May 30 2007
Hotels - Extended Stay America, Scarborough, ME
As I mentioned in an earlier post, We stayed at Extended Stay America in Scarborough. Thanks to some deft use of HotWire.com, our three night stay came to less than $150–not bad for a holiday weekend! ESA is a no-frills sort of affair. The beds are basic but reasonably comfortable. We had a room with two double beds, a kitchenette, a table with two chairs, and a bathroom with a tub that might have fit Her (She’s only 5′3″ tall and doesn’t quite make 110 lbs even before she dries off) but certainly not me. There was air conditioning and a small television with decent cable. ESA also provides wireless internet access for a one-time $4.99 fee.
One of the areas that ESA cuts corners on to reduce costs is linens. Unless specifically requested, the linens are not changed during your stay if it’s less than one week. In fact, housekeeping does not even enter your room unless you request it. There is, of course, an extra charge if they do. This was fine with She and I, but it might bother some people. Again, cost was our number one concern, so anything to save costs was fine with us. There was soap for the sink and the shower, but strangely no shampoo or conditioner. I’m not entirely sure whether this was intentional or merely an oversight, but since I had brought my gym bag with me and not taken my little travel bottles out of it, it was not a problem for us.
The location was pretty convenient for us. Getting off I-95 at exit 42, you take your first left onto Payne Road and ESA is just over a mile on the left. The Maine Mall is another mile or two down Payne Road, and it’s about 2 miles to Route 1 in Scarborough. An on-ramp for 295 into Portland is up by the Maine Mall, so everything we needed was within easy driving distance. Nothing, however, was really within walking distance, in contrast to our previous stay in Portland.
HotWire rates this hotel as a two star establishment. I would say that’s fair, though I wouldn’t have argued with them if they’d rated it as 1.5 stars either. What ESA lacks in amenities it makes up in cost, so we were completely satisfied. There is a very good chance we will stay there again when we head up next month to finish our apartment hunting. If you’re looking for a place to sleep at night and don’t need to be within walking distance of the night life in Old Port, take a look at Extended Stay. We’re glad we did.