The Criterion was Ok -- serviceable. The location was central, in an area with fast-food restaurants, and with walkable access to the downtown area. There is one small place near the hotel that is slightly seedy, but I didn't feel threatened. The hotel has seen better days, but again, is serviceable. The bathroom was nice, the TV worked, beds OK, although I didn't see any heat source in the room (fortunately, it wasn't quite cold enough to require heat). The main drawback was that the wi-fi didn't reach to the third floor where our room was, so we had to go down to the lobby to do e-mail and messaging. I believe the first floor may have had wi-fi, but we were on the third floor. The late-night McDonald's was just a half-block away, which compensated for any inconveniences for jet-lagged travelers from LAX, 21 jet-hours away plus layover time!