Hotel McCoy in Tucson a cute alternative hotel!

 

Aside from selecting a destination, the first step in planning any vacation is deciding which hotel you want to stay at. I always like to look for a hotel that is not only within our set budget for the trip, but also close to what ever attractions we will be visiting. I recently planned a mini in-state trip to Tucson which is only about a two hour drive from us to visit some attractions in the area we hadn't been to before & also visit an old favorite. Prior to the trip I had already seen a few posts online about a newer hotel called Hotel McCoy & decided to reach out to the property owner about checking out their hotel while we were in the area. Before booking a hotel it is always nice to check out reviews of previous guests to read about the good, the bad and the ugly, after all you are paying hard earned cash to stay so you want to make sure the property is right for you. On Google they have a 4.7 star rating with 87% five star reviews and 13% four star or less reviews which isn't too shabby, after staying I can agree with both some of the good and bad reviews left for the hotel. They are located at 720 W Silverlake Rd #302 Tucson, AZ 85713 which is right off of the interstate and is close to pretty much everything we had planned for the trip. 

One of the main things that originally drew my attention to the hotel is that they have tried to create a fun & welcoming hotel experience that sets them apart from other hotels in the area. Every room on the property has some kind of mural on the wall or art work displayed in the room, there are murals painted all over the property itself and they have a wide range of amenities available for their guests. I do want to note for families with small children who book a double queen room or singles room to put a crib in, aside from the murals painted directly onto the walls any photography or artwork in the rooms is for sale & range in cost thus if anything gets damaged you will have to pay for it (You should take care of items in your room, no matter where you stay). Each room features a different artist/art style, we had several lovely photography canvas prints in our room. Parking is free, each room has a space in front of it to make your room easy to access. There is also a retro mini fridge in each room which is nice as we ended up picking up some cereal bowls & milk for breakfast our second day there so we were able to keep the milk cold over night along with our other beverages.

This hotel also has a small gift shop that has snacks, drinks & souvenirs next to a small bar that serves beer and wine. When you first check in you will be given one poker chip per member of your party, each adult can cash their chip in for a free small glass of wine or beer and kids will get to select a non alcoholic beverage from under the check in desk. My kids went with the Jones Soda! If you get a little hungry they have some local tamales they can pop in the microwave which will run you $4 each or there is a cute food truck that sits in front of the lobby that is open in the evening. It smelled really good, but we didn't end up trying it out for a family of four the prices were a little high so we went into town for dinner. Free breakfast is included in your stay, they set everything up on the bar in the morning which is poptarts, oatmeal with a number of toppings to add to it, apples/oranges, fruit juice boxes and coffee/tea. For various reasons I would give the breakfast a 2.5 star rating. You can eat in their lobby dinning hall which has a good amount of seating, at any of the outdoor seating arrangements or in your hotel room. There is a small on site bookstore, I was told the hours of it vary but we were able to check it out the second day we were there and my daughter found a pair of earrings she loved & bought. The hotel pool is saltwater & it is heated, they provide pool towels so you won't need to bring the towels from your room. It was nice to get into the pool for a bit, but man was it cold running back to the hotel room after getting out of the warm water. 

During our stay there were a few things we feel could have been improved a bit, such as our room cards didn't seem to want to open any of the pool gates or the room which has the gym/ice/water bottle refill station so to get into the pool we just had to reach over the gate and open it from the other side, but we never got to visit to get ice or water as we couldn't get into the room. The hotel is a remodeled old motel strip so the shower pressure & shower head quality were poor, the water had primarily one setting which didn't get that hot but I am not sure if that part can be improved. Wear socks in the room or bring slippers, after check in we decided to unpack a little & relax which meant walking around the room. When I went to sit down on the bed to lean back & relax against the wall to watch TV, I noticed that my feet had picked up a lot of dirt from the floor they looked grey on the bottoms, so I went to the bathroom to wash my feet off and throw on a pair of socks so they would pick up the dirt instead & I could take them off before bed to prevent any dirt from getting onto the white sheets of the bed. 

However there were other perks we did take advantage of that most hotels don't have, in the front lobby area they have a ping pong table, a foosball table, a claw machine, a pinball machine and a mini grass area with cornhole. We played used the ping pong table, foosball table & pinball machine several times plus we played a fun round of cornhole in the morning. They have it set up to where you can easily play at night as well because it is well lit and there is a firepit you can relax next to if you get cold. The mattress on the bed was very comfortable & the blankets kept us cozy. Each room also has a 55" TV with a roku hooked up to it, they had Netflix and Disney+ easily accessible on it so we watched a few things on Disney+ when we were relaxing in the room in the evenings, our remote had a few issues but we got it figured out. As mentioned before it was also really coinvent because we were close to all of the places we visited during our trip. Is it affordable for families on a budget? Yes and no, it honestly depends on when you plan on visiting. Like most hotels the price per night can vary depending on what events are happening in the area at the time, if it is busy season, etc. so the price can range from anywhere from $100 up to $400 a night for a room. Lastly I did also enjoy a lot of the artwork & murals that were painted along the hotel walls, there were some pretty whimsical & fun characters. You can see it all as you drive by to your room, or go for a stroll to see it all. My daughter & I took a short walk along the walls to look at everything. The hotel is also pet friendly, they allow dogs and fish however they can not accept poisonous animals such as snakes, nor do they allow cats. We were able to see a lot of cute dogs that hotel guests brought with them & everyone was doing a great job of cleaning up after their pets. 

So there you have it! A review of the good and bad from my point of view, I always feel slightly awkward writing about the things that I didn't like about a review opportunity but it is life & the whole point of why people read reviews in the first place. If you are an art lover & want to check out a new type of hotel experience, this hotel may be for you the next time you are in the Tucson area. If you are looking for more adventures in Tucson type in "Things to do in Tucson" or "Things to do in Arizona" in the search bar of my blog, I have several more fantastic animal attractions and more in Tucson to share with you & when all done within a few days it makes for a action packed vacation. 

Which part of the hotel do you think you would enjoy the most?

Disclaimer- A one night stay was provided free of charge + a 50% off was applied to a second night stay which were provided by Hotel McCoy for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.