We stayed at all kinds of hotels, motels, and a Microtel on our travels. Some were nice, some nicer and some very dirty (ONLY place left in town that had a room! and we saw why)
Ones that I wouldn't mind staying at again: Red Lion Inn, MOST Best Westerns, La Quinta (SIL paid for that one), Holiday Inn Express (NOT Holiday Inn--much more expensive), and a coupla Mom & Pop ones in Canada.
Stay away from: MOST Motel 6's (one night we were put in 3 diff rooms before they found a CLEAN one! the next AM Mr. Joe didn't appreciate having a bug doing the backstroke in the sink nor did he want to share his shower. Fortunately *I* didn't see any when I got up during the night) Most Super 8's forget to change the sheets......
Ones that you have to be careful of in the USA: IF you hear a foreign voice answer the phone, the rooms will not be very clean--if they get cleaned at all: we ran into "No, I don't have you on the books" and we HAD a reservation number!, Queen size bed is our normal Double Bed, "Oh, you got our 800 number--we have no record of you" ....No, we do NOT have your 800 number. .I'm sorry we don't have any rooms left.......
And the strangest one of all: was in northern LA, CA "We have one room left for our Disabled customers". Now.......tell me....just what category do Mr. Joe and I fall under? Mr. Joe said we'd find another place if they were that 'snotty' we didn't need them. Ended up in a Best Western and away form city noises Got DD's ire up..so she wrote a letter to the Head Corporation. We have stayed there every time we go down to see her.........be interesting to know what they reply with.
Microtel's are perfect for ONE person spending ONE night, otherwise you have no room to move--even in a room set up for 2 ppl. Price is good but this is truly a get what you pay for set-up.
What we found that helps is getting the person's name when you call.....calling that person BY NAME when you get there...and if you area repeat customer (Like we were in MI)
Most places had a Continental Breakfast--which meant Mr. Joe got his AM OJ.and once in awhile I got a blueberry muffin. Those that 'cater' to trucker's (near a Truck Stop kinda place) will offer 'make your own waffles'. The one Holiday Inn Express that we stayed at did have an assortment of dry cereal and doughnuts. And one of the Hotels in Ontario, Canada gave you room tickets for a full breakfast the next AM at the restaurant next door.
Best advice I can give you: Take your OWN Pillow and a coupla nights I was glad we had an extra blanket with us. We ran into 2 separate hotels that they were remodeling. Neither had ANY kind of air: hot or cold and the nights were still cold out. We weren't informed of the make-over...and the next AM the Front Desk folks said that the Manager told NO_ONE of the changes going on. (Come on!!!!!!!!!! )
Another thing to look out for: MOST hotels ask how many ppl......one place charged us one rate until they saw 2 of us and then wanted to charge an extra $15.00 CASH for me! When making our reservations we always say: " 2 ppl, ground floor, non-smoking". Even with that we ended up in a few places that had 3/5 steps.and NO WAY for anyone in a wheelchair to get into those 'ground floor' rooms.
For the most part we had good 'sleep's but once again, it varied. in some hotels that we stayed at more than once--even different rooms had different hardness of mattresses. I took to writing room Numbers that we stayed in down..whether or not we had a good night's sleep in it.so the next time thru we did ask for and did receive the same room.
One last note, IF you ask for a fridge:
1: may get it, 2: may have to pay an extra $10.00 for it, 3: discover that they do not have one but you can leave your things in their fridge IF you have your name on it. (It was just for our water and fruit so it wasn't that big of a deal) 4: "I'm sorry, no" OR 5: every room already has one in it.Sweet Dreams Butterfly (It's soooooooooo nice to be in my own bed)