Motels & Hotels along the Interstate

[RockyMtn]

Being a Marriott Platinum level I usually seek out their hotel group first. If that's not available I go with Best Western.

 

[Corporateburnout]

No cheap motels for us. Cleanliness and safety are top priorities.

Hilton Garden Inns, Marriotts and sometimes Hampton Inns but when these are not available we usually stay at other 3 or 4 star hotels. We usually book with Hotels.com, read the reviews and for the most part we were never disappointed. We also get a free night for every 10 nights.

 

[foxfirev5]

While on the road we generally stay at Hampton Inn's. Since there about 4 generations of the hotels, the first were outside walkaways with no inside halls, I choose on a case by case basis. Once at our destination we usually upgrade ourselves to a more luxury Hilton property.
We find that lifetime Diamond status ( for a mere 100 nights/year for 10 years) helps with room upgrades at the higher level properties.However after many decades and approx. 3000 nights out we only travel selectively.

 

[exnavynuke]

I'm still working but I use IHG hotels (Holiday Inn, HIE etc) because work travel tends to put me in some out of the way places and they're the best hotel chain I consistently find close to where I'm working. I have the IHG card through chase and am a Spire Elite member of their rewards club. The annual fee is more than made up for with the free night and having the card automatically gives me platinum elite membership in the rewards program (in case I don't get enough points in a given year to keep Spire). Spending on the card counts as activity on my account so I won't lose points even if I don't stay with them in a given year as well.

 

[MRG]

Right... that's been my experience, as well. Even the higher end places can be unexpectedly noisy if you happen to get put in the wrong room (i.e. next to or overlooking a busy parking lot, or your neighbors are noisy, etc.). It's a crap shoot most of the time. Of course, excessive noise IS more likely in a 1-star motel than if you have a room on a high floor of a 4-star place. But then you're talking about hundreds of dollars difference in price.

+1
One of the worst nights ever was a Marriott in London(Grosvenor Square). I was in a great room only the neighbor was entertaining clients. There was a large airshow that week and he was entertaining several folks interested in jets. Drunken, mouthy group that I assumed would pass out soon. After midnight I called the front desk, who sent someone up. The quite lasted about 10 minutes. Marriott offered to move me then, instead I asked to move the next day. Next morning at breakfast I mentioned the difficulties to our CIO, at his suggestion I called my old neighbors room!
Got a guy who was terribly hung over, apologized for the wrong number, waited thirty minutes and called back. Did that quite a few more times for the duration of the stay.

 

[HadEnuff]

+1
One of the worst nights ever was a Marriott in London(Grosvenor Square). I was in a great room only the neighbor was entertaining clients. There was a large airshow that week and he was entertaining several folks interested in jets. Drunken, mouthy group that I assumed would pass out soon. After midnight I called the front desk, who sent someone up. The quite lasted about 10 minutes. Marriott offered to move me then, instead I asked to move the next day. Next morning at breakfast I mentioned the difficulties to our CIO, at his suggestion I called my old neighbors room!
Got a guy who was terribly hung over, apologized for the wrong number, waited thirty minutes and called back. Did that quite a few more times for the duration of the stay.

I had a similar experience on Long Island, with a very loud and obnoxious group of young people jumping around, yelling profanities until the wee wee hours. When I left my room I put my "Maid Service Requested" sign on their door.

 

[Senator]

I am still a Motel 6 guy.

Generally I am only staying for a short time, and not going to be in the room very long. they also allow dogs, without an extra fee.

I do have a Red Roof Inn booked for a few days in January. As long as I get discounts, it's better than sleeping in the car, which was my usual place to take a short evening nap.

 

[Revlefty]

I am still a Motel 6 guy.

Generally I am only staying for a short time, and not going to be in the room very long. they also allow dogs, without an extra fee.

That's the major reason why I use Motel 6. My dogs appreciate it. Plus... I'm cheap.

 

[ABQ2015]

I like the Marriott chains because they have a good rewards program and I get a corporate rate that saves me $20-40 off their regular price. Once I retire, I may have to reconsider but I've noticed that many of their hotels are now offering reduced rates for rewards program members that are similar to my corporate rate. This summer I stayed one night at an economy hotel and just did not like it - weird people in parking lot, smelly hallways, and you were not allowed to take your breakfast up to your room. Was not worth the $20 savings. Also in my city, there is more crime at the cheaper hotels by the interstate - robberies, vehicle and trailer thefts, broken into vehicles. So is a consideration when you are traveling.

 

[nwsteve]

We are Hampton and Holiday Inn Express fans. Both offer decent hot breakfast and predictable room quality. Both offer hot beverages all day which is nice. Marriott is usually third as typically a just a bit pricier and the Fairfield brand is below the other two in room quality (thin walls and mediocre breakfast).
It is also convenient to be able transfer Ultimate Rewards points from Chase to both IHG and Marriott chain properties.

 

[folivier]

Oh and Hampton has free cookies....

 

[DrRoy]

I really like the frequent stay program at Holiday Inn. They let you use a moderate amount of points to get a room for $70, which is a lot of value, especially if breakfast is included.

 

[broadway]

No cheap motels for us. Cleanliness and safety are top priorities.

Many of you may want to see Inside Edition's investigation.
It will make you never to stay in a hotel again no matter the price level.

For Sheets' Sake! Multiple Hotels Do Not Change Bedsheets for New Guests, Investigation Reveals - Inside Edition

 

[Turn_the_Page]

Marriott, Hampton, Drury, Comfort Suites and the like, but only after visiting them or thorough reading of reviews. Best Western - hmmm - maybe. Find them to be a bit hit-or-miss. Of course, this can happen with many chains.

Slightly off-topic - It seems that EVERY hotel/motel has affixed "And SUITES" to their name. We find this hilarious when cruising past a property that's clearly older and past it's prime, but WAIT - It has SUITES!

Many of you may want to see Inside Edition's investigation.
It will make you never to stay in a hotel again no matter the price level.

For Sheets' Sake! Multiple Hotels Do Not Change Bedsheets for New Guests, Investigation Reveals - Inside Edition

I guess I'm not that surprised. We already do a thorough bedbug check. Not sure how to tell if the sheets have been slept on; however.

 

[Walt34]

Slightly off-topic - It seems that EVERY hotel/motel has affixed "And SUITES" to their name. We find this hilarious when cruising past a property that's clearly older and past it's prime, but WAIT - It has SUITES!

I guess I'm not that surprised. We already do a thorough bedbug check. Not sure how to tell if the sheets have been slept on; however.

Some suites are nicer than others though. And in this one you don't have to wonder if the sheets have been changed.

 

[Idnar7]

Spent four nights in a Holiday Inn Express in north Dallas last month. It was near the Medical Centers. Thurs night was about $100, Fri & Sat were $79, and Sun was $149. Can't remember nightly pricing like that. A nearby Marriott was $249. Stops along the way down and back were about $110 in another Holiday Inn Express and a Fairfield Inn. These were El Dorado and Topeka KS. Still for wife and I gas, hotels and food for the week we were gone was less than one plane ticket would have been.

 

[RunningBum]

Spent four nights in a Holiday Inn Express in north Dallas last month. It was near the Medical Centers. Thurs night was about $100, Fri & Sat were $79, and Sun was $149. Can't remember nightly pricing like that. A nearby Marriott was $249. Stops along the way down and back were about $110 in another Holiday Inn Express and a Fairfield Inn. These were El Dorado and Topeka KS. Still for wife and I gas, hotels and food for the week we were gone was less than one plane ticket would have been.

Maybe there was an event nearby that jacked up the rates for Sunday? I remember trying to book a room in Charlotte once, oblivious to a NASCAR race going on that weekend. I asked why the rates were so high, and the guy laughed and told me, and that I was lucky they even had a room. OK, I delayed my trip a week to skip that chaos.

Boston hotels jack up the price for Boston marathon weekend. But sometimes if you check in the first few days that booking comes available, a year in advance, you can find a couple places that forgot to adjust prices, so you can get a regular rate, maybe even with a promo special. Thanks to an alert friend, I pulled that off this year. It was even cancelable, so I booked 2 rooms, starting on different days, so I could have some flexibility on travel dates. It's still about $190/night, but I think it was well over $300 later. The problem is, few hotels make this mistake twice.

 

[MRG]

Maybe there was an event nearby that jacked up the rates for Sunday? I remember trying to book a room in Charlotte once, oblivious to a NASCAR race going on that weekend. I asked why the rates were so high, and the guy laughed and told me, and that I was lucky they even had a room. OK, I delayed my trip a week to skip that chaos.

Boston hotels jack up the price for Boston marathon weekend. But sometimes if you check in the first few days that booking comes available, a year in advance, you can find a couple places that forgot to adjust prices, so you can get a regular rate, maybe even with a promo special. Thanks to an alert friend, I pulled that off this year. It was even cancelable, so I booked 2 rooms, starting on different days, so I could have some flexibility on travel dates. It's still about $190/night, but I think it was well over $300 later. The problem is, few hotels make this mistake twice.

Sometimes Sunday is higher around places that do conventions/education centers, folks checking in for Monday. Busy days are premium. Big events definitely drive prices.

My sister and I had to go home to Williamsport PA. for something(mom's funeral?).
She asked me to make room reservations for her when I did mine. The price was at least two to three times more than normal. I asked what the heck? He was surprised we weren't coming in for the Little League WS.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Spent four nights in a Holiday Inn Express in north Dallas last month. It was near the Medical Centers. Thurs night was about $100, Fri & Sat were $79, and Sun was $149. Can't remember nightly pricing like that. ....

We get this variable pricing by night all the time.

 

[LRDave]

As a frequent business travel over the years, I've come to detest the free breakfasts. Same scrambled eggs, same biscuits, same gravy, same link sausage, same crappy fruit, same grocery store sweet rolls, same sorry OJ and coffee....


I seek out a local breakfast place if I have the time now.

 

[calmloki]

We've been using Holiday Inn Express for a few years now - mostly because we take advantage of enough card bonus' and promos and free nights for renewing membership at $49 that we can't seem to burn up the points. Quite nice enough, though when we first started staying there we thought it pretty ritzy. Kinda like margarine being plenty ok till I had butter for a while. Or our old cat being picky about what canned food she gets vs. the dry food she used to live on.

One thing - the places we used to stay were much more memorable and made for better stories...

 

[braumeister]

As a frequent business travel over the years, I've come to detest the free breakfasts. Same scrambled eggs, same biscuits, same gravy, same link sausage, same crappy fruit, same grocery store sweet rolls, same sorry OJ and coffee....


I seek out a local breakfast place if I have the time now.

Yes, it's often not exactly memorable. For a really good breakfast, I've found that the majority of Embassy Suites hotels are terrific. But I occasionally run into a really good breakfast at a Hampton Inn, so you really never know.

 

[Koolau]

When we travel the mainland, we typically just drive and sleep until we get to our destination. So we rarely spend more than 8 hours in a room before hitting the road again. It kills me to spend the kind of rates now charged for just a place to crash and shower.

One trip to FL, we finished up at St. Augustine Fort about Noon and then started driving toward the Chicago area. Rather than stay in a flea-bag or else expensive "flop house", we decided around 9:00PM to just keep driving until we got home (toward 4:00AM IIRC). It's so difficult to justify spending $100 or more for a "sleep chamber."

We used to do the Motel 6, 8, Travelodge, No-Tell Motel, etc. for $50. Now, if we must, we'll look for the $75 to $100 "sort-of name brand." It doesn't guarantee a good experience, but it gives better odds of a good experience. YMMV

 

[Bamaman]

Stayed in some no-name motel in West Memphis (first mistake) one night. Lock was broken, door would barely even stay closed, with the chain being the only "security"... As you say, slept with one eye open...

You're lucky you got out of West Memphis with your life. Even in Memphis, you've got to go very far east outside I-240 to be reasonably safe.

I used to travel 4 nights a week on average for work. My best source of rooms when I'm picking up the bill is by using a lime green hotel discount/coupon book I pick up in Welcome Centers at state lines.

And when I'm paying, Marriott's and Hampton Inns are out of my price range. I go more for Laquintas and Best Westerns which are somewhat consistent. I also use Choice Hotels' chains--but only when there are plenty of customer recommendations that come with them.

After traveling so many years, I'm familiar with most cities between Chicago and Miami--and up to Washington, DC. I usually know where to stay in most cities.

 

[Aerides]

Maybe from my years of business travel as a female travelling alone, but I avoid any place that has room doors that face the outside.

While any lunatic can enter a hotel lobby and go up the elevators, and I know it's a false sense of security otherwise, the idea that you can see my bedroom door from the highway is a no go.

That said, for cheap and practical, Marriots Residence Inn line, especially their studios and suites, are quite nice.