What hotels and motels do you prefer to stay in and why?

Just wondering. I figure there are a lot of people here who travel. Where do you stay and why? Do you travel frequently?

I'll be in a Holiday Inn Express for a couple days next week. Never have stayed in one before. Any advice? Free broadband! But I guess that's getting pretty common.

We don't do a lot of overnites for business, but we do have a lot of family out of state.

We don't stay with any one particular chain. We look for places that are new or recently renovated.

Over the holidays we spent 2 nites at a Holiday Inn in Tampa. We had to change rooms because the one we had a bad mold odor. The next 2 nites we spent in a recently remodeled Days Inn outside of Atlanta, and it was wonderful.

When traveling I try to take my family as much as possible so I look for accommodations (sp) that have the amenities we like to have. Our preference is for a suite where the kids can have some time away from the parents, or vice versa. Hampton & Fairfield are typically pretty good for us. Courtyard by Marriott & Holiday Inn express are OK as well. Like Carol said newer or recently rennovated inns are usually the best bet. Stayed in a Doubletree in Tennessee recently that had a serious smoke odor in the non smoking room we were in. I noticed it & I smoke, and no it wasn't me.

Valhalla Inn - Toronto - Great atmosphere, service and nice folks

Hilton - San Diego Airport - fantastic views and right on the beach

Wyndham Garden - Dallas (Irving) - great service and fantastic lunches

Embassy Suites - LaJolla, Ca - duh!

Marriott Hickory Ridge - Chicago (Lisle) - best meeting place ever and great eating

Hilton Garden - Houston (Bush airport) - small Hilton with big service - I recommend any Hilton Garden Inn

Inn at Morgan Hill - Morgan Hill, Ca - a great getaway with a fireplace and jacuzzi in each room

Peabody - Memphis & Little Rock - the ducks and atmosphere

Almost any Hampton Inn - downsized Hilton care and service (free high speed)

Radisson - Portsmouth, Va - even after a hurricane they made the stay pleasant

Holiday Inn Express - Henderson, Ky - pleasant folks

Country Inn & Suites - Calagry, Alberta - just a real nice place with real nice people

Stay away Hotels
Hyatt - Chicago (Lisle) - staff has head up a - - and poor customer attitude

Marriott - Houston (Bush airport) same as Hyatt above

Holiday Inn - Moline, Il - a stay from he-l, raw chicken, but the night manager is nice

Days Hotel - Herndon, Va - dumbest and worst dining staff in the country and tasteless food

Based upon my current activities I'll spend about 200 nights in hotels this year, last year was about 120 or so, and you get to know them after a while. Some are so-so, some are good, and a few are great. Most of my stays are for 3-5 nights so I have a pretty good exposure to the facilities.

Randy said:

Hilton - San Diego Airport - fantastic views and right on the beach

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A great list--it's good to hear from a real road warrior in this regard. A minor correction to the San Diego Hilton plug. If your're referring to the Harbor Island Hilton, it is a great place, but no beach--it's on the harbor.

I would also warn against Ramada, as my experience has been that the quality is wildly inconsistent, and the head office doesn't seem to care much if guests have a problem with a particular property. A good case in point is the Ramada Tower in just north of LAX in Culver City, which is probably the worst hotel I've ever seen.

I didn't want to say "Right on the rocks in San Diego Harbor". The beach is actually kinda down the road, around the corner and up the street. My last time there, when I opened up my door I was greated by the great view of the harbor, the downtown area and the "Star of India" sailing in the harbor.

Randy - How many different hotels do you figure you've stayed in?

1st, let me include the Hilton in Troy, Michigan in my list.

As for the number of different hotels? In the last 2 years over 50 at least, maybe more. In the last 3 weeks I've been in 4 different ones (2 of them for the 1st time). Most of my hotel stays are return visits.

advice form others regarding hotel/motels

In the past I have used Trip Advisor to look up reviews for hotels when I have traveled.

Hampton Inn has always proved to be consistent with their outstanding service and value. They even have prepared breakfasts to go in brown paper bags if you cannot take advantage of their buffet breakfast.

Jaime

I also like the Hiltons and Hampton's. Very consistent and can't recall ever getting a bad one.

For some of the Vegas fans here, the best site I have seen for hotel reviews there is www.cheapovegas.com - budget minded, but probably the most fair & accurate reviews I have read, and I agree with pretty much what they say based on all of my stays in Vegas (LV Hilton, Flamingo, California, Days Inn...). Pretty funny too. They also have reviews for Reno and NYC.