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When hitting the open road, what motel chains do you avoid?
Years ago I used to like Travelodge, but they seem to have gone downhill. It's not that they are all bad- some are still very good, but as a chain they are not reliably good.
I've come to think the same thing about Days Inn. Again, many are good to OK, but some are just awful. You just don't know what you're getting until you step into the room and sometimes it's like "ugh".
While they are more pricey, I have been impressed with Hampton Inns. I haven't had a bad experience with them yet.
We've had some hits and misses with Best Western, more hits, but the misses were big. We try to stay at the Drury Inns as much as possible, free cocktail hour and a free breakfast makes for a nice stay.
Motel6. It meets my low expectations. Except for the one in Oakland that had bulletproof glass at the front desk and a guard at the entrance to the parking lot.
Motel6. It meets my low expectations. Except for the one in Oakland that had bulletproof glass at the front desk and a guard at the entrance to the parking lot.
[that was a scary night ]
Reminds me of the Motel 6 I stayed at for one night in a seedy part of Little Rock, AK two years ago. Since it was after hours I had to check-in from the outside through a thick glass with metal bars and an armed guard inside. This is how I found my assigned room:
Motel 6 Little Rock South - a set on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/c5zdriver/sets/72157613899858389/ - broken link)
The front desk did reassign me to a room that was ready. Then in the morning the power went out in the city and I ended up showering in the dark. I was driving from CA on my to GA and the next night I stayed at a Motel 6 in Columbus. This time the room was fine but a group of rowdy people decided to hold a party in the room next to mine thus ruining my sleep.
I wasn't used to traveling like this. The mistake I made was blindly booking motel rooms online ahead of time that happened to be on my route spaced about 600-700 miles apart. Five months later when I was finished with my training assignments I drove from Virginia back to CA logging about 4,000 miles. I had time to kill on the way back so besides visiting places I would just stop at random motels that looked okay and were in safe areas and it worked out fine.
Super 8 has always worked pretty well for me. They seem to check up on their owners regularly. I've had some pretty pitiful experiences with Days Inn, however.
It varies so much from chain to chain, city to city. I've stayed in some truly wretched EconoLodge locations, but in some really nice ones, too. Same with Super8.
I've had great luck with Best Western, and it's hard to go wrong with Holiday Inn.
Holiday Inn is very hit or miss. Some are really nice, some you can't get the toilet to flush or the shower water to drain (Tracy, CA). Must be a lack of oversight on the franchises.
Embassy Suites - very consistant, rooms and decor are always the same. Service is fine (but not great), breakfast and happy hour are always there but the larger, more populated sites certainly have better quality and more options. Great for traveling with kids b/c there is a separate bedroom and a living room/sofa sleeper.
Comfort Suites - consistantly OK. Not upscale, reasonably priced, usually well maintained.
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