. Okay, maybe not *nearly*. I just… considered it. Briefly. Very briefly. I’m talking full-on, ugly-crying, questioning-my-life-choices hard. Like, "Should I just become a professional dog walker and avoid all this?" hard. But then… then there’s this weird satisfaction when you *finally* get it. It's like… winning the lottery, except the prize is a slightly less confused brain. Small victories, people. Small victories.
Alright, alright, so what are the *benefits*? Is there an actual reason to do this?
Benefits? Oh, yeah. The benefits are… uh… okay, so there's the potential to… um, *improve* things. Sometimes. Look, the *official* spiel is all about [mention a specific benefit, e.g., "streamlining your workflow" or "increasing efficiency"]. But honestly? That’s what the gurus tell you to say. The real benefits are things like… feeling a tiny sense of accomplishment when it *doesn't* crash. Or maybe, just maybe, being able to troubleshoot it without having a full-blown panic attack. And, you know, maybe, *possibly*, impressing your boss once in a blue moon. Tiny, fleeting bits of joy. Embrace them.
Okay, okay, I'm intrigued. Where do I *start*? Like, step one?
*Deep breath*. Okay. Step one? Accept that you're going to fail. A lot. Like, a *lot* a lot. Secondly, find a good tutorial. And by "good," I mean one that doesn't assume you already know everything. Watch it twice. Then three times. Take notes. Then, when you inevitably get stuck, and you *will* get stuck, Google. Google everything. “Why is my [Your Topic Here] not working?” “I want to throw my computer out the window.” “Is it normal to cry while coding?” Okay, maybe don’t Google that last one. But the rest are pretty much guaranteed search terms.
Is there a *secret*? Like, some magic trick to conquering this?
A secret? Haha. Oh, honey, if there *were* a secret, I’d be sunning myself on a beach somewhere instead of answering these questions. The “secret”? (And I use the word loosely…) Patience. And coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. And maybe a decent therapist. To process the rage. Oh, and don't be afraid to ask for help. No, seriously. Swallow your pride. Ask for help. I know, I know, it feels like admitting defeat. But trust me: it's not. It's survival.
What's the *worst* thing that can happen? Truly the *worst*?
Okay, the *absolute worst*? Let me tell you a story. True story. There was this *one* time… *shudders*. I spent, oh, I don't know, like *three days*? No, wait, it was *FOUR* - straight, no sleep, fueled by instant ramen and desperation… trying to fix this [Your Topic Here] thing. I was so deep in the weeds I could practically *smell* the code. I thought I had it. I *knew* I had it. Then… *poof*. Everything. Gone. Years of work, deleted. All my carefully crafted backups? Corrupted. The result? Tears, a screaming match with my computer, and a firm vow to never even *look* at the darn thing again. I took a week off, just to, you know, *breathe*. The worst thing? Losing your *mind*. And maybe the data. The data thing stings, too. But the sanity thing? That's irreplaceable. Oh, and you know what else? Once, after pouring my heart and soul into something for weeks, I realized I'd been writing code for the *wrong* version. Yep. Felt like I'd just been punched in the gut by a coding algorithm. Seriously, always double-check you're working on the right version. Always. Please. For me.
Okay, so like, I see it has problems. How do I *fix* it? And why does it always break after lunch?
Fixing it? Ah, the million-dollar question. First, breathe. Then, the debugging process. It’s like detective work. You gotta follow the clues like a detective in a noir film, but instead of a fedora and a trench coat, you have a half-eaten energy bar and a desperate look in your eyes. Did you check the logs? Did you even *look* at the logs? Look at the bloody logs! Okay, I'm getting a little worked up. Let's remember the *why after lunch* thing. It seems really random, but maybe it's a resource issue? Maybe your server is getting overloaded around noon? Maybe it's just your brain, full of the tasty delights of lunch, is simply too *full* to function. (That's me most days).
What's the biggest mistake people make?
Oh, *easily* the biggest mistake? Not asking for help. People get so caught up in the "I-can-do-it-myself" thing that they'll spend hours, days even, banging their heads against a wall, when a quick question to a colleague or a search online could solve it instantly. It's like stubbornly trying to chop wood with a spoon. Just...stop! Also, not backing up their work. Seriously. Learn from my ramen-fueled weeping. Back. Up. Everything. Regularly. Trust me.
