KathyNZ

I decided to use Travelodge a few times on my recent trip to the US and would like to share my experiences of this hotel group. The first night I stayed at Travelodge Los Angeles airport on West Century Bld. The hotel is basic, the room was quite comfortable and clean, the staff were friendly and helpful and the breakfast adequate. There is a Dennys right next door which is convenient as the area does not have cafes or restaurants close by. For a one night stay I would use this hotel again but only if needing to be at the airport for a very early flight.
I also stayed at Travelodge Monterey, Nth Fremont St. not the downtown one, this one is a couple of miles out from the downtown area but I found the bus service to be good and was able to go to all the places I needed to. This Travelodge was excellent, very comfortable room, good area, pleasant staff, (I was able to use the internet for free with unlimited time) and the breakfast was good. I would certainly recommend it to those on a budget.
The next Travelodge I used was in San Francisco at the airport. It is right next door to the BART station with a small shopping centre opposite and a large food market and plenty of restaurants within reasonable walking distance. It could not have been more convenient and staying out in the suburbs is preferable to me travelling on my own. I used the BART train each day without any problems. The hotel rooms were comfortable, the breakfast was good but the staff not so friendly plus I received a bill with higher charges than was quoted to me when I booked. On protest the bill was altered to reflect the right charge but I was not pleased and would advise anyone to check their account carefully when paying. Despite this I would be happy to stay here again because the location is so good.
The last Travelodge I used was again in Los Angeles but this time I stayed at the El Segundo one. I would not recommend this place to anyone. The two receptionists were surly and arrogant and completely unhelpful. The room was a bit shabby except for new carpet and furniture but the linen was old and tired and the pillows lumpy and needed replacing. There was no literature in the room as to facilities or where any eating places were or transport information. when I asked the receptionist, his reply was, 'we don't do that', I felt like saying, no because you are too lazy. In the end it was the tour driver on my day tour the next day who told me where the closest restaurant was and gave me all the info on bus service etc, so a huge thumbs down to this Travelodge who need a good kick up the derriere. As they seemed to be re-tiling the breakfast room, there was no breakfast as such but a few muffins in cellophane bags bought at the local service station it would seem. In other words it was a couldn't care less attitude all round.
My question is, are all other hotel chains as inconsistent as this one obviously is?
My other accommodations were with Microtel, Brock Plaza in Niagara, Phoenix Park in Washington and B & B's in Canada which in the end were the best value for money and the most pleasant to stay at.

janisj

Travelodges tend to be low end in the US - better than most Motel 6 (but there are some quite nice Motel 6's) but towards the bottom of the food chain.

So to get 3 out of 4 to be pretty much acceptable would be beating the odds.

Some travelodges are modern, well maintained and good value. Others are - well, the El Segundo one is a perfect example. (I doubt any fodorites recommended that one)

rkkwan

Depends on the chain.

Travelodge is a very old brand. Some of their properties are very old and some news. Service is not very consistent. Same thing for chains like Days Inn, Comfort Inn, Howard Johnson, Ramada, etc...

If you want consistency, better stick with "newer" brands that are part of a major hotel chain. New meaning creation from the last 15-20 years. For example, Hampton Inn (from Hilton), Fairfield Inn (from Marriott), Holiday Inn Express, Four Points by Sheraton, etc, in general provide a much more consistent product among hotels in the same chain.

KathyNZ

Yes, I know what you mean and at the end of the day I prefer nice B & B's but unfortunately when travelling without transport there are very few convenient to the cities in the US so hotels are the only option.
There seem to be more B & B's in inner city areas in Canada than the US.
To be honest it gets boring seeing one hotel after another everywhere you go in the US all exactly the same design and clones of each other. This is where the Brock Plaza and Phoenix Park were a breath of fresh air, each with their own character. I can tell you that travelling on one's own is expensive when having to pay the same price as two would pay in a hotel, another plus for the B & B's who usually have single prices at most places.

Bobmrg

They are franchises, to the best of my knowledge, and your experience reflects that. Best Western is the same way. I don't know how the franchisors check on their franchisees, but I have noticed that some places that were BW one year were something else the next year.

nytraveler

The are franchises and are defiitely bottom of the barrel - so I'm surprised you did as well as you did.

You're right the newer budget chains are cookie-cutter - they have to be - that's the only way to make money when charging such low rates.

As for B&Bs - they're never really caught on that much in the US. There are lots of inns in the countryside - but usually quite upscale. And city economics don;t lend themselves to B&Bs - not to mention all sorts of local zoning and fire laws that make then difficult to run at a profit.

toedtoes

I usually stay at Travelodge, Days Inn or Quality Inn when I travel. I'm cheap and don't really care for B&Bs.

All of these are franchises as NYTraveler states. As such, you run the same risk as getting a "good" Denny's as a "bad" Denny's (franchises).

What I have found is that the ones that are built as Travelodge (Days Inn, etc.) are usually better than those that are "turned into" a Travelodge.

Also, it depends on the quality of the area. Some areas just aren't that nice to begin with, and a hotel rarely outshines the neighborhood.

I usually do a lot of research before selecting my hotel since I'm going lower end. I look for comments about the area and the age of the hotel. I usually shy away from ones that talk about being "converted from an old hotel" because that usually means the rooms are small and dark.

So far, my most negative experience was one Quality Inn where the room smelled slightly moldy - however, the town had been flooded 2 weeks before my stay, so I felt it was understandable. I stayed there a second time and there was no problem.

tracys2cents

i'd say that Travelodges are pretty consistent. Pretty consistently BAD. Kathy got lucky to have hit so many decent ones in the same trip.
You really have to do some homework when using Travelodge, Days Inn, Howard Johnsons and Econo Lodges. Check for AAA approval and read reviews. Even in the cleaner ones, if the price is very low, the problem is sometimes not the cleanliness of the place as much as the clientele in the rooms on each side of you.

elsiemoo

tracys2cents, you are so right about the clientele in some of these lower end budget hotels. That's where you'd really need to know the neighborhood it's in.

For myself, I stick with Hampton Inns and Holiday Inn Expresses; never been disappointed in either. I've tried a couple of Best Westerns lately that were very nice, as well.

KathyNZ

All your comments were very interesting and enlightening. I did six months research and looked up reviews etc and as you say probably did strike it lucky in the most part except in my opinion for a person on their own the prices are still above what these places are worth realistically. Mainly I was concerned with access to places I needed to go and in this respect did very well in the end.
Someone mentions Best Western, that reminded me of another experience I will share. I went to Kings Dominion amusement park in Virginia with friends for a weekend two weeks ago and we booked at the Best Western in the park area for convenience. What a joke this place is, it's a disgrace, the walkways were filthy and covered in bottle tops and spilled pop, the room was not cleaned properly, the blanket had holes and rips in it, the bathroom was not cleaned properly and on and on. I did not want to even sleep there. I went to the management without my friends' knowledge and made a big complaint, they knew the establishment was not up to scratch and humbly gave us a large credit on our bill, you can imagine how pleased my friends were. It may be a family hotel with lots of kids staying but no need to drop standards to this level, it was the worst ever. I know that many Best Western hotels are excellent so it is a pity this one is really so very bad.
Someone mentioned Dennys, that is very amusing to me because as I said Dennys was next to the first Travelodge I used in LA and was a bit of a life saver when I arrived. There is also a Dennys attached to the Best Western at Kings Dominion and what a joke that is, nothing wrong with the food but the service was something else, they could not cope with the inexperienced staff they had, the chef in the evening was on his own as one did not show, the waiters were foreign students on working holidays and had not had any good training, it was a riot of the Keystone Cops kind. But don't misunderstand me, because of this, we had the biggest laughs and the most fun with the staff you could ever imagine, their Keystone Cops performance had us entertained the whole time and we had a lot of fun with them. We even had photos taken with them. We turned it into a positive experience but I can say, others who had been waiting far too long for their meals were walking out with faces like thunder, they were not amused and rightly so, this place is another that needs to get it's act together.
However, overall my trip was unbelievable, fantastic in every way, the people in the USA and Canada are the nicest you could ever meet anywhere and I loved all of it, I have so many stories and experiences. I was there last year also but this time took in places I had not been to before as well as my favourites like Toronto. But most of my time was spent in West Virginia, what a gorgeous part of the world this is, the little towns with such lovely people, the beautiful scenery, the national parks and the wildlife, and of course the wonderful Greenbrier Resort.

elsiemoo

Kathy, I've heard that about some Best Westerns (not good) so I was reluctant to try the ones in Dillsboro, NC and in Carmel, Ca but trusted friends said they were great so we tried them, and they were great! Apparently, quality really varies in that chain unlike Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inns.

Glad your trip was overall great!

KathyNZ

Hi elsiemoo
You are so right and I would imagine if any were not so good in Carmel they would quickly disappear, as someone else pointed out it also depends on the area. And what a lovely little place that is, wow, you are making me want to take off again! Alas back to work until the next adventure.

janisj

Best Western is NOT a chain - franchised or otherwise. They are each independent and individually owned and operated w/i their own rules, rates, quality etc.

Best Western is simply a marketing consortium of independent motel operators.

elsiemoo

janisj, I guess if they all have the same name, I think of them as a chain ... very misleading if it works the way you say it does.

janisj

Not misleading IMHO. That is the way Best Westerns have always been. The "chain" was established in 1946 as a group of motels that referred guests to each other.

That is basically what they do now - only on a MUCH larger scale.

tracys2cents

According to Best Western's website, they are the world's largest hotel chain. Even though they don't "franchise", some courts have ruled them to be a franchisor.
They are all independently owned, but agree to the same standards and policies. We have found them to be rather consistent & clean. With 4000 members agreeing to uphold certain standards, if your motel isn't up to snuff you face the rath of all your fellow members. I imagine that they quite often convince each other to clean up their act. Interesting that Best Western is actually a non-profit membership association...and that they have all but pulled out of New Zealand lately considering it too small a market to maintain a membership base. (This is all on their website & on wikipedia).

rkkwan

I also don't think of them as a chain. I don't see how they have to hold any standard, unless that standard is very very low. Because in Europe, most BW are 3* to 4* real hotels - I recently stayed in one in Sicily which is the largest and nicest hotel in that town - while here in the US they are usually old motels.

elsiemoo

tracy2cents is correct. See this link:

http://www.bestwestern.com/

I'll take Best Western's word for it.

happytrailstoyou

I agree with what I've read here and wish to add that the only chains which I have found to be consistently good are Homewood Suites and Hilton Garden Inn.

A Best Western, Hampton Inn, Embassy Suites, Residence Inn, Hyatt Regency, Courtyard, etc. may be the best place in town or a huge disappointment.

elsiemoo

Have to say I've stayed in Hampton Inns and Residence Inns for years, and never found one to be a disappointment! Each one might not have been perfect, but always very nice in most ways.