Advice on a reasonable but clean motel chain?

How long are you going to be there and what are you looking for? A place just to park for a night or a few nights, dinners, atmosphere, etc?

If you ask me, “decent” and “motel” don’t belong in the same sentence. I’ve never had a good experience at a motel. If I can get to my room directly from the outside, I’m not staying there. There are plenty of reasonably priced hotels out there.

And in Florida, those huge flying roaches love easily accessible motel rooms. Watch out.

This is just for one night stay over on the way down. Really just looking for clean beds and not a roach motel.

I’d almost find a mom and pop place, listed with AAA then. I think the chains are overrated.

You can’t go wrong with Hampton Inns. They have a great inspection process, are consistent, provide free breakfast working wi-fi, and the most comfortable beds. They are found all along I-95, as well. The downside is the price. They are what is considered a mid-scale rating by JD Power.

If you are looking for cheap, then Microtel Inn & Suites was rated #1 by JD Power this year. I’ve never stayed in one and have no clue how many there are along your route, but it’s worth checking out.

Fairfield Inn and Suites, any Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hilton, Doubletree, to me, they’re all reasonable and decent. For a specific one, check reviews on TripAdvisor.

Quality in is usually good. So is Wyndham.

Holiday Inn Express is usually pretty reliable.

I second Holiday Inn Express and Quality Inns. We also like America’s Best Value Inns and La Quinta. We’ve stayed in all of these, and we’ve been happy with them.

This thread cracks me up. I think of all those chains as being expensive. So I’m going to tell you a story.
In 1973 (yes, people who were alive in 1973 are still alive today, though in sparse numbers) I was driving my van (yes, I drove a van, because I was a hippie artist) across the country from New Hampshire to Washington State, with my foolish boyfriend and my two cats and my two foam mattresses and my art supplies, in other words all my worldly goods. Late one night in the middle of South Dakota we came across a lone motel on the lone prairie and we were very relieved because we were very tired. So I parked the van and walked into the office (which was open, with the light on) and asked the man How much for a room? $8, he said. Well, I said, that’s pretty steep for us, would you take $6? Nope, he said, and the next motel is about 150 miles from here, and he smiled. Okay, I said, and we went on driving.

I remember when Motel 6 meant $6 a night @susanc.

I’m amazed that someone thinks the Hilton is cheap.

I’d also like to point out that most of these suggestions are hotels, not motels. There’s a difference.

@livelaughlove21: Many started out as traditional motels but have enlarged and are now hotels, and many hotels still have some motel style entrances on the ground floors (our local Doubletree is an example I can think of).

Also, it’s common for people to use “hotel” and “motel” interchangeably.

The traditional motel of drive up to your door seems to be harder to find, as corporations and owners want to maximize their space by putting large buildings on their land. Many travelers don’t prefer the “outside corridor” for safety reasons, and so everything is now built as enclosed, therefore, technically hotels, not motels.