Do you enjoy staying at hotels?

No. I’ve lived out of hotels so much in my former career that even a 5-star accommodation holds no appeal for me. I like the familiar surroundings and security of my own home, even if I have to prepare my own meals, make my own bed, etc.

I love it more than I can afford. I always call ahead and tell the manager that I have special cleanliness requirements, and everything in the room must be wiped down with disinfectant, and the bed and bedding must be disinfected. I also carry a can of Lysol Disinfectant with me.

Over the past dozen years, we stay at the same hotels. We are card carrying frequent stay members, and receive special attention. We nearly always get a late checkout because we sleep late. As card members, we have also been able to stop over at other hotels in the same brand and swim in the afternoon, while still hours away from our overnight hotel.

We used to have to carry our own microwave and ice chest, but now the rooms all have them. I usually get the suites with a living room and a bedroom.

In the old days, when we used to stay at Motel Six, I never gave any of it a second thought.

The bad parts:

The pool closes too early – I’m a night owl
The free breakfast is over way too soon. I usually have to have management save a meal out for me (I give them a list of foods) because I sleep late.
Not enough hotels with adjoining doors between the rooms. We take two families, and would like that feature.
The ones I stay in have no luggage valet so we have to cart our own, and sometimes it takes two trips.

@YARNLADY I prefer to have a suite also. Some chains seem to be calling anything with a living area a suite, and it pisses me off. Now I specifically ask if there is a regular door separating the two rooms (one Embassy Suites I stayed at had a folding door with slats, although the room was very nice) because the main reason I want the two rooms is so if I wake up before my husband or vice a versa we can be in the other room and block some of the noise, so not to disturb the other person.

@JLeslie Yes, one thing we can add to the needs improvement list is a standardized rule about suite, which has been used to mean there is a couch in the room with the bed. That’s just plain rude.

No I hate it. I try not to. I don’t like anything about it because I feel they are dirty. There are rare exceptions. When I have to stay in one I take Lysol wipes and wipe down the whole place. When the room has carpet I am totally grossed by it. Also blankets and bedspreads have to go. I always ask for fresh sheets, blankets, and bedspreads upon arrival. I need an RV.

It’s so much fun. And I’ve done it a lot, all over the world. I just love it, every time. It doesn’t matter if I’m with my family or my friends (although there is certain thrill when I’m with my boyfriend). Being in a hotel definitely adds to the feeling of being on vacation. I don’t miss my house generally; I’m a big travel person, so I enjoy being in unfamiliar settings.

The only thing I don’t like is the maid coming at a bad time or when hotels lack things they shouldn’t lack. At this one motel my boyfriend and I stayed at, the maid knocking on the door actually woke me up and I got up in my boxers to tell her “not now”. They should come later than that! :P Then there was that hotel in Canada that didn’t have air-conditioning (and it wasn’t a cheap place either). It happened to be around 90 degrees that weekend; it was terrible. :P

@DominicX Good point, we carry our own “do not disturb” signs for motels that don’t provide them.

I love staying at hotels and it definitely adds to the “on vacation” feeling. Why?
• I’m thrilled that for once, someone else is doing the cleaning
• I love hotel breakfasts (especially the oatmeal)
• I’m a big fan of room service (overpriced as it is)
• Three words: Kind Sized Bed

I also enjoy a good Bed & Breakfast (just stayed at the Hartstone Inn in Camden Maine in May – it’s owned by a chef. Yum!)

I even like the economy joints like Comfort Inn. not a big fan of motels however

Once in a blue moon, just to get away, my wife and I will stay a night at a nice hotel in Boston. Sure we live here, but it’s a nice change of scenery and mini vacation.

4-star, like the St. Regis, ooh! Yes!

1-star, like Econo-Lodge, oh no.

This sounds crazy, but smell is supposed to be the sense that’s most connected to memory, right? So the smell of a hotel, like the combination of the carpeting, cleaning solutions, and the bed linens, always reminds me of other vacations I’ve been on. And I love it when the hotel has a pool that’s open at night. Even if it’s not a very good hotel, staying in one definitely gives things a vacation feeling.

I love staying at hotels. I think it adds a lot to the feel of the vacation and traveling. While traveling, I’m not too picky about the hotels I stay in, but once I get to my destination, I like staying in nicer hotels and always try to get a suite.

I like staying at some hotels most of the time. I enjoy it up until I forgot to bring something from home, like my shoes or my briefcase. The hotel I stay in is right up the street. We get to have a mini getaway with free food and drinks. Because we belong to their Barter Network.

I personally have never cared much about the hotel. As long as it’s clean, and has all the essentials, I’m happy. When I’m on vacation I care more about the attractions and the fun we are having than where I’m going to sleep.

I like having a maid and room service, but I also really like if they have a coin laundry on premises so I can do my own laundry if I need to wash something.

As @DominicX mentioned it is annoyign when a hotel does not have some items you would expect. An old pet peeve of mine was when hotels did not have hair conditioner, only shampoo. Lately most of them seem to have it now. Some hotels now have make-up remover which makes me very very happy.

@YARNLADY I fully agree, they need to standardize what suite means.

@cprevite I think you inspired my next question: tell me about your favorite B & B’s around the US, or something along those lines. I am picky about bed linens, and prefer a more modern decor, so B& B’s generally fall short for me.

@knitfroggy I used to say the same thing, but then as I started to spend more on hotels, I realized I really did enjoy having a pleasant place to come back to at night.

I like staying at great hotels, otherwise I would just as soon stay home. It is sort of like food. If I am going to eat all the grease and calories in a hamburger, it has to be a great hamburger. I would never eat one from McDonalds. If I am going to drink alcohol, it has to be a great wine, great scotch, or a quality beer. Otherwise, I’ll take water.

@JLeslie I guess when we are vacationing on a “budget” so to speak, we would prefer to spend the money in more important ways for our kids, etc. But sure, if money didn’t matter, we’d stay in a helluva nice place!

@knitfroggy Yeah, I’m rarely at the Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton, but I will always upgrade to a Fairfield Inn or Holiday Inn Express over a Comfort Inn or Days Inn these days.

@JLeslie That’s good. Maybe someday when my husband finishes school we will be able to too. Until then, we will be at Comfort Inn. :)

To me, it really pays to contact the management in advance and let them know if you have special cleanliness issues or other requests.

I’m not a big fan of staying at hotels. I don’t like the whole concept that others sleep in the same bed, and I don’t trust that everything has been cleaned properly. I have yet been to a hotel that has made me think differently.

@shego What level of hotel are you used to?

@shego I recommend you look for new or newly renovated hotels when you travel, and for me a duvet or triple sheeted bed is the most important thing besides a perfectly clean bathroom. I can’t stand those icky blankets and bedspreads. I have very good experiences at Marriott brand hotels, and the newer Holiday Inn Express have been good also, although their beds are very firm.

And Embassy Suites. I fotgot to mention Embassy Suites, especially their newly renovated. I am not thrilled with Hampton Inn though, very inconsistant, I’d rather stay at the other brands I mentioned.

I love hotels. I love room service. I love that others clean the bathroom. I love that I can get new towels and sheets when needed, and I don’t have to wash the towels or put the sheets on the bed.

The wife and I stay at hotels at least once every two or three months. We mostly do 3 or 4 star hotels.

I’m use to expensive hotels. I’ve stayed at the Grand American hotel in Salt Lake to name one.

@shego I just googled it. It looks like the rooms are very spacious, but it also looks very stodgy to me. Did it have down conforters, or is there a basic blanket under the bed covering in the photos? From the photos I would be hesitant to stay there because of how picky I am. But, I see it is 5 star, so I would assume it is triple sheeted.

@shego In that case, I suggest you submit a complaint to the home office and demand a refund for the poor service. There is no excuse for a poor experience in a hotel of that quality. I have demanded and received several refunds or coupons for free rooms from several quality hotels because of bad service.

I do like staying at hotels because it’s a change of pace rom staying in the same place over and over again. That’s sounds obvious, I know. But, I mean it in the sense that the issues with neighbors and/or other family members goes away. I’m used to hotels like the Shilo Inn and the Days Inn. I really like the little hotels along the Oregon Coast. There’s one called the Sandcastle Inn that I love.

@knitfroggy Something to look forward to. When we were young and just starting out we were very conservative with our money, and when traveling focused on the attractions of the city we were in more than the places we slept also.

Don’t get me wrong, the hotel is beautiful, and they have the people in the public bathroom in the lobby to dry your hands off, it’s amazing.
I guess because it’s a home away from home, that I am looking for the same standards of cleanliness that I have at home, so if I find dust on the floor boards, it disgusts me. Or the shower floor looks dingy, I complain. I am very fussy.

@shego I am fussy too. Very dissappointing if you encountered those things at that hotel. I might have asked to change rooms.

@shego Hotels do not need to be less clean or more dingy than your own home – It is only when we insist on our personal standards that they will improve. You, the customer, are the boss. If you do not notify the management of your issues, they cannot improve.

Edit: I always insist that the room be as clean as my home, or my money back.

I usually clean it myself, makes me feel better because I know I cleaned it.
But @YARNLADY I know what you are saying I have switched rooms, and I have been in the room when the maids come around, just to point out places they need to clean better. I’m sure they don’t like me either.

@shego Good point. I always leave a 10 – 15 % tip per room, per day. When I am staying several days, I leave a tip every day, and my room gets much cleaner the second day. I also switch rooms, and, as I mentioned above, I call ahead to make sure my room is ultra clean.

Our online site – where we reserve rooms – shows clean as one of our requirements.

@YARNLADY I do that too. Sometimes I leave a little note with the money if I have a specific request like extra towels.

Well, my dad usually does the reservations.
I did not know you could do that. I will keep that in mind for when I start to travel on my own. Thanks :)

@shego As a customer of a service industry, we can ask for any accommodation we want. We are the boss.

Never thought of it that way, but so true.

I love staying at hotels, even cheap ones. It adds to the feeling of being “on holiday”.

I guess it would depend on the hotel itself. I feel more comfortable staying in 5 stars hotel and the 4 or 3 stars hotel due to the different atmosphere. But I prefer to stay at home since It’s has becoming my breeding ground and I really feel completely at home,another fact is that I don’t have to waste my money.

I worked repairing projectors in movie theaters for about a year (I was responsible for Oregon). I was in a hotel 5 nights a week for that year. I hated it.

But ten years later I like it. Even if they are dirty they are still cleaner than my house. And if I’m in a hotel it means I am getting out of the basement.

Staying at a nice hotel is like a refuge for the wife and i. first, we enjoy just “getting away”. that means the dog, the cellphones and all our family, for just a few days are left behind and its just us.

A hotel does not have to have a 5-star rating to be clean and enjoyable. we have sampled many, many hotels throughout America. cleanliness is number one on our list for a great hotel stay. after all, we are paying for it.

I worked in the hotel industry for 25+ years, with 24 of them being with Hilton Hotels Family and 5 of those being in the Quality Assurance department (inspecting hotels).

The Hilton Family (Waldorf-Astoria Collection, Conrad, Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inns) are inspected twice a year, and sometimes more. If a hotel does not pass two inspections in a row, it goes to a committee who votes on whether they should have a 3rd and final inspection. If it doesn’t pass, it’s a 3rd strike, they are booted out of the system.

Since an inspection only represents one day at the hotel, Hilton relies on the voice of the customer to tell them how the hotels are really doing on a day-to-day basis. If a hotel’s guest evaluation score average drops below a certain level, the owner gets a warning that it needs to be raised within a certain period of time. If it doesn’t, it goes to the QA committee. If an owner doesn’t want to play by their brand’s rules, they get the boot. It just takes time to make it happen.

Hampton Inns, Homewood Suites and Embassy Suites have a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee…if you aren’t satisfied with your stay, they don’t expect you to pay. Every employee, by standards, is allowed to refund you. Of course they would rather hear about the problem and have a chance to fix it to your satisfaction, but that is sometimes impossible.

As YARNLADY said, put your needs/desires on the reservation (if you are booking online), and they are more likely to be met. And if they aren’t met, talk to someone at the hotel about it. And if it still doesn’t happen, call the corporate office, if it has one. For Hilton, they rely on customer feedback to know where a particular hotel is falling short of the mark.

Depends. Beach holiday, yes. On the road, not necessarily. Business hotels, not anymore.

@mattbrowne Weird…I’m the opposite. Our family rents a beach house every year, and we do our own shopping, cooking, cleaning and laundry. Even though we are on vacation, I look upon it as acts of love and bonding time with family members.

When traveling for business, I really enjoy a hotel stay as long as it is clean and the staff cares about the guests. Having someone else clean the room and provide a good breakfast, plus an internet connection that works easily, allows me to focus on the job.

Yes! I lurve a nice hotel room which usually has a way more comfortable bed than I’ve had in the past, whirlpool bathtubs, fireplace, blackout curtains, luxury linens & soaps, delicious room service and panoramic views of somewhere nice. Hotels usually have excellent water pressure, lots of hot water and powerful a/c too whereas a motel or bed & breakfast are a gamble.

@Neizvestnaya I agree with everything you said except for the in-room whirlpools.

I love staying in hotels. Sometimes, my boyfriend and I will stay in hotels and there is often something a little more sexy about it even though we have a perfectly good bed at home!

@Pied_Pfeffer – I sometimes enjoy business hotels when it’s in a country I don’t know yet and the culture in the hotel is somewhat different.

I love it! Yes, it adds to the feeling of being on holiday. But it must be a good quality hotel. Hotels that offer “Free” breakfast is also fun and makes me feel all fuzzy inside. :D

Until i watched an episode of Doctors the other night. The things the cleaning staff will do to shortcut their cleaning duties. EEEEWWWW!!!! Things will never be the same for me again. I mean, i’ve always used flip-flops in other showers, but now i’ll be bringing my own linen as well.