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There are numerous US Hotel Chains in the UK and parts of Europe such as Hilton/Blackstone, Hampton Inn, Hyatt, Marriott, Best Western, Holiday Inn, Wyndham Ramada Hotels, Comfort Inn/Choice Hotels etc etc.
The problem with the Chain hotels of Marriott / Hilton here in USA and in Europe is that a chain Hampton Inn in Greenville or Denver is quite similar since it has to conform to similar standards and built to the franchisor's specification. Or else it won't get the brand name. Every 7 years it has to be updated to new standards and every 20 years a major make over has to be made ( Hilton) or in the case of Marriott you lose the brand and it is usually sold to someone who brands it as chain that is a tier down ( Days Inn, Comfort inn etc). So all properties are fairly new and usually clean.
In the case of Hilton / Marriott brands In Europe they have no space to build new hotels in many locations. So they have bought existing local chains ( AC, Renaissance) and branded them as Marriott or Hilton. Sometimes if they find a space they build a new property (Double Tree in Amsterdam. AC in outskirts of Barcelona) but most of the times it is small cramped rooms in Central hotels that they have to do with. The Renaissance in Amsterdam is an expensive Marriott hotel right next to the Canal near the Centraal Station, but boy it had tiny rooms.
We (my father and I) did a booked trip via a travel agency so I didn't book the rooms myself but from what I saw in those hotels, it where all rooms in the $ 100 - $ 150 range and boy those rooms were UGE compared to what you would get in Europe for the same money. Most rooms where about 10 m long and 4 m wide, with two 2 person beds and a big bathroom. In Europe you would get less than half of that for the same money.
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Glad you took that road trip. I remember you posting about the road trip a year or two ago on whether to do Spain Vs USA and I suggested the American Southwest. Hope you enjoyed the trip.
Glad you took that road trip. I remember you posting about the road trip a year or two ago on whether to do Spain Vs USA and I suggested the American Southwest. Hope you enjoyed the trip.
Thanks, yes it was great! We mad a big loop starting in Utah, then Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado, and back to Utah again. It was incredible to see the landscape change so extremely from the Mountains to the Great Plains and than the deserts. And it was great doing all that with jist my father and I.
Best trip ever!
This post basically says I hate European hotels because they are not like American ones.
Ice machine? Seriously? It reminds me of many Asian tourists complaining about the total absence of hot/warm drinking water anywhere even in restaurants. What do you think of that.
The problem with the Chain hotels of Marriott / Hilton here in USA and in Europe is that a chain Hampton Inn in Greenville or Denver is quite similar since it has to conform to similar standards and built to the franchisor's specification. Or else it won't get the brand name. Every 7 years it has to be updated to new standards and every 20 years a major make over has to be made ( Hilton) or in the case of Marriott you lose the brand and it is usually sold to someone who brands it as chain that is a tier down ( Days Inn, Comfort inn etc). So all properties are fairly new and usually clean.
In the case of Hilton / Marriott brands In Europe they have no space to build new hotels in many locations. So they have bought existing local chains ( AC, Renaissance) and branded them as Marriott or Hilton. Sometimes if they find a space they build a new property (Double Tree in Amsterdam. AC in outskirts of Barcelona) but most of the times it is small cramped rooms in Central hotels that they have to do with. The Renaissance in Amsterdam is an expensive Marriott hotel right next to the Canal near the Centraal Station, but boy it had tiny rooms.
The Mariott's and Hilton chains have built quite a few new hotels in the UK, as have other Chains, manvy cities have redeveloped areas in recent years allowing new land to be used in relation to leisure, housing and hotels, whilst industry has moved out of cities and in to industrial estates, and the same is true of administrative businesses with the increase in business parks.
The problem with the Chain hotels of Marriott / Hilton here in USA and in Europe is that a chain Hampton Inn in Greenville or Denver is quite similar since it has to conform to similar standards and built to the franchisor's specification. Or else it won't get the brand name. Every 7 years it has to be updated to new standards and every 20 years a major make over has to be made ( Hilton) or in the case of Marriott you lose the brand and it is usually sold to someone who brands it as chain that is a tier down ( Days Inn, Comfort inn etc). So all properties are fairly new and usually clean.
In the case of Hilton / Marriott brands In Europe they have no space to build new hotels in many locations. So they have bought existing local chains ( AC, Renaissance) and branded them as Marriott or Hilton. Sometimes if they find a space they build a new property (Double Tree in Amsterdam. AC in outskirts of Barcelona) but most of the times it is small cramped rooms in Central hotels that they have to do with. The Renaissance in Amsterdam is an expensive Marriott hotel right next to the Canal near the Centraal Station, but boy it had tiny rooms.
In both Europe and the US hotels can be a hit or miss. We've stayed in 3 star hotels in the US which should have been 4 star hotels and we've stayed in some that were pretty awful or just something in between. In Europe Dutch hotel chains like van der Valk are much better than German hotel chains, generally German hotels and accommodations are very modest to plain run down.
Overall, American hotels are much better and larger than European hotels and especially the service is much better. What I didn't like is that the chain hotels in the US often look and probably are build cheaply like from pressed wood or something.
European hotels are generally more expensive than a comparable room in the US or Canada. The European rooms are often better appointed, but I'd give some of that back for more space. It is what it is.
Oh yeah, the AC thing in Europe sucks. If you get a hot day in the spring or autumn, you are destined to sweat like a pig while you try to sleep.
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