Best/Worst hotel/motel chains?

[harleyquinn]

I'm driving from NE Ohio. Just wondering what your favorite or most despised chains are. I have traveled very little!

Thanks!

 

[Lewisc]

Worst: Days Inn, Knights Inn

 

[ducklite]

LewisC took the words right out of my mouth. Forgot: Motel 6, Econolodge, and Travelodge though.

When I need budget accomodations to sleep and shower in, I prefer Hampton Inns, and if there isn't one of those available, the Fairfield Inn by Marriott is a second choice.

Anne

 

[Prince Eric1]

Econolodge is pretty consistently cheap and lousy. Uncomfortable beds and seem to be run down, not kept up well. We stayed at a Hilton cheap with the entertainment card once, very nice, and Holiday Inns and Holiday Inn express seem to be pretty good.

 

[DCSingle]

I travel by car frequently for business, often staying in chain hotels overnight. In the affordable range, I've had pretty consistently good experiences with Hampton Inn, Fairfield Inn and Country Inn & Suites. Unfortunately, even with the better chains you can find the occasion bad apple, often when a hotel has been converted from another chain. My recommendation is to find the website for the actual hotel/motel you plan to stay at (not just the chain in general) so you can check things like indoor/outdoor corridors, age of the hotel and whatever else is important to you.

 

[AspiringCindy]

Worst: Days Inn
Best:Hyatt, Hilton & Wyndham...but you don't see them down I95...so I'll go with Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn!

By the way Sarah, we love your city!

 

[hercamore]

We like Country Inn and Suites and Marriot Residence Inn's. We don't travel a lot.

herc

 

[bballmom56]

I despise Ramada Inn.

We find Holiday Inns generally pretty good.

 

[manning]

Got kicked out of a Quality Inn for complaining about a huge roof leak during a major storm.(I was checking out anyway). I asked for a refund. I guess my mistake was threatening to complain to their corporate office about their lack of positive response.

I did send a letter to corporate (Choice) and never got a response.


They also own Clarion, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suite, Econo Lodge, Fly, MainStay Suites, Rodeway Inn, Sleep Inn.

Needless to say I don't stay at any of them.

I like Hampton. They are part of Hilton and strive to please. Once we were assigned a room that wasn't cleaned. They gave us another one AND didn't charge for the stay.

 

[Kimberle]

For lower/mid priced, Country Inns & Suites is good.

Holiday Inn's are very "iffy", some very nice ones and some very bad ones. Same with Best Western. I'll not use these chains unless I've familiar with the specific hotel.

Also, Courtyard by Marriott and Embassy Suites are good.

Upper End, Hyatt's are a fav. Hiltons are OK, too.

I'm staying away from Sheraton's. Had a terrible one in Alaska for our honeymoon.

 

[harleyquinn]

Thanks so much everyone! I'm sorta suprised that everyone seems to pretty much agree. This makes my choices so much easier!

And thanks AspiringCindy I love my city too! Cleveland Rocks!

 

[eljojo]

WORST; 1. RAMADA 2. RAMADA 3. RAMADA

 

[Disneylvr]

In my limited experience:

WORST: Days Inn, Motel 6, Travel Lodge

BEST: Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn and Sleep Inn (but it was brand new just opened), Amerihost

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

Days Inn is the NASTIEST place ever.

 

[monarchsfan16]

Avoid Days Inn, and any of the Supers (Super 6, Super 8...you get the idea)
Hampton Inn is consistently good. And if it makes a difference-continental breakfast is included, and it's usually pretty decent. Hampton Inns are clean, and in good condition. Good service, and relatively good prices.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Stayed at some pretty bad Best Westerns - should have been called Worst Westerns.

We usually get a good room at Comfort Inns/Suites, Hampton Inns, Fairfield Inns, Country Inn & Suites. And I really like the C'Mon Inns.

Sheratons and Ramadas have been shabby.

 

[seashoreCM]

What is it you don't like about Motel 6, Super 8, Days Inn, Knights Inn?

No pictures on the walls? So close to highway to be noisy? Rowdy folks in the pool all night? Only ten TV channels?

Although these names popped up as "worst", hardly anyone is giving reasons.

Or is it just hearsay from friends?

I have stayed at some of those "worst" and not had any complaints to make.

On one WDW trip I was staying at Port Orleans Riverside and one night someone kept ringing my phone in the wee hours. I eventually left the phone off the hook.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[frazzled one]

Highly recommended: Wingate Inns. We've stayed in several, and they're always very clean, with larger than usual rooms. comfy beds, microwave/fridge/coffeemaker, a decent free breakfast buffet, etc. Usually available for $70 or so with a AAA discount.

I will never, never, never stay in another Sheraton Four Points. We had a disastrous experience coming home from WDW one year in the Hagerstown, MD area. (I'd sooner sleep in the car next time!) Dirty, rundown, not especially secure-feeling, and the free breakfast buffet was so bad we left. I've also heard negative things about the Four Points in Williamsburg, VA.

 

[bballmom56]

I can give you my reasons for never staying in a Ramada Inn again. Several years ago, I was in charge of accomodations for a group of 4Hers and chaperones. There were 16-20 kids and 6-8 adults. So we had at least 8 rooms. When we checked in, we were tired and needed showers. The water was brown! Not just tinged - rusty, brown. They hadn't mentioned this at check in. One blonde girl tried to shower anyway and came out with discolored hair. I called the front desk and was told, oh, it's just in the hot water (isn't it from the cold water system before it is heated to become hot water?) and it will be fixed in about 20 minutes. Suffice it to say it was the next day before the water ran clear. I went to the front desk to ask for an adjustment on the bill and was told they couldn't do anything, the manager wasn't there, I'd have to speak with her. So, again, I had to arrange to get down there when she was there (in the meantime, I'm still dealing with all my kids and adults, trying to get to our competitions and back). Finally talked to the manager and she was very snippy with me. No apology - it wasn't their fault, she said. She took $70 off the bill - for 8 rooms, 2 nights each? Thanks.

When we got back I wrote a letter to the Ramada main office. I never received a response.

It was not the fact that there was dirty water - it was the way we were treated. And to receive no response from the corporate office made me feel they didn't really care about individual guests. None of the adults who were with our group will stay at a Ramada Inn again either.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by seashoreCM
What is it you don't like about Motel 6, Super 8, Days Inn, Knights Inn?

No pictures on the walls? So close to highway to be noisy? Rowdy folks in the pool all night? Only ten TV channels?

Although these names popped up as "worst", hardly anyone is giving reasons.

Not hearsay on my part, I've stayed in a bunch of them. I used to travel 300+ nights a year, and have stayed at everything from a no-name "by the hour" motel on Route 17 in NJ to the Mansion on Turtle Creek in dallas, and anything inbetween!

Back to the point, it's been my experience that they are dirty. Noisy. Poorly maintained.

Some examples:

Days Inn in St. Louis area, we had a shooting in the parking lot, and another one three hours later in the room four doors down from mine.

Motel 6 in Las Vegas, had a hooker in the room next to me, with "customers" coming and going all night.

Days Inn near Fort Washington, PA, turned on the tub and had roaches come out of the spigot.

Econolodge in Northern CA, opened the door to the room and it fell off the hinge.

Travelodge in the mid-west someplace (and I can get exact locations if I need to, I'd just need to pull out old records) I opened the door and found the room occupied. Turns out that a previous guest had a duplicate made of the key (metal door key, not card key) and sold it to someone who was letting people crash in the rooms.

Days Inn off OBT in Orlando, pulled back bedspread and there was puke all over the sheets.

Knights Inn someplace, had cobwebs all over the room, and it was also just very dark and run down.

Super 8, one of the few with interior corridors--woke to the fire alarm at aout 3:00am, hotel on fire, someone cooking on hotplate in the room. It was either one of the homeless people the county social services was putting up ther,e or one of the local crack dealers cooking it up.

Days Inn in the Detroit area, opened the door to my room and it smelled of sewage. Obviously room hadn't been cleaned, the toilet was plugged and had overflowed. Moved to another room which smelled like stale urine. Left.

Ramada in NOLA, room smelled like manure.

Ramada in Cincy, drug deals and a shooting in parking lot.

I can't recall which cain, but one of the low-end budget chains, near Sunrise FL had bugs in my bed. Looked like ants or something. Didn't stay around to find out what they were.

The list goes on. Nope, no thanks.

Anne