Bones, I hav e the same problem but am a couple of years down the line!
I did my PPL at Mazzei's and I thought they were great. Fresno not the most exciting place in the world but overall had a great time out there.
My instructor had 251 hours at the start of my training and in retrospect I probably would have hovered a bit sooner with an instructor that was more willing to let me struggle away. Always felt he was a bit too keen to jump back on the controls.
However the school was very well organised with a good system to listen to student feedback.
Came out PPL'd at 36.5 hrs, so they don't try and take the piss by failing you unnecessarily.
Now have finally sorted life out so that I can return to the States and get all my tickets.
I'm seriously considering heliflight and HAI (or a combination of the 2) to get my CPL and CFI. Obviously for the JAA bits it has to be HAI. If I was training in the summer then I would also consider hillsboro aviation in portland oregon. but i'm not so i won't.
At this stage the only advice I can give is get your head into the books.
The JAA commercial exams are just ridiculous - not least because the syllabus is almost entirely plank based. I don't need to know how to navigate across the atlantic - I think i've done well if i make it to cardiff let New York.
Feel free to PM me if you want to have a chat about Mazzeis or anything else.
Cheers
Oliver