We came to Franklin to be part of my Grandson's confirmation in their church. My wife and I decided to get the two bedroom suite to allow our struggling adult children and my ex-wife to share expenses.\r
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The Staybridge design at this location (and possibly all of them) is designed with the extended stay guest in mind; that is great for short-stay folks like us. we found a reasonably complete kitchen with a real refridgerator We were pleased with the layout, the beds and pillows were WONDERFUL! \r
There were three large TVs that had lots of good channels on them (as opposed to 3 shopping networks and the Weather Channel-the usual fare).\r
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The breakfast was at least as good as any we have experienced (except for the 'cook to order' places like Embassy Suites, but they have issues in ALL the other areas). We didn't do the evening gathering so we can't comment on it, but it appears we stocked and inviting.\r
We didn't get to the pool, but through the windows, it looks clean, kept up, well designed for all ages with lots of lounge chairs as well as table sets.\r
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The personnel were classy, knew their job, had wonderful communications among the staff and a great overall team attitude that you can't whip up or threaten into people. We had the maintenance man come up (our bad: a lamp smarter than we were). He was busy but not hurried, joked about the lamp issue and left us not feeling like we were complete idiots.\r
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There were a number of mostly young ladies working the Sunday breakfast-which was a zoo as everyone seemed to have a tight schedule and showed up at once. These employees were attentive, appeared reasonably happy to be there working; they gave good service while keeping newly open tables clean and ready for more guests. I didn't see any cook-type people, but the food was hot (when it should be), fresh and in plentiful supply. The front desk folks really are good at what they do, even if they are forced to take a moment to explain something (for the hundreth time), they are cool under pressure and honestly pleasant (versus aloof and chilly; we have all suffered them at the snooty operations with triple prices).\r
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THE LESS THAN STELLAR\r
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Like every hotel with a pool and great rates for multiple guests, this one had a plethera of giggly pre-teen girls; more like a brigade of them-running, squealing and talking at about 105 decibels well into the morning hours. Not bad kids and not terribly out of line, but you could hear the teenie herds when they ran from room to room; there is never enough insulation to silence pre-pubescent girlie screams when Justin Bieber is being discussed!\r
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Our elevator (there were two) gave the most erie squeal followed by a 'scruntch' when coming to and stopping on our floor. As this was the evening some preacher had predicted The Rapture, first thoughts were that he might be right given the sounds of Otis #2 coming to a grinding and hopefully complete stop! \r
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There seems to be plentiful parking, nicely landscaped, next to a Walgreens and across the road from a Pizza joint that delivers until 2 AM. There is a nice little shop near the Desk that has lots of 'stuff' from candy and snacks to more substantial choices. \r
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At about 3 blocks west off 94, you can almost leave the Garmin home. We give this place a solid 4.9875 stars with NO QUALMS recommending it to anyone we know! We look forward to going back there again; it is now our MW/Franklin home away from home!
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