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When looking for hotels do you always stay at the same chain? Is it a nonfranchise chain? What if there isn't one?
My limited experience is that hotel chains that are franchised can be somewhat variable and that sort of turns me off. But they are also usually cheaper.
I'm not even sure how to tell which chains are which.
I've had decent experiences with Holiday Inn Express.
When looking for hotels do you always stay at the same chain? Is it a nonfranchise chain? What if there isn't one?
My limited experience is that hotel chains that are franchised can be somewhat variable and that sort of turns me off. But they are also usually cheaper.
I'm not even sure how to tell which chains are which.
I've had decent experiences with Holiday Inn Express.
In general, depending on the quality of the franchisor, you know what to expect when you stay at a branded hotel. In other words, when you stay at a Courtyard by Marriott, you know what amenities and service you are going to get. When you travel 200+ nights per year as I did not too long ago, that is a real asset.
When I stay at an independent hotel, you have no idea as to the quality or amenities offered by the hotel. I guess that you COULD look at TripAdvisor or AAA or some other guide. Talk about variable.
In the States, we always with several good franchise hotels because as the poster above stated, you know what to expect when you stay there, and because we have points which often translate to free stays. (However, when in SF, we always stay with one particular hotel that does not offer points even though the cost is 3X higher than most chain hotels. It's "our" hotel, simply is that.)
In other continents, depending on the budget and the country, we stay in landmark hotels, affordable hotels, private apartments, or local B&Bs.
Going off what jlawrence said, you pretty much know what you're going to get when you stay at a chain. I don't think there's really an advantage/disadvantage to staying at a chain vs non-chain if you are not a business traveler and on the road all the time. If you are a business traveler, it starts becoming beneficial to stay at specific chains due to points. If you're a casual traveler, then you're better off just finding the hotel that will give you the best bang for your budget.
Same rules apply for out of the country, I just look for the best bang for my buck. I'm not a business traveler.
Some chains though are franchises. I have found that all XXX are not necessarily to the same standard.
I think Best Westerns are one of the franchised chains that was having some problems although I'm not positive. Maybe Travel Lodge? Super 8? How do you know which is which? When I travel for work we tend to stay at Embassy Suites, Marriotts, nicer hotels. On my own I need something a little less expensive. I've had ok experiences with Holiday Inn Express's though one was quite a bit nicer than the other.
Some chains though are franchises. I have found that all XXX are not necessarily to the same standard.
I think Best Westerns are one of the franchised chains that was having some problems although I'm not positive. Maybe Travel Lodge? Super 8? How do you know which is which? When I travel for work we tend to stay at Embassy Suites, Marriotts, nicer hotels. On my own I need something a little less expensive. I've had ok experiences with Holiday Inn Express's though one was quite a bit nicer than the other.
Yeah, you are thinking of Best Western, hell I've seen Best Westerns that are nicer than some Hiltons I've stayed in!
I actually prefer the mom and pop hotels.
But when traveling to someplace I've never been I hit up Tripadvisor.com.
We recently went to Ga for a quick get away and found a perfectly good hotel for less than half of what we would have spent at a Holiday Inn or such.
When looking for hotels do you always stay at the same chain? Is it a nonfranchise chain? What if there isn't one?
My limited experience is that hotel chains that are franchised can be somewhat variable and that sort of turns me off. But they are also usually cheaper.
I'm not even sure how to tell which chains are which.
I've had decent experiences with Holiday Inn Express.
Now that basketball season is here I'll be spending a lot of night's in MA, NY, NH & VT. If I know I'm gonna be spending the night, the day I leave I'll go to hotels.com and pick the best priced hote that fits where I'm traveling. Obviously I'm not gonna go 25 miles out of my way to go to a Marriott when a Super 8 will do just fine, but I've gotten some pretty good last minute deals; got a Sheraton outside Boston last February for less than $100 a night, and booked it the day I left.
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