We have driven to Naples for 14 years and always stay at Hampton. Last year I left my briefcase in our room. It had all of our personal information and both IPads. We discovered this when we stopped at the Hampton in Savannah. They called the Hampton in Benson where we stayed the night before and they found my brief case. They locked it up. We drove back to Benson and got it after showing my ID. It was late so they held a room for us. We were so relieved. Needless to say we had had a few drinks at a restaurant we could walk to. We will always stay at Hamptons regardless of the cost.

 

Given my druthers I like Residence Inn although occasionally you will hit a tired run down place.
We do tent to stay in Marriott family hotels (points)

 

We prefer Hampton's or Holiday Inn Express.

 

One note on the travel discount sites. I have been told by a few hotels that they would honor the same pricing from those sites, and then you get to keep cancellation as an option (unlike many of those discount sites). It is worth asking them, but I have not used one of those sites in a couple of years now. I just call the hotel if they advertise higher rates and tell them I can get it for X at X website and they will just match it and keep the ability to cancel.

 

^ Good point

 

I like Hampton Inns but am not loyal to them. Before Hilton bought them I liked them MUCH better. I noticed they then changed to cheap versions of their towels, TP, Kleenex, cups... The beds are still nice but the rates went up and the quality went down.

I just stayed in Big Bear, CA a week ago and read reviews after finding the area where I wanted my hotel to be located. I ended up in a Best Western that had good reviews and was the closest one to the start/finish of the Tour de Big Bear bike event I was there for. I had booked the same room for the same event last year, for $100 less per night, but the event was cancelled, of course. Covid closed down travel and rates seem to be higher now that travel is happening again.

I generally look for where I want to be, in relation to the ElliptiGO event, which seems to be my only reason for travel in the past few years. Then I look at reviews and prices.



^8-7-2021.

 

I usually look at what hotels are in the area and will first focus on Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt family brands. Others I like are Kimpton (part of IHG) and Omni.

 

Several of us just had a pleasant surprise that exceeded our expectations at the Sleep Inn in Summersville, WV to scope out the WV Loop known as the "Hell Bender" that caused me to write the following E-mail to the the General Manager of this Sleep Inn which is part of the Choice Hotel brand.

Mr. Bishop,

I just wanted to pass along how your staff exceeded my expectations at your location in Summersville, WV this weekend.

A few weeks ago I called to make my reservation and spoke with Amanda. She was very personable on the phone, to the point that I remembered her name. Several members of our sports car club arrived on Friday, 13 August. When we arrived on Friday afternoon we where met by Paul who greeted us warmly, and made the check in procedure enjoyable with his humor, and professionalism. During the course of Friday evening a few of us sat in the lobby area and could overhear Paul's greetings as he checked in the other guests. He greeted everyone warmly, professionally but also would always add a personal touch to the process.

On Friday night I realized that the center light bulb over the vanity was burned out and went down to ask Paul if he had one? As I was willing to change it out. He checked and did not have one. On Saturday morning I had a knock on my door around 09:30 and your house keeper (I wish I had gotten her name, but I failed to) came in and changed the light bulb. She was very pleasant and asked if she could do anything else, such as empty the trash or provide fresh towels, etc.. Again, she was willing to go the extra mile, not just do the job at hand.

I am retired, but used to manage a multi-million dollar business and I know how valuable good employees are to the success of any business. You are lucky to have these people on board.

FWIIW: On my way back home to Northern Virginia today I wanted to stop for lunch at a restaurant that I found on line that was rated as 4.5 stars with over 360 reviews on Trip Advisor. When arrived I discovered that even though the sign on the door next to the attached sign stated that they are opened on Sundays, I discovered that the doors were locked.

Sincerely,

Matt

P.S. I would appreciate it if you would share my comments with your staff to let them know how much they are appreciated.

 

Higher end hotels when my wife and I are road tripping, anywhere I can park my motorhome till we get to where we want to be.

Ro

 

Here's a tip for travelers.
Let's say you have a confirmed reservation at a hotel.
You've even parked at the hotel but you're running late and had a chance to check in yet.
The other folks in your group are driving so you run off to dinner.
Wrong always check in if there is a chance you could be coming back late.
I have had them give away my room because I tried to check in after their bewitching hour.
As in 12:03 AM "well gee that's too bad I just gave your room away."