Overnight Stays

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)

Reply to
Butterflywings
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Interesting observations! Maybe you could get a job as a "secret shopper" for some of the chains?

G> We stayed at all kinds of hotels, motels, and a Microtel on our travels.

Reply to
Ginger in CA

Interesting! One of the cleanest motels we've ever stayed in was a Motel 6 in Cedar City, Utah. Nothing fancy, but very, very clean. Granted that was a few years ago. Maybe they've changed. And, I would guess as with most businesses - it depends on the manager.

Donna in SW Idaho

Reply to
Donna in Idaho

Butterfly, I loved reading about your experiences with the hotels and am currently writing a story about our trip. We just returned from traveling to Minnesota from Oregon and back again. It took me four days each way and what is unique in our situation is my DH is in a motorized wheelchair, (needs lots of room) and we travel with our QI and DS. Our mini van has a car top carrier on it and has a lowered floor, so parking is a challenge at times. I'll post our experience when I am finished writing it all out. Launie, in Oregon

Reply to
simpleseven

I agree. We have been cross country a number of times with Mr. Joe's work throughout the last 35 years. . There is a certain laxity that we've never seen before. Much like how DARE you say that room is NOT clean? We now go to the Front Desk and make sure that person comes WITH us to 'see for themselves' that NO we aren't kidding. The one clerk that cared the most was the one that ended up taking us to 3 different rooms. She even called the 'owner' at home and all he said was "Oh, I forgot to tell you were remodeling that wing"

Butterfly (It's all in my lil blue notebook)

Reply to
Butterflywings

Did you know that 60-65% of hotels/motels in the US are owned by immigrants from India? And most of those are named Patel? Regardless of chain affiliation, hotels are usually independently owned and operated. An owner more than likely has several properties and fly different flags i.e. Best Western, Choice Hotels, etc. Super 8 will take in anyone that cannot or will not meet the higher standards of other flags.

Reply to
maryd

We stay at "Sleep Inns" when we drive to Florida. Great for a one night stay; clean and comfy and has wireless internet access (one of my requirements where ever we stay).

AliceW in NJ

Reply to
AliceW

Please 'e' me...we gotta 'talk' thanks Butterfly (-Wings2cox.net)

Reply to
Butterflywings

Butterfly, I loved reading your observations on rooms. My brother and I stayed in a variety of places when we traveled across the country a couple weeks ago, and you're sooooo right! They vary wildly from place to place. We were going to stay near Sturgis the weekend we left, and it just so happened it was the same weekend as the annual "Bike Week" there. We were calling ahead, from our cell phones in the car, and the Super 8 wanted $195!!! Bwah ha ha ha ha!! We politely declined and just moved further on down the road, well past Sturgis, and found a great room at some little mom and pop place. Also, the "pet fees" vary a great deal. One place wanted $15 per dog, plus a "morning after" inspection, and yet another asked only $3 per do. Go figure........ I think there's much to be learned about hotels and motels!!

Patti (formerly) in Seattle

Reply to
Patti in Seattle

I understand the extra charge and check out inspection. Both hotels I've worked at had a charge. Just one "for instance". After a couple with dogs checked out, I went into the room and the dogs (both male) had peed on the beds and the floor. They had cleaned up a dog pile with a brand new washcloth. The room had to be taken out of service for a week while we cleaned, scrubbed, and sprayed to get rid of the odors. I agree that rate at a super 8 is excessive but it's a mater of supply and demand. I would bet they got that rate before the night was over.

Reply to
maryd

Your Welcome. Friday nights are the hardest to find rooms...even calling ahead at 2PM. One place, we ended up staying an hour away from where we wanted to be......and it turned out pretty neat. Folks had a nice breakfast, USA Today at the door, and they wouldn't let me pay for the 2 postcards.

Butterfly (Part of the adventure of traveling without planning to far ahead ; ) If we were having a ruff day we knew we didn't have to be at such and such by a certain time )

Patti (formerly) in Seattle

Reply to
Butterflywings

My parents found that too, they did book everything ahead and found even booking 3+ months ahead they couldn't get summer Friday nights where they wanted them and as they were doing very specific trips of 3 nights or so they couldn't just go an hour down the road, they wanted to be in specific places, so they booked ahead for Tue, Wed, Thur night for their trips even though for those nights they might not have needed to and it might have been better to be flexible because of the weather, but I think that Friday was booked out several months in advance scared them! Some of the places they stayed it was the only hotel for miles around.

Cheers Anne

Reply to
Anne Rogers

Howdy!

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well, 50%, anyway; and about 1/3 are named Patel, one of the 2 most common names in India, ala Smith & Jones. Often the name is adopted so that people can connect to its associations (business & family).

Btw, the name of the owners is no guarantee of cleanliness or otherwise in the "hospitality" business. Some of the "finer" hotels we've attempted to stay in have been nasty, smelly, noisy, stinky, w/ out an Asian name on the "owned by" sign.

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R/Sandy

Reply to
Sandy Ellison

my former employer was a Patel but changed it. a joke in the hotel industry is that Patel is Indian for inn keeper. in a class I took attended by hotel owners and GMs, about 25 properties were represented and approx half were owned or managed by Indians and of those 80% were Patels. Most often the name of the owner is hidden behind the name of the corporation.

Reply to
maryd

DH & I almost always stay at Holiday Inn Express because we are a Priority Club member. We have gotten lots of free nights like that. We never, ever stay at Microtel, because they aren't any bigger than a closet. If for some unknown reason, we have to stay at one, we always get a suite for about $10 more, and that is about the size of a regular hotel room. We have stayed at some Best Westerns that were okay, but most of them weren't very good. The best one we stayed in was in Casper, WY. We stopped staying at Motel 6 a long time ago. They don't need to leave the light on for us. Some Super 8's are okay, but we try not to stay there. We do stay at some Hyatt's and Hilton's from time to time, but we mainly stay at Holiday Inn Express or Holiday Inn.

Sherry Starr

Reply to
Sherry Starr

i'm with you Sherrie. i like Holiday Inn Express. the one in San Pedro, CA is very clean and the people are great. been there twice. i also like Hiltons. some are a little pricey, but better than the Super

8 next door! Had a nightmare trip once from home to Maine and back. stayed in this M&P place on the way, i think in New Hampshire...wow. they gave us the "so-called" last room they had...it was in the basement ( and i mean that....a room built into the cliff out back!) boy! was it musty, the carpets were wet!!! the bathroom was moldy and we couldnt breathe for the mold!!! needless to say, we complained!! if i remember right, i think it was late fall and peak foliage weekend. i wrote to AAA to complain, it had a 2 diamond rating. i suggested they get someone out there ASAP to re-rate this place. i hope they did. From then on-i only stay at places i can see the room first, or have been to before. i'll travel the extra time to find a decent motel. amy in CNY
Reply to
amy in CNY

You guys ever look at trip advisor?

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They can be a hoot to read and some good info there. I am a poor traveler but having some help in advance is not a bad thing. Thanks for the info B'fly. Some good things to know there. You are a pro! Taria

Reply to
Taria

Thank you. Notes taken :)

Butterfly (Wish I woulda asked before we left)

DH & I almost always stay at Holiday Inn Express because we are a Priority Club member. We have gotten lots of free nights like that. We never, ever stay at Microtel, because they aren't any bigger than a closet. If for some unknown reason, we have to stay at one, we always get a suite for about $10 more, and that is about the size of a regular hotel room. We have stayed at some Best Westerns that were okay, but most of them weren't very good. The best one we stayed in was in Casper, WY. We stopped staying at Motel 6 a long time ago. They don't need to leave the light on for us. Some Super 8's are okay, but we try not to stay there. We do stay at some Hyatt's and Hilton's from time to time, but we mainly stay at Holiday Inn Express or Holiday Inn.

Sherry Starr

Reply to
Butterflywings

When the boys were young we always were careful to stay at a motel with a pool. Good for wearing them out before bedtime. Typically we stayed at Best Western, Super 8, Holiday Inn. But I sort of like a bit of adventure. I think it's fun to check out places that look a little interesting. I loved the little Inn that I stayed at for the week of my class. It was on the banks of Soap Lake, which is renowned for its healing properties. Very popular with folks from Eastern Europe and was full of Ukrainians when I was there. My roommate was appalled by the VERY eclectic art work and decor. But I thought it was charming.

That said, DH and I have spent a few miserable nights because we like to take chances some times.

Sunny

Reply to
Sunny

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