 Quote:
Originally Posted by rjsciurus
From my limited experience, they're not good enough for most people. Small rooms, vinyl floor in bathroom, well-worn furniture, might not-- hold on now-- have cable, much less WiFi. Sort of like my house. They also sometimes are not all that much cheaper, as the mortgage was paid off decades ago, and the owners don't feel like busting their butts cleaning your toilet for $5 profit.
The more modern ones by roadsides-- the far-off-brand struggling entrepreneur style-- had an uncanny tendency to be owned by Indian immigrants. It was kinda weird walking into a 1960s vintage motel in the middle of nowhere in Iowa and be greeted by Mr. Patel stepping away from his fragrant curry dinner in back.
The off-brand motels on the outskirts of larger cities had a tendency to be welfare motels. Entire families packed into a room. Grim. And that was in good times.
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I reluctantly have to agree. I used to use these "off brand" hotels a lot in my younger years when I didn't notice the filth, but now that I'm older and more concerned about catching whatever bug the last visitor had, I tend to stay away. It's not uncommon to find messes that could easily have been cleaned up but just weren't. I guess these kind of places are where I learned my habit of asking to see the room first, and doing a thorough inspection.
It's sad to say, but I do prefer the chain motels, because the franchisees have to meet certain standards set by the head office. The no name places get their business from customers driving by that they'll never see again, so there's no incentive to make the actual experience good. Their facades are often much better kept than the rooms. And because they're usually small, decaying construction, and near the road, noise can be an issue. But I'm a cheapskate, and I've been known to bring my own sheets, earplugs, and lamisil foot cream, and sleep in places like this when I'm on my own and there's no Walmart nearby :-)
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