dlq04

9 times out of 10 we stay at Hampton's. No surprises. When we have stayed at B&Bs we rarely ever see or talk to anyone else. That room I showed you, we had all to ourselves. Under the glass table was a great collection of Indian arrow heads and lots of other cool stuff. And the front porch overlooks a very wide river with great scenery.

And lots of towels . . . help yourself stacks.

Lainey

Hampton Inn has usually been my first choice, but we've had a few disappointing stays with them too. We've stayed in the Holiday Inn Express a few times now and have been pleasantly surprised. The Hampton Inn in this area had lots of negative reviews. I can discount a few negative reviews as sh$t happens, as I know happy people rarely post a review, but did decide to stay with Holiday Inn this time around.

Scooterboy

Quite a few of the Hamptons are getting old and could use some updates. I do stay at HI Express when they are convenient.

Lainey

Aren't we supposed to be smarter after staying here? I'm not sure it's working for me. We have walked our feet off. I had a nice healthy crab cake and salad for a late lunch. One can only take this healthy living so far. I finished off lunch with a piece of pumpkin cake. That wasn't too smart. Couldn't finish the entire piece of cake at lunch and I just ate it now. That's not too smart either.

dlq04

S2KRAY

We always stay at Hamptons when we drive to Fla. 2 years ago we stayed at a Hampton Inn in South Carolina. The next day we left to go to a Hampton in Savannah, GA. When we arrived to check in I realized that I left my briefcase bag in the room. It contained my laptop, check book, and a list of web sites with my passwords. We panicked. and the concierge came over as she saw our distress. She contacted the Hampton Inn in South Carolina and thank God they had it and it was put in a locked room. The room cleaners discovered it and gave it to the front desk. We started back in a blinding rain storm which took 6 hours and we’re not charged for the room in Savannah. When we got to the Hampton we had to ID ourselves then they gave us the bag. Nothing was touched. They even booked a room for us as we were like 2 zombies. We walked to a nearby restaurant had dinner and lots of drinks. We thanked the room cleaners and gave them a generous tip. We will always stay at Hamptons especially after this scary experience.

tof

We have stayed at Bed and Breakfasts several times, always a great experience but never through Air B&B. I stayed in a B&B in Penn Yan while attending my 50th class reunion. Best breakfast I ever had. Something like six courses, each tastier than the last. Also got a ride in the owner's Citroen DS.

We have had great luck with Vrbo.

S2KRAY

Im guilty of the same temptation Dave. Then I ride my bike, play golf and walk or go to the gym. The weight comes off.

Heyitsgary

I think it depends what you're looking for and expectations.

When we travel, we stay in hotels, AB&B/VRBO, B&B, rentals and timeshares. We don't limit it to one type. It depends on what the plan is. If we're driving through and need a bed to just get up and go the next day, a hotel is the choice. If the stay is to see something and be part of something, a B&B is Cindy's preference - think long weekends. She prefers something "quaint" and "cute" as part of the experience. Then the choice of finding a B&B directly or ABnB/VRBO is part of the process. Sometimes we see one we like, do some searching and find a direct rental, avoiding some of the service fees - which have been outrageous lately.

Generally, the longer our stay is going to be, the more likely we're looking at timeshare/resort and full house rental/BnB/ABnB/VRBO vs a hotel.

Also, the more people, the more likely to use ABnB/VRBO to get a house, traveling with some friends or family. I don't think we've ever used a rental/service/direct booked to get a room in a house, except for a BnB, and I night I had near a racetrack so I could get there early. Cindy would have walked out when she saw it. I made due.

The nice thing about hotels is that you know what you're getting. There's a name behind the company and the bed will be made, there's a water bottle, working coffee maker and an ice machine. Something's not right, some type of remediation and/or price reduction or certificates are offered. With the little guy, while trying to support small businesses is good, you're often stuck with it. There's no resolution options that work.

I also find that using a service is very efficient to search, look and see what's there to compare without finding all of the direct booking options. We've stayed in a cabin in the Poconos for a weekend - 10 showed in the search, and we picked 1. Any longer than that, we'd have killed each other. During Covid, we also went to the Poconos, for a month, and had a 3 BR house. We brought both cars and actually "lived" there. I brought a portable dart stand and gear and played online events, Cindy brought her scrapbooking stuff and did that. We both brought computers, monitors, etc...for work. Grocery shopping, laundry. We could never have done that in a hotel or BnB. Was it the cleanest, no, do I think their "super host" and "deep cleaning" were real, no. Did it work for a month - Yes.

MsPerky

We have gone the B&B route a few times. Stayed at lovely ones in Charleston, Savannah and Wilmington NC, among other places. Not since COVID, though. Recent trips have included very nice hotels.