Nice Hotels as we get older?

[ivinsfan]

I've had this "let's agree to book better accommodations" discussion with the missus more frequently since our last big trip in 2019 where we were out all day walking in record heat only to get back to our oven/room with no A/C, towels slipping off the shelving, and only one outlet across the room in the most inconvenient location to charge all of our devices.
She agreed so we've taken it into consideration in our evolving travel budget. But it's more about going from hole in the walls (mainly in Europe) to basic business hotels. I think our current sweet spots are places like Holiday Inn Expresses, Courtyards, Toyoko Inns, etc. (or just nicer independent places) which I suppose isn't saying much.

As we get older, I don't feel the urge/need to endure lots of discomfort in order to save a buck. In addition to core needs like safety, location, and internet access, stuff like an ensuite, good HVAC, level shelving , decent access to wall outlets, etc. is kind of the minimum nowadays.
But we also generally don't necessarily need a lot of space or fancier amenities (like a pool, room service, etc) because we typically don't make use of them. So when go on a cruise, redeem credit card/hotel points, or used our companies' corporate rates it's a bit of a treat.

The trick to this is do not even look at the pricing for the hole in the wall or ie Motel 6. Once you that you'll start doing math in your head about the price difference and start second guessing yourself...

 

[Chuckanut]

A boutique hotel isn't the same as a luxury hotel IMO.

+1 Very true. I think of luxury hotels as being The Hilton or The Marriot.

I've stayed in several Kimpton hotels that are boutique places with a theme. They were good except for the dog friendly one where somebody's dog ate my plate of well selected goodies.

 

[Kork13]

A few years ago my wife & I had the same conversation, agreeing to always stay in better quality hotels. We've stayed in some real fleabag motels that were truly disgusting.... Eventually we recognized that we had plenty of income to play with & didn't need to tolerate sleeping in uncomfortable or disturbing rooms.

Anymore we mostly use mid-grade hotels, primarily with the Marriott chain. We also use alot of AirBnB/VRBO places for longer trips. We've also stayed in some luxury hotels, but as others have said, I guess I'm just not sufficiently refined to be entirely comfortable in the high-class environment.... But that's nothing experience won't fix!

 

[JDARNELL]

Our go to tends to be Hyatt place if we can find them. I like having a living room and being able to sit on the couch. If no Hyatt properties available we will usually do a Holiday Inn Express.

 

[MRG]

We won't do budget places anymore especially after our recent night with methheads and hookers. Marriott is generally fine and I would rather spend enough to avoid nonsense. DW is currently planning on BTD while we're in Tahiti next year.

 

[skyking1]

We are in the UK right now and stayed at the Valley Hotel in Ironbridge. They are a Best Western, but that affiliation does not set any standards as far as I can tell. It was nice but some of the age of it was a little less charming. It was OK and we slept well, but pricey for what we got IMO. I'd like to look more into airbnb as mentioned above

 

[foxfirev5]

Nice hotels are a priority as DW and I age. We don't really do road trips so the old Hampton Inn travel night $$ go to better destination accommodations. High quality spacious rooms within walking distance (1.5 miles) of everything we want to do. Some are major chains others are local favorites. Always in the top tier of available hotels. Fly in for a week or ten days three or four times a year. I'd give specifics but the competition for rooms at our favorites is fierce

 

[RobbieB]

Nice hotels, Yes!

I like a room with a jacuzzi to relax in before bed. On the coast, I want the ocean view. Even better if I can hear the surf. Best if I can spit in the water.

 

[audreyh1]

We’ve been upgrading our travel experiences for years!

It’s definitely our priority way for blowing that dough.

We tend to carry a lot of our own food for road tripping so lately we’ve been focusing more on nice hotels with a full kitchen in the room or suite which includes fill sized fridge and dishes, etc. It’s really improved the experience.

Won’t even do a less expensive hotel for the one night stop. We generally use Hilton or Marriott properties in transit. We rent a house, condo or cabin at the destination.

In Europe we had been blowing the dough for years staying a nice hotels in very convenient locations.

 

[Ronstar]

We stay at Hampton Inns or Hilton Tru on our road trips. And we do stay at finer hotels/ resorts/airbnb's for longer destination type stays. But that doesn't happen very often.

 

[SecondAttempt]

We won't do budget places anymore especially after our recent night with methheads and hookers.

Did you pay extra for that amenity?

 

[SecondAttempt]

I tend to like nice hotels. I don't think I have ever paid for first class or business class on an airplane but I will fork out for a nice hotel in some circumstances. If I am on a roadtrip and just need a place to sleep for a night then no. But for a destination vacation I like a nice hotel.

I also have on my bucket list to stay at most of the "great lodges of the national parks" and, while not necessarily luxurious, most are pretty expensive. Going to do the Ahwahnee in Yosemite this winter in connection with out San Francisco trip.

I've got lifetime gold status with Marriott and will be lifetime platinum after this year after earing platinum the last several years so I tend to prefer Marriott properties. Never picked Ritz Carlton or St. Regis though.

We've also recently gone out of our way to pick historic hotels on road trips. Most of these were pretty dated and definitely not luxury though. But some of the stories are amazing.

 

[SecondAttempt]

I traveled to India for work a few times. I stayed in a few places that were extremely luxurious including a "houseboy" to tend to my needs (no, I dont think those kinds of needs) but he would run errands and such. I fould it kind of creepy and dismissed him in the early evening. But these hotels were about $100 a night 25 years ago. So if you crave being spoiled, India might be something to think about. Would I personally go there as a tourist? No. But if I wanted to spend a couple of weeks in complete luxury, India would be on my list!

 

[Bamaman]

When I was traveling a lot, I would often pickup coupon books in the rest areas and stay in places advertising cut rate rooms there. Since I was just going thru town, most places we stayed were okay.

In retirement, we research rooms with some mid-line hotel chains online, and will pick from them. Most of the rooms are a notch below Holiday Inns or Hampton Inns, but the prices will be substantially less.

We now seldom travel within the U.S. with the rising crime of the big cities. The rising prices of gasoline, hotel rooms and food makes travel by auto well over $250 a day, And other than Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, there are few places in the U.S. we have not visited. Even around national parks, room rates are now out of sight. Even state park inns are more than we want to pay.

Our vacations are usually spent in Europe. We usually look at TripAdvisor, Booking.com or Hotels.com for accommodations. We filter our search from low price to expensive and then look for properties with the higher customer satisfaction ratings. We've never been dissatisfied.

 

[old medic]

We too have mostly camped at our destinations and in travels... But the last few years we have rented a cabin at Myrtle Beach when we visit DW family on their yearly trip instead of bringing a tent or camper. Our last hotel stay was about 4 years ago when we went to our Daughters graduation for her Masters Degree.

 

[marko]

I traveled to India for work a few times. I stayed in a few places that were extremely luxurious including a "houseboy" to tend to my needs (no, I dont think those kinds of needs) but he would run errands and such. I fould it kind of creepy and dismissed him in the early evening.

When you get a suite at the St Regis Shanghai, you also get a butler who sits in a chair in the hallway outside your room all night long in case you need your shoes shined, suit pressed or want to send him out to get a pizza.

He also takes the room service delivery when it arrives and sets you up in the morning.

Three rooms, an office and a marble bathroom the size a US living room for about $150 a night!

 

[FindingForward]

Which did you prefer?
Luxury hotels actually turn me off and I avoid them like the plague.

Me too. I do like a nicer room and wouldn't mind paying for that, but hate all the obnoxious nickel and diming onsite. A simple cup of coffee or lunchtime burger at a luxury hotel is way overpriced for what you get. There's 3 different people you have to tip, just to make it from the car to your room. And the resort and parking fees are utterly ridiculous.

I did step up in quality as I got older, but mostly to mid priced chains vs no frills value. But I'll only pay so much for a room still - just can't bring myself to spend more than $300 per night, with most far places less than that. I'd rather vacation more often vs splurge on a few.

Thankfully, I don't crave luxury at all: it doesn't take much to make me happy. A clean room, a safe neighborhood, free parking and no or low resort fee - and I'm a happy camper. Throw in a free breakfast and now I'm really psyched!

If I was accustomed to staying in fancier places for business or as a kid, it likely would have been harder to "settle" for less, I think.

 

[folivier]

We've stayed at Hampton's for many years but since covid I've found their prices have gone up more than other comparable chains. A couple places along our frequent route has Hampton's over $200 when HI and others are about $150.
However there is a Hampton in Pampa, TX that is just over $100/night. It's a great bargain and there is a restaurant nearby that has a chicken fried steak with jalapeno gravy that is to die for!

 

[aaronc879]

For me personally I have found that location is more important than the actual quality of the hotel. I'm a light sleeper and haven't slept any better in a Hilton than a Motel 6 or Super 8. An example would be I would rather stay in a relative dump across the street from the beach for $500/wk rather than a nicer hotel a mile or two from the beach for $200/night. I can't reasonably afford the nice hotel right on the beach. That would be ideal but that is for rich people.

 

[Aerides]

I'll go out on a limb here, I like the fancy resort places.

I like my hotel to be nicer than my house, and have the amenities to boot. I know, this means putting on blinders for the prices, and maybe staying 5 nights instead of 7 to stomach it. If it means I have a balcony, a concierge, turn down service, a host at the pool finding me the perfect spot and arranging towels for me, so be it.

The best location also helps, if it puts me right at the destination, saving time every day. And I don't want to toast my own bagel for breakfast, I really like french toast with fresh berries and cream, and warmed syrup!

I know, I'm a sucker. But it's my fondness for the fancy hotel is probably my biggest weakness.

 

[MRG]

Did you pay extra for that amenity?

No the airline provided all of that for free.

 

[Car-Guy]

"Most" of my travels these days are within 50 miles of a property in a major casino chain (Caesars Entertainment, Penn Gaming, etc) so I stay for free and eat for free. (Players perks) Some of these suites are really nice. If I gamble there it's not an issue, but if not, I'll always use my players card and play at least a dollar on one of their slot machines so the computers see me as playing along with the hotel stay. (yes, I know it's not really free in the long run But it works!) Hey, it's their rules....

Sometimes I'll get stuck with long stretches between casinos so I'll pay out of pocket. In such cases, I'll stay at any of the well known chains, with Holiday Inn about the bottom of my list.

 

[Jerry1]

I'll go out on a limb here, I like the fancy resort places.
[. . .]
I know, I'm a sucker. But it's my fondness for the fancy hotel is probably my biggest weakness.

Yeah, anytime I've been to a nice resort/hotel, I usually say something like "I could get used to this."

 

[pacergal]

I'll go out on a limb here, I like the fancy resort places.

I like my hotel to be nicer than my house, and have the amenities to boot. I know, this means putting on blinders for the prices, and maybe staying 5 nights instead of 7 to stomach it. If it means I have a balcony, a concierge, turn down service, a host at the pool finding me the perfect spot and arranging towels for me, so be it.

The best location also helps, if it puts me right at the destination, saving time every day. And I don't want to toast my own bagel for breakfast, I really like french toast with fresh berries and cream, and warmed syrup!

I know, I'm a sucker. But it's my fondness for the fancy hotel is probably my biggest weakness.

This has become me in retirement! Never thought we could afford it.
We choose to travel less, but travel well! First class air, fancy hotels.

 

[Chuckanut]

We've upgraded from the inexpensive places to airbnb's with kitchens. We both stayed in expensive business hotels when we worked and avoid spending $ there. On the road, we usually stay at dog-friendly Red Roof Inns.

Favorite Red Roof Inn story:

Pounding at the door late at night.
Me: "Yes."
Man at door: "Dude, I'm sorry, but I dropped my beer bottle from the second floor on top of your car and dented the hood.
Me: Looking outside. "That's not my car."

Man at door: "Oh, no problem then."
Door Closes, dead bolt and chain attached.

I stayed at an inexpensive hotel years ago because my travel companion had the points to get a 'free' room. We had a view of the parking lot. The only places to sit in the room were the two beds and one thinly padded office style chair. There was a homeless camp across the street complete with a pile of trash. I never felt in danger but we were two guys. The ladies might have a different opinion. Today, I would not do that again, unless I was exhausted, the weather was nasty and I had no choice

Pet friendly hotels? I'll leave those to others.