alanw

We're going to be in <insert name of ....-hole midwestern USA town here> for a couple of days next week. Hotel choices are heavily weighted toward the one-and-a-half star end of Expedia's scale in this town, which is one of those places where the residents don't make a determination between "hotel" and "motel".

Is there a conventional wisdom about which of the following top choices are generally better in terms of not looking like a Motel 6 and/or sucking in other ways? Points are not a concern.

Hilton Garden Inn (right next to a Bass Pro Shop!)
Hampton Inn (walking distance to Cracker Barrel!)
Residence Inn (feather pillows!)
Wingate by Wyndham (indoor pool!)

The RI is the most expensive of the lot, with a suite that barely tops the price of a short-time room in Patpong.

I purposely left the name of the town out of this post, because I figure it describes hundreds if not thousands of nearly identical towns and the forthcoming advice can thus serve a lot more people than me.

Anyone? Thanks!

BearX220

First of all, those are not "crappy" hotels by any stretch. Those are all good 2.5 to 3.5-star chains. A "crappy" chain would be any of the Cendant brands besides Wingate (Howard Johnsons, Days Inn, Knights Inn, etc.) or possibly Accor properties (Motel 6).

Hilton Garden Inn is possibly the most consistent, best value-for-money brand in the whole Hilton family. Go look in the Hilton HHonors forum and you'll find numerous threads on HGI. It happens to be the hotel brand I seek out first, ahead of full-line Hiltons or Marriotts. They all have free wi-fi, indoor pools, fitness centers, decent breakfasts (free for HHonors Gold), and 24-hour snack/sundry pantries. Many have lobby bars and evening food/appetizers. Most are relatively new and purpose-built.

Hampton Inns are a little more variable (because they occupy more converted, sometimes older, properties) but the vast majority have been remodeled. Hampton Inns have free basic breakfasts and free Internet access, and most have great newly issued beds. Hampton and Residence Inn are overall probably the strongest 2.5-star brands in the US.

Wingate is said to be the best and strongest of the Cendant brands, though I have no direct experience. Cendant recently acquired Wyndham, which doesn't bode well, but the toxins don't seem to have seeped into the Wyndham properties yet. I used to stay at Wyndhams quite a bit and thought most were very nice.

I would rank the brands, in general, in the above order -- and take issue with a profoundly unfair characterization (e.g. "crappy").

I don't know what "right next to a Bass Pro Shop!" or "walking distance to Cracker Barrel!" are meant to indicate, beyond perhaps an attempt to poke fun at the unnamed destination for its rural character. Doesn't sounds like it's Paris. But that doesn't make these good, creditable chains "crappy."

Speaking only for myself, I prefer to visit a place myself before judging it a "----hole." The definition of sophistication is the ability to get comfortable and have fun in any situation. It's not the compulsion to mock things.

alanw

Well, thanks for the backhanded advice. Having grown up in said ....-hole, I feel more than qualified to judge and mock as needed. With respect to the hotels, I'm glad to hear they are "good". I'm having a hard time reconciling "good" with 37-60€/night, which is why I asked.

Telfes

I had the same thought. I've stayed in places (mostly not in the US) that would make those places look like a palace.

But I must say I'm disappointed in this thread -- I thought it was going to be s***-hole hotel horror stories. My fav among chains was a Best Western in Milano: Dirty floor, turd bits still floating in the toilet, and best of all, just as I had muttered by myself, "This place is a s***hole," I looked out the window and in the filth on the window, someone had written, "This place is a s***hole." That at least gave me a laugh. But I digress... Sorry. Good luck with the hotel choice -- it is only for a couple of nights...

dfw_plt_aa

I find TripAdvisor to be pretty good to find other people's opinions on hotels.

Telfes

Well, "good" may be an overstatement -- they are all OK -- not great for sure and good may be marginal, but they should be at least OK. No turndown service or chocolates by the bed, that's for certain, but they should be reasonably clean and the staff should be reasonably responsive -- I would expect standards high enough where if I found the room dirty, I would not hesitate to ask for another and think I would have a fair chance of getting a better room. Does that help a little? That said, it can be hard to predict if you are in the middle of the boonies, though if there are all those chains there, it can't be the backside of Outer Nowhere. Good luck!

zdave

We don't all get to travel on big budgets. My travel allowance is $100/night except for NYC/LAX/SFO and the like. All of the chains you listed would typically be outside of my budget except in the smallest towns (too small for a Bass pro shop). And in my opinion they would all be more than adequate for a business or personal stay. Negative to the HGI for no free breakfast (unless you have status as mentioned above) although it's probably the nicest.

swag

Euros? Ahhh. A big part of your low rates may be resulting from the plummeting dollar.

Cloudship

None of those places are low end. Low end is Motel 6, Econolodge, Days Inn. I feel lucky when I can afford to stay in a Hampton or Residence Inn! 60 Euro must be about $100, which while not knowing where exactly you are staying, sounds pretty reasonable.

Hilton family hotels have great beds - The Hilton Garden and Hampton inn are both part of this family. I would probably swing for the Hilton Garden all else being equal. The Residence Inn ives you space, a couch, and cooking facilities, all of which can be great things to have. Sometimes you get really nice places with them, other times just OK. But I have never seen a really bad Residence Inn.

tgw

Yep. I'd have to agree with BearX220 on this one...

Stay away from the Wyndham brands, except for Wingate and Wyndham full-service. Also be careful for the Choice Hotels "family." Although they seem to be getting a little (not much) better, most of them are pretty rough.

It's probably a safe bet at any of them and the brands have been summed up nicely in the second thread.

Sarah DDS

Slightly OT, but Cendant has already spun-off Wyndham. Now trades under the ticker symbol "WYN".

cblaisd

What he said.

In fact, most HGIs are relatively new. Give me an HGI -- with great bedding, an onsite serviceable restaurant, decent and not-expensive breakfast, and free wifi -- over virtually any twice-the-price but often very tired Hilton or Doubletree.

CrazyOne

I thought this was going to be a great thread about choosing among low-end hotels, but those are well above the true low end as has already been mentioned. Ah, well.

Wingates are fine, but I'm not sure it has anything to offer over the Hilton Garden Inn chain, which are also all fairly new buildings (or in a few big city downtown cases, fairly new renovations of existing buildings). Hampton is a notch below Hilton Garden in the Hilton family, but still consistent. If the prices aren't that much different, go for the HGI. The Hampton has more of a possibility of being an older building, but they are consistently run. Residence Inn which is a Marriott chain is also well run. Choose this if you are interested in having the full kitchen that all units here will have (also a bit more space in general), or if you want Marriott points rather than Hilton points. Otherwise just stick with the HGI.

Not the Four Seasons, sure, but whatever the price there's nothing sketchy here. All are consistent and comfy and far from crappy. If you gave the town someone may give a shortcoming that is specific to that location of the chain, but all in all the reputations of these are good.

thegeneral

Hamptons are usually quite alright and aren't low end.

choster

No. Low end is Hostelling International, YMCA, or camping in the park. In the US that'll run you around $30 a night; something like a Comfort Inn or Super 8 will be around triple that with private bathrooms, television, and often a coffee maker and ironing board.