best inexpensive hotel chains

[JenzyHP]

I check trip advisor for reviews in each area I want to stop. We just had a pleasant, very cheap stay in a Microtel. Drury Inn is my favorite because they give you so much food and drinks for free.

 

[Sagginit]

I have had good luck with Holiday Inn Express locations. I also stayed at a Country Inn & Suites once and it was fantastic. I always check reviews though because there is a lot of franchising out there and quality can vary depending on owner. Also the chains seem to be replacing small local mom & pop motels, so often I find newer locations that are just 1-2 years old which improves the quality a lot.

 

[Judique]

We'll be driving to WDW next week, probably two overnights on the way down and two on the way back. What would you say would be the most consistently clean, safe, pleasant hotel chains to stay at, with reasonable prices? Not looking for specific individual hotels, but chains we could keep an eye out for.

What do you consider reasonable prices?

It's not likely you will find many Hamptons or Hiltons under $100, or even Holiday Inn Express.

You can find Country Inn and Suites at approximately a $100 or slightly less. All of these are my choices.

I tried a highly rated Best Western. Yucch....won't do that again.

Getting clean may be easy, but comfy mattresses and updated rooms not so easy.

 

[Disney_traveler]

I love Holiday Inn Express.

If I can see pictures of it or read reviews about it, I may also use LaQuintas. Tip for everyone, ask for the Txffa rate. You can get a 15% discount and a portion of the money goes back to the Texas FFA. Someone recently told me this and I tried it on a trip and it worked. You don't have to be a member or have a student that is a member. It's good all throughout the US as well. The only time it might not be available is if there is a big event going on that area and other discounts don't work as well.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We usually stay at Hampton Inns. However, we had to take a Courtyard by Mariott on our way home from WDW in June, and it was fine too, although it wasn't exactly inexpensive and the breakfast wasn't free.

 

[DVCcurious]

Stay away from Motel 6. Just trust me on that one.

 

[havaneselover]

Candlewood Suites would be another one I would avoid at all costs. It's part of IHG Group.

 

[texasroni75]

We did two major roadtrips in the last 3 months. Trip 1 was from TX to WDW, and back in May, and Trip 2 was from TX to NJ and back (just got back this week!) . So, we logged about 5700 miles and stayed at a total of 10 hotels/motels along the way combined.

I have kids, so I am picky about cleanliness and safety, and love free breakfast! I had the best luck with Best Westerns. Plentiful and they always had room for us at the last minute (even on Memorial Day Weekend). Comfort Inns were our 2nd best pick. Both were around the $100 price point - from $80 to $110 for 2 Queen beds. I joined Best Western Rewards (which is free), which gives you a discount at checkin that pretty much covers all the tax, and got a $50 voucher after two separate stays. Both places also gave us a AAA discount. While LaQuinta is pretty, they were always full (staff told me that locals tend to use them for wedding parties/local events, etc.) and they cost so much more anyway for basically the same room. Stay away from Super8 and Motel 6 - yuck!

 

[kathy884]

I love the Hilton beds and my favorite three in order of preference if they are in my budget are: Embassy Suites (great breakfast) -- other than this one, I'm not a fan of the free breakfasts, Hilton Garden Inn (as another poster said consistent quality), and Hampton Inn.

Since so many hotels are individually owned and owners switch from brand to brank, I would seriously consider taking a look at TripAdvisor reviews too for where you end up. There are so many great establishments that stand out despite the overall brand not being super consistent quality wise.

Bottom line too if I am on the road, some place that has vacancy to crash out when we are ready to stop driving. Most major brand places for just a place to crash are clean and fine.

 

[Lvsdisney]

La Quinta! Most offer free hot breakfast. I've been in a few different ones and have always had a good experience. They are usually reasonably priced.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Thank you! Very helpful information.

 

[tvguy]

Stay away from Motel 6. Just trust me on that one.

They were my "go to" motel in the 1970s, but they have had some many issues locally that the city is requiring them to have armed security guards on the property 24 hours a day. And La Quinta here too is very close to being told to do the same thing.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I look for Hilton properties first and go from there. Embassy is first, followed by Homewood and Hampton. They have good breakfasts and save a good $20 or so on the morning meal. They also have the best pillows on the road. Fairfield Inns are fine, Country Inns are too. Drury is also great, but hard to find. Holiday Inn is hit and miss for us. I usually avoid choice as there are too many dirty ones, same with Super 8 etc. Red Roof Inn is fine if you like hard beds.

Tripadvisor is your friend. I weigh the 10 most recent reports.

Heading to Florida a few years ago we stayed at a Hampton near Atlanta for $85. Thinking we could save money coming back, we spent $64 at a La Quinta. It was the biggest dump in my life-plus they had nothing outside of a stale bagel or cold cereal for breakfast. We ended up at Cracker Barrel and spent $24 to eat, bringing the total to more than if we would have stayed at the Hampton Inn again. We like to build points too and have numerous free nights built up, that's a plus. I'll pay more for a safe, comfortable, clean place to rest.

 

[Baklava]

Stay away from Motel 6. Just trust me on that one.

Motel 6 varies wildly. I've stayed in some that were awful- I was offered a free night at one and won't go claim it because it was that bad- and some are really, really nice. There's one on our route home from Disneyland that is way nicer than you'd ever expect.

We tend not to do chains when we're going cheap. We hit hotels.com and go from there.

 

[barkley]

with any you choose to look at take the time to read what meets the qualifications for certain discounts. with some 'seniors' are 60 or 65/others 50/55. with some 'government rate' is official travel, with others (traditionally I've found this w/best western) they offer it to active government as well as retirees for leisure travel . if you have an affiliation with a group or organization see if they have some kind of discount w/a particular chain (we've gotten this through credit unions, aarp, unions, college alumni associations).

also-remember to look at 'hidden fees' that might make your budget friendly stay much more expensive. we've been big fans of embassy suites over the years but we avoid some of their properties because they charge high nightly parking and internet fees (w/ the internet fees you can sometimes get them waived if you sign up on line for their free membership clubs BEFORE you make your reservation). with other places we've seen these fees PLUS 'resort fees' which is an extra charge to cover use of their gym/pool-even if you won't be using them.

these kinds of fees combined with local tax rates that can be in the high teens (and in some place have another additional flat per night lodging fee on top of it) can take what seems to look like a reasonable price and increase it greatly.

 

[Ngwira]

What do you consider reasonable prices?

It's not likely you will find many Hamptons or Hiltons under $100, or even Holiday Inn Express.

You can find Country Inn and Suites at approximately a $100 or slightly less. All of these are my choices.

I tried a highly rated Best Western. Yucch....won't do that again.

Getting clean may be easy, but comfy mattresses and updated rooms not so easy.

I'm also not a fan of best western.

 

[tasha99]

Not the cheapest, but I like the Marriott brand hotels. And Hyatt Place (only been to 2--the one in Midtown Manhattan has the best hotel breakfast I've ever had that wasn't made to order).

For cheaper hotels, it really depends on the location. I like Super 8 okay, but it has to be in a decent neighborhood.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

I agree that the chains listed are nice, however, most are not inexpensive. In our area, a Hilton Garden Inn is around $200 a night, Hamptons run $150 plus, etc. If you're looking for inexpensive, check out motels like Days Inn. As others have suggested, when you decide to stop - check trip advisor & read some ratings. You can also request to view your room prior to committing to staying at a hotel/motel!

 

[LongLiveTheKing]

Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn are great, but I don't consider either to be inexpensive.

I'm looking at Holiday Inns at Orlando and two for $77 and one for $88 doesn't seem to be expensive. I'm used to $120 at a minimum at Anehiem across from the Disneyland enterance, though, so maybe I'm used to getting screwed on motel prices :I

 

[tvguy]

I'm looking at Holiday Inns at Orlando and two for $77 and one for $88 doesn't seem to be expensive. I'm used to $120 at a minimum at Anehiem across from the Disneyland enterance, though, so maybe I'm used to getting screwed on motel prices :I

That's about $100 less than I would expect. We got a room in San Diego in September for $77....but only because we used reward points to get a $100 discount.