Howard Johnson Express San Mateo

The man working behind the desk is rude. The breakfast sucks. The rooms are noisy. The wifi kicks you off every five minutes. I could go on.

Not clean, no towels at check in, noise neighbors, sheets make my wife to itch. We will never ever stay there again.

Ok, so this hotel still sucks!!! The manager never called me back, however I was able to get in touch with Wyndham and left a complaint. They ended up sending me a check for the full price of the room without me asking and within a reasonable amount of time.
Great customer service and I will gladly stay at other Wyndham hotels! But still stay far, far away from this hell hole! :)

Daaaaaaaaaaaamn. Room 43 is NASTY! The ceiling is a frightening shade of mottled yellow and white. You could see that a sloppy paint job had been applied to the door to the bathroom cuz even the hinges were painted. There was an interesting stain at the top of the sheets, y’know the part that’s gonna be touching your face.
Just every damn thing about this room frightened us, to the point that we abandoned it (having already paid) and found a nicer room a few miles down the road.
Lesson learned, don’t make the same mistake we did unless your cool with potentially waking up with scabies or worse.

I got locked out.
My keys weren’t working at about 2 AM and there wasn’t anyone at the front desk to help! I had to sleep in my car the first night. It happened again the next night too! But luckily there was someone in the lobby to help me at least with the keys. I think his name was Habib. I talked to Andres, the manager, and he didn’t give any compensation. He made it sound like it was my fault that my room keys weren’t working! Pinche culero! He said that now he’s gonna have to fire the person that should have been there to help, and blah blah blah. He couldn’t refund my room because, «it would be a lost sale for them.» What a jerk! The employees there have a piss-​poor attitude and don’t care about the customers! That was THE WORST customer service I’ve ever experienced.
On top of that, the fake wooden floor in my room was peeling. The room smelled like crap, and there were bugs and mold in the bathroom.
The wall outlets were loose, so I couldn’t plug my phone charger in. I’ll never stay there again. And I’m having American Express decline the charges.
Too bad we can’t give negative stars, or turd emoji’s! Seriously, that place sucked!

Clean basic room, comfortable firm bed, refrigerator and microwave. Quiet (I was in the back).
But check-​in was a lot harder than it should have been. I use a cane and was told there was an elevator, so asked for an upstairs room when I made the reservation. This was my second hotel, as I had found out four days before that the first hotel had no elevator and no available first floor rooms. Arrived at this place after a rather challenging travel day and was told by a brusque desk person that they did not have an elevator and there were no available first floor rooms. Bad déjà vu all over again. I explained about the first reservation experience and that I had been told there was an elevator by Orbitz. Turns out there really is an elevator, it is on their map and in their online description, but the desk person said it had been broken some months before by a guest, and parts to repair it are no longer available. I really cannot get luggage up and down stairs, so asked if someone could help with that. Not possible. He said there actually was one first floor room, but the AC was broken. Knowing that I could not safely leave a window open in a first floor motel room and because it is July I said I did not want that room. Finally, he says he will give me a first floor room requested by another guest, at some risk to himself for conflict with this other guest, but he will do it. I thank him, and feel like I have had to go through some sort of other-​culture bargaining process to secure my room. The rest of the stay was fine, but I will not be back.

So, my room here wasn’t so hot, but Howard Johnson made up for it in leaps and bounds. I found out two days into my stay that the reason my room wasn’t so fantastic, was because it was a handicap room, it was a little beat up and older. The staff was great, and a week after my stay, I received a call from their corporate office apologizing for my room, and inquiring about my stay. Loved it. So as a rule of thumb, it’s nothing super special, but it’s clean, and they still stand behind the Howard Johnson name.

The hotel room was clean enough but the noise was crazy. It was so loud I had a hard time sleeping the entire time I was there. Yesterday morning I had a migraine from the uncomfortable bed, housekeeping knocked on my door about 6 times but when I came back from dinner — they had never cleaned the room. What the heck?! When I called down for sheets and blankets the front desk girl told me she didn’t have any and didn’t have the time to help me. And didn’t even apologize for the housekeepers. Then people partied outside my door and ran up and down the walk all night and all morning. What a nightmare. Stay at your own risk.

Well I didn’t realize there was 2 listings for the same place lol ! I thought hotwire failed me I was so bummed out on my drive up here from Sacramento thinking WTF WTF crackhead motel great !!! Well was I wrong or what ! this place was actually pretty nice. Newly renovated rooms and bathrooms. Flat screen TVs comfy beds hardwood floors and nice stand up showers. See other review

We had a reservation at this hotel, and my wife called them to arrange an early check-​in. The concierge was quite rude over the phone. So we decided to book a room at a different hotel because we decided not to give them our business. Then, when we called back to cancel our reservation at Howard Johnson, someone else informed us it was already cancelled. Huh? So, not only was that tool rude to us on the phone, but he cancelled our reservation without letting us know? Good thing we called. WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!!!

Horrible! The walls are paper thin. You can hear people coming up and down the stairs at all hours of the night. You can hear the heater and water go on in neighboring rooms. If you enjoy sleeping, this is not the place for you, there is a noise or voice every few minutes.
Also, parking is horrible.

1. My name is erin lee. I booked a king room over a week ago.
2. I called this morning to ask for room in the back. Ad i read it is noisy up front. I was assured that this was set. And confirmed.
3. We are staying in local hotels two nights a week, starting now as we need a break from being a full time caregiver to our 91 yr old mom Sleep matters
4. I checked in and was sent to 35. A room in the back with a queen bed… the room smelled of smoke. It was awful.
5. I called the desk agent And was told that ‘i had reserved a queen ’ i told him i did not and promptly went for another room.
6. I am now stuck in the front room…12. It is incredibly loud and we may not even stay its a joke
I am pretty disappointed. If this had worked we would ha e booked two nights a week thru next year to start.
But not now.
Erin lee
Sent from wasmy iPhoner

The room was nicely decorated, and the hardwood floors were a nice touch. It was clean, smelled good, and the bed was comfortable. It was in a nice location that made it easy to get around everywhere on the Peninsula. You can’t ask for much more at the price they charge.

What is there to say? It’s about average with some flaws. The rooms are small, but the one I had was clean and modern. The hardwood floors take a little getting used to, but I like them better than the mysteriously dark carpeting other motels have.
The bed is a standard spring mattress and not a coiled one that you’d see at higher grade places. It’s not all that comfortable, but it’s adequate. The Internet connection kept timing out and the towels have definitely seen better days.
The air conditioner had a musty odor, which makes sense because it was probably around to see the Eisenhower administration. But for the price and location, I would stay here again if I had to. Not for too long though.

Here’s an update on my review. I figured out a way to silence the noisy bathroom fan, got rid of the burnt popcorn odor, bought an mask to darken the room there are now 3 toasters and bananas available with breakfast. I was able to get my loyalty number added to the account so I should also receive the credits I have earned once my stay is completed. During my extended stay I have noticed numerous renovations and improvements to the property. There are pretty flower boxes and brightly colored flowers to make the place feel inviting. I like the wood floor though I wish my maid would mop my floor a little more. The shutters have a clean feel, and it is easy to open the windows to circulate fresh air. One of the perks that I have grown to appreciate during my stay is the on-​site laundry room. For less than $ 5.00 I can wash and dry my clothing for the week while I relax in my room. I have been very pleased with the convenience of this location, and with the variety of things to do nearby.

Ohhhhh no! I was in San Mateo on a business trip and I got into town late. I got to another hotel that was booked, but my office staff booked it incorrectly and I wasn’t allowed to check in (at 2am). So I went across the street to this «HoJo» as they call them… and luckily was able to check into a room. I wasn’t asked what kind of room, was just given a smokers room with a queen bed. The room smelled HORRIBLE, had hardwood floors (not fun for walking barefoot), and when I finally went to lay down on my pillow, I found some long black hairs waiting for me. The breakfast in the moring consisted of stale cereal and a few dry danishes.
Regardless, if someone asked me for my recommendation for a hotel, I wouldn’t give them this one.

I have to agree with the positive reviewers. If you want an inexpensive, clean, well equipped motel room, this is the place to stay on this end of San Mateo. I was taking care of some family business and wanted the motel experience: park the car outside the door for easy luggage hauling. My Unilocal rating is a comparison with other two star motels I have been in.
Pros:
Clean
Free Continental Breakfast
Well Maintained
Nice Desk Staff
Well equipped
Iron and Board
Safe
Hair Drier
Desk
Modern TV
Toiletries
Radio/​Alarm Clock
Microwave
Refrigerator
Free, High Speed WiFi
6 mbps up, 2.5 mbps down
Cons:
Could hear people taking next door
Could not make the room completely dark
Tip: Ask for a second floor room as far from the street as possible. There are six of them that will be very quiet.

I consider Howard Johnson to be a big name. When I was just a lad, the orange roofed restaurants were a familiar sight up and down the eastern seaboard. Why don’t we have a western seaboard? What the hell is a seaboard, anyway?
I don’t see them around much any more. This is a HoJo Express, which means it’s supposed to be cheap and clean. So far, it is.
The guy at the desk was friendly. The room seems fairly clean and the window unit seems to work OK. Internet connection works most of the time. TV does NOT work. Keeps wanting me to scan the channels, which doesn’t fix the problem. I will update after contacting the desk to see how they respond.
NOTE: I’m back. They didn’t bother to do anything. I screwed around with the TV myself, saw that the input was set wrong, now I got picture and sound but it’s only black and white. I refuse to put any more effort into this. This is their problem. Downgraded to one star.
I had a great night’s sleep so that’s a plus. I hope the next two nights are as good. Quiet, off the street a ways so very little traffic noise.
UPDATE: 6:08 AM. Howard, baby! When I go into the shower, I am usually holding a bar of soap, and a tiny little bottle of shampoo. The only place to put these things when I’m using the other one is the floor. Not cool.

Obviously for the rates as this little hotel has to offer expectations shouldn’t be that high, main points
— clean
— no bed bugs
— have clean bathrooms.
It does have that. Nothing fancy, very simple place.
Stuff is friendly and helpful.
They offer breakfast before 10am, coffee, orange juice, bagels, cereal…
About 20 mins from downtown San Francisco.
Free parking.
Free wifi.
For $ 75/​night definitely deserves 5 stars :)

This is the kind of average-​ish place I would normally skip reviewing, but after reading some old reviews that completely bash this place I feel it deserves an upgrade. Price was $ 70.
Front desk was polite and attentive. They spent a few minutes telling me about the different restaraunt options around town.
Room was clean. No shit all over the walls and no nasty smells like some other reviews say.
I would definitely stay here again.
This is exactly the kind of thing you should expect for a great price.