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| - When we rolled into Las Vegas (from Seattle) 8 months ago, we thought we'd move right into a rental or buy one of the thousands of cheap houses on the market with the money we'd be receiving from my husband's transfer (government position) Instead, we had 4 months of white-knuckled adventure as the govt. kept him active, but did not keep him employed. No benefits, no income, no severance, no...well, you get the picture.
With everything we owned in a tiny U-haul storage facility (see my review of them - they were positively amazing!), we figured at first we'd hole up in the Super 8 next door with our Golden Retriever and three cats. It was only going to be for a few days, right? (We were so naive as to believe that, any day, the govt. would come through - ha!) After a week, we realized this wouldn't work for us, so what does one do when faced with - quite literally - homelessness with an entire furry family?
I did what anyone would do, I took my dog for a walk and talked to the hardworking illegals that hang out front of the U-haul. They have survived quite a bit, so I figured they would know what to do.
And, one of them did. He said his wife and he went through the same kind of thing and found that they saved money by living in an extended stay for a few months until they got back on their feet. He pointed down the street, and there were the Suites on Flamingo. The sign nearly rivals that of Sam's Town's.
They are pet friendly, a little off the beaten path - which is good - and have a large pool and park-like setting in the middle of the complex. With grass. My dog was thrilled.
For reasons I still cannot fathom, we ended up in a single unit on the third floor. That's 32 steps. 64, round trip. Gives you lots of time for refection after grocery shopping. We were assured that we were in the "nice" part of the complex (by the lady who checked us in and by the maintenance guy that we met on the way up.) It was relatively quiet, too. We were on the end above the laundry, so no one above us and no one on our left side - just right and back. Except for one completely deaf (we assume) neighbor who shared his TV with us (through the floor), it really was kind of quiet.
The bad:
There are a lot of lifers that live there. These are folks who have basically given up, and aren't very positive about their life outlook. In fact, they are really bummers. There are lots of smokers who trash the place, few pet owners that bother to clean up after their pets, and at least one daily screaming match between baby mamas/daddies. Kids don't have anywhere to play, so they end up in the laundry room or on your cars. Few of the parents living there have the class or wherewithal to watch their kids, so they run rampant. People will steal anything that isn't nailed down - including your laundry baskets and/or laundry as you're doing it.
The bed was so uncomfortable that my back still hurts weeks after leaving. The furniture is old and worn. They had to replace our couch because it was so broken. They replaced it with an older, slightly less broken one, and that took them over 3 months. The most annoying thing about the room was the shower head, which some idiot installed about 5 feet up. We both kept conking our noggins on it.
Don't bother paying extra for the internet - it SUCKS!! I got sick of paying $15/week for service that was so bad I had to go to Starbucks to upload a video. Since the company that services it isn't interested in fixing it, you will get nowhere. We finally just upgraded our cell service for wireless hot spot, which worked fine.
They do nickel and dime you to death. The amount they advertise is before the key/cleaning/pet/toenail deposits and the weekly rate is bumped up by taxes, internet (if you want it) and pet rent. Per pet. Lucky for us we only had one. (wink)
The good:
The staff is generally helpful and friendly (one instantly became my dog's BESTIST friend and carried treats in her purse). They do monthly unit inspections for bugs and such, and check your AC, replace the filters, and test the smoke alarms while they're there. If you mention a maintenance issue, they are ON IT - usually same day. The groundskeepers and maintenance crew work their tails off.
If you're in a bind, and can come up with $150ish a week, this is an alternative to sleeping in a tent. Better? Depends on how much you like camping. OK, it's air conditioned when needed, and warm at night. Running water, kitchen, warm shower. Not too bad, as long as it's not long term.
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