Multi-day driving trip. Where do you stay?

[wolf]

I like Hampton inns. We’ve done several road trips in the last few years, staying one nighters in hotels across the country. I’m disappointed in Holiday inns, Holiday inn express, La Quinta, Comfort inn. They are usually a little run down. But we’ve never stayed in a messed up Hampton Inn.

+ Hampton inns. Breakfast included. Seems each one is identical to the others.
Clean. Pricier than some, but cheaper than the big name hotels. When you consider breakfast included, not that expensive. Also, nice to have breakfast, included. Big time saver when traveling. Just get up, walk down stairs, have
breakfast, then check out.

 

[braumeister]

I'm very encouraged to see so many others who use the same default as I do: Hampton Inns.

Clean rooms (almost always), a very comfortable bed with a nice clean duvet (instead of sheets and blankets), a usually acceptable breakfast (but varies widely in quality), and points if you're in the Hilton Honors program.

DW and I travel separately about as often as we travel together, and we both agree that Hampton is the default.

 

[Ally]

I've had terrible experiences with Holiday Inn Expresses. Our best experiences have been with Hilton brands.

 

[Dog]

DH and I are traveling from Seattle to Palm Springs this weekend. We will stay a night in Oregon and another in Fresno area on our way. We typically stay in Hampton Inns or HI Express when traveling. We did try LaQuinta (okay) and Comfort Inn (not okay) on other trips. I recently stayed at a TravelLodge for a ski trip and will not do again. Dingy with paper walls and breakfast was scary.
For this trip we opted for HI Express for both nights and doing VRBO in Palm Springs for two weeks.
I think I prefer Hampton Inns, but will have a better idea after this weekend.

 

[Sunset]

+ Hampton inns. Breakfast included. Seems each one is identical to the others.
Clean. Pricier than some, but cheaper than the big name hotels. When you consider breakfast included, not that expensive. Also, nice to have breakfast, included. Big time saver when traveling. Just get up, walk down stairs, have
breakfast, then check out.

+1
We have found Hampton inns fairly nice, and DW really likes the breakfast better than driving to a McDonalds.
Makes the routine much easier.
I like the barn doors.

We also stayed at a Casino twice this month, and it was pretty good, and cheap. But no breakfast.

 

[Midpack]

Another Hampton Inn regular. They vary from decent to great IME, but we haven’t stayed in a bad one yet, and we know what to expect. The breakfast is decent and convenient too. If we want something nicer, we usually stay in the HHonors family.

 

[DEC-1982]

In the past I have liked Marriott Courtyard and Embassy Suites. But they are more expensive than Holiday Inn Express.

I just realized I haven't stayed in a US hotel in the last 3 years.

 

[athena53]

I like Hotels.com. The app is easy to use, covers multiple chains and independent hotels, has good maps, customer reviews, it charges the credit card on file with the app (I use an AMEX one that gets Delta points), and all of my receipts are there in the app, nice and orderly.

One trade-off with some of these third-party sites is that if you pay the site directly, you don't get loyalty points with the hotel chain. This can even be true of sites such as Orbitz, with the lowest, "buy it now, non-refundable" rates shown. As I said, it's a trade-off and you're paying the cost of the loyalty program, but I like to book directly with the chain or use a rate that lets me pay on check-out and accumulate points since I make good use of them.

 

[ivinsfan]

In fact if you are choosing as you good, joining the hotel program is a must IMO.

Most offer a reduced rate for program members and many offer a Senior rate, which I never see show up on a 3rd party site..

 

[Dreamer]

We definitely prefer Hampton Inns. I booked them the night before and the night after the cruise we just took, and my friends definitely liked them also. We did not get coffee or breakfast (even the Breakfast to Go) at the last one, because we took the shuttle at 5:00AM. I did not fix coffee in the room, since I thought I could grab it on the way out. That is the first time in many years of traveling, that I have been up that early. Note to self: Do not have friend book the airline tickets anymore.