Hotels-Motels

[The Analyst]

This isn't necessarily meant to bash certain brands, but I do a fair amount of travelling and find most of the so-called "cookie cutter, highway chain" places to be less than adequate. The rooms and or furnishings are dirty, the heating/cooling systems do not function properly and in one recent stay I found insects in the bed, and I don't mean microscopic bed bugs. Even before the early months of this year I found that some of the services were significantly reduced or completely eliminated. They urge guests to reuse towels and limit bedsheet change. I have experienced this in many of the nicer places too, yet the prices are rather high. It's impossible to stay anywhere for under $100 per night and that price is drastically higher during peak travel months. Okay, I'm stepping off the soap box now. Curious as to what your experiences have been.

[crazyphil]

I travelled and stayed in hotels and motels quite a lot, but that has been
twenty to thirty years ago. I don't recall any problems such as you have
described. Guess quality was just better in the old days. I did stay in
a Super 8 one night. Walked in the room and a woman in the bathtub
screamed. I had a little discussion with the clerk. Another time at a
Best Western in S. California someone had used the facility in the bathroom
and not flushed. I called down and complained. I got a comped room.

[llowry61]

I used to travel quite a bit and fortunately the company did a pretty good job making sure we were in decent hotels in safe parts of town. Now with that being said, I had some bad experiences and as the original poster stated they were well known chains in mid price range. Talking the likes of Marriott, Hilton, LaQuinta, Hyatt etc. I learned early on, if you walk in the room and are unhappy with it, make the decision to switch immediately. I would call the travel agency and get another room in town immediately and I told them why I wasn't staying there. I then went back to front desk and told them that the room did not meet my standards and left. Now I know I was fortunate to have a travel agency that I could call, but the same applies for personal travel - get on your phone and find another place then leave. What I learned was that not all hotels are corporate owned, they are franchises. If there are enough complaints the franchisee will lose their franchise. Most of the corporate owned properties are up to snuff. I am willing to pay up to 200 a night when I travel for pleasure and maybe a bit more in some higher end markets. FWIW Just my 02.

[Marshwheeling]

Depends on where you go. When I travel out west, I usually get decent, clean motel rooms. There is one chain I like to stay at (whose name is giving me a senior moment right now) not cheap, but always clean, and with an excellent free breakfast, just the thing for those long dirt bike weekends, or for a flop after roughing it for three or four nights.

New Orleans, on the other hand, has treated me to the greatest variety of fleabags I have ever encountered. Bugs, dirty sheets, towels still wet from the last guest. In one, the parking valet lost my car keys.

[s&wchad]

I guess it’s all relative.

We’ve made the trek from Michigan to Bill Wyoming 11 consecutive years and have no complaints with Motel 6. We drive about 16 hours the first day and make it to North Platte Nebraska. Two men split a room and it’s about $30 per man with the AARP discount. It’s clean, easy highway access and there’s a Whiskey Creek restaurant less than a mile away. It’s like heaven after that long in the truck!

On the way home, we make it to Omaha and stay at another Motel 6. Same price and we’re within walking distance from a nice Mexican restaurant.

Mrs. Chad would not like the Motel 6’s we stay at, but they’re a lot nicer than some of the hunting camps I’ve been in. They have plenty of hot water and towels, real beds, flush toilets and complimentary coffee!

[VaTom]

In recent years we have preferred Hampton Inns. Fair price and quality breakfast included. Always clean and well appointed. Stayed at one of the new Tru by Hilton in Dayton, Ohio recently they are basic but new, nice and clean.

[THE PILGRIM]

OP didn’t tell us where he travels.
Out here in the Four Corners, I usually stay in higher end chain Motels - Hamptons, Holiday Express, etc, and usually have a pleasant experience.
The Ski Towns are often over priced and under performing.
So I ask the Lady at the Motel in Telluride ‘Do you have parking?’
Wrong question! Should have asked, ‘Do you have enough parking for every guest?’

[ContinentalOp]

Worst experience: Almost 20 years ago I was moving by doing a multi-state drive in a big U-Haul truck. I was on my second leg of the journey and needed a place to stop for the night. I'd been driving maybe 14 hours at that point and found a cheap motel. $30 for the night, IIRC. Can't remember the name. Don't think it was any of the big name brands, though. Room sucked, but I was so tired I just went with it. Bed had a weird dip in the middle. Someone left some, ahem, "inappropriate" reading material in a drawer that I was not going anywhere near. I slept. Didn't even bother with a shower as I wanted to get out of there first thing in the morning.

Most other hotels/motels I've stayed at were at least adequate, some were quite nice. A couple were nicer than the apartment I was living in at the time. As with many things, you get what you pay for.

[BearBio]

WE were doing a field trip while I worked for a Federal Agency. One night they put us up in the BOQ at Hanford Naval Station. Definitely the best: Ramen noodles, popcorn, soft drinks==all free in the room! Unfortunately, the system double charged us twice the $6/night. For several months after, I was "randomly audited". The odds of being randomly chosen was out of 7,000 employees for three months in a row was 3.43 x 10 to the 11th power (3,430,000,000).

Of course I wasn't the only one "randomly chosen", so the odds are a little lower depending on how many were audited but still several million to one!

[DWalt]

At one time I traveled a lot on short notice, and it sometimes required me to stay wherever I could that was most convenient and available, often in small towns. And I have even stayed at what could be called "flophouses" a few times, as well as at a fair number of "Patel Motels." I was not all that choosy unless the place was really terrible, and I survived. I remember leaving a place only once because it was below my already low standards, and that was in Perryton, Texas. It looked like some hotel you might find in Afghanistan. They say that if you took a UV light to most any motel room, cheap or expensive, you would probably leave and go sleep in your car. I've never tried that but I imagine it's true. Generally I have found that the Motel 6, Super 8, Red Roof, etc. national chains are adequate, even though not luxurious. I also stayed in many military BOQs, they are uniformly pretty good, but some are better than others. USAF's are the best, no question. Navy's are the worst.

I sure wouldn't want to be in the Hotel business today. Most of the pricey downtown hotels here in San Antonio are ready to crash and burn due to the lack of tourist and convention trade for the last six months.

[Ivan the Butcher]

We were a day from home and stopped at one of the Comfort Inns, a Choice Brand motel. I have stayed in 6 or 8 over the last 12 years, so I'm not that frequent of customer! But they have a record of all my stays, that I don't steal towels and usually return to some of those same rooms, year after year! But this motel had just changed to the Comfort. They tried to overcharge me (from a reservation earlier in the day!) and when I went for breakfast bar at 0745, it was all but empty and was told to basically get lost! (suppose to be open until 0900) So we left and I let the home office know what I thought of that particular motel! I had 4 e-mail responses and two live phone conversations within 24hours of my return home. We had to get breakfast at a McDonald's, so they sent me a stack of McDonalds gift certificates. Plus I guess there is a discount in my file!

BTW, on the outbound leg of that same trip we stayed at the Memphis, Tenn. Airport Comfort Inn. (which is actually in Mississippi!) I didn't know I had family in that area, but the way I was treated, my long lost and non-existent sister, all but tucked us in for the night, and wouldn't let me have any of "that" coffee in the lobby, she brewed me a "special" and fresh pot! The next night I sent an e-mail to Comfort HQ about the fine service! Maybe that is why they were all over my complaint. But the HQ guy I spoke with last was some high up muckety-muck, and was letting me know that bad hotel probably wouldn't be a Comfort Inn in a few days! It is nice to know, that some people care how there average customers are treated.

Ivan

[wood714]

I watched some kinda show on TV about exterminators a few years ago. Saw a house that was completely infested with bed bugs.

I've stayed in a motel 4 times since then, just because I was riding on a couple multi state bike trips with a group.

When I got home, I shut the garage door put everything I wore, including what I had on in the washer. Then I went in and took a hot shower.

I took a couple roll bags on both trips, and left them in the garage a couple weeks before bringing them in.

Guess you could say I'm now paranoid.

Before me and my wife stayed in at least half the really cool Bed and Breakfast's in St. Augustine just for the cool factor. Even spent one night at the Casa Monica. If it was good enough for the King and Queen of Spain. It was good enough for us.

[bigwheelzip]

Last year we stayed 46 hotel nights in 43 hotels, motels, and B&Bs, all but one night in Europe.
All were at least satisfactory, except one B&B, with broken AC on a very hot day, required us to bail out and go elsewhere.

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[Farmer17]

I've stayed in some dives over the years and as long as the room is quiet, clean, doesn't stink, and has working HVAC and hot water I'm usually fine with it. My wife prefers nice places so the Marriot is typically the bare minimum we stay at now and she usually gets a decent deal on price through the internet. The bed and breakfast places have all been great with outstanding food and are a nice break from the big chain hotels.

[papu8890]

From 2011 to 2015 I worked as an installer-tech for a company that provides entertainment services in hotels. I stayed (usually gratis) in some very nice places in the US and Canada, most times working at that hotel. Trump Toronto (2012), Shangri-La Toronto ('12 or '13), Four Seasons Toronto- you get the drift....

Other times, it was the complete opposite end of the spectrum! A particular place in Oklahoma I was getting ready to shower before bed, as I went into the bathroom the shower upstairs started- and water started pouring into my shower! Needless to say, I waited for it to be fixed, lol.
Another time in Louisiana, the hotel had rats- as I moved out the furniture to work on the TV system, I found bars of soap, chewed up, hahaha.


I don't travel anymore.



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[LoboGunLeather]

I've been around long enough to remember when Motel 6 was $6 per night anywhere in the country. Super 8 was $8 per night, but every room had a TV.

These days anything under $100 seems to come with hot and cold running cockroaches in the rooms and hookers in the hallways. Parking areas provide entertainment that competes with daytime soap operas. Hotel staff having English as a first language is rare. Housekeeping standards would not have met my mother's satisfaction.

Back in the 1980's I worked as an investigator for a state agency, my territory was about half the land area of the state. Fiscal rules limited me to $34 per day for lodging, and I always found myself working in Breckinridge, Vail, or Aspen during ski season. Being a resourceful state employee I went through the fiscal rules with a fine-toothed comb and found that if I provided lodging at no cost to the state they would give me $25 per day in extra per-diem (in addition to the generous $6 for breakfast, $7 for lunch, and $8 for supper). Had a class 3 hitch installed on my state car, hooked up my 16' travel trailer, spent many happy days camping alongside a river or lake and getting in some fishing instead of sitting around a motel room every evening, and the travel trailer paid for itself in a few months (I was on the road 2 to 4 days every week). No cell phones back in those days so I could just drop off the edge of the world for a few days at a time, and pad my monthly expense vouchers nicely.

[pawngal]

My biggest complaint in recent years is a hotel advertising online that it has certain features only to arrive and find out differently.
Example, Hot Tubs, happened twice with different Country Inn & suites. 1st time I let it slid, second time I walked out and went to a Holiday Inn Express.
But they aren't perfect either, the older ones board on horrible.
Another example, fridge in the room. Oops, that's an extra $10 a night.

[ladder13]

Marriott or Hilton brand.

[Maddog 521]

I always carry a can of Lysol with me and spray everything down as soon as I enter the room. I try to stay in decent motels but you never know who was there before you and what the cleaning service did after they left. Flip flop shower shoes are necessary in the shower and bathroom also.

[rubiranch]

I loath hotels/motels.

[wheelgun28]

Originally Posted by ladder13

Marriott or Hilton brand.

Thats my go to as well!

I have Hilton Gold and got lowered to Bonvoy Gold.

Hilton Gold will get you free (usually good) breakfast, snacks and booze in the club lounge.

After the Marriot comingle I wound up as gold and no longer get lounge privlege so no free stuff.

Having status is a big help in the hotel, room upgrades etc.

Airline status is a nice thing too...

My other go to stay for personal travel is Accor its just limited properties and expensive. Some places I will seek out boutique hotels, small chains but they tend to be pricey. An example we would stay in NYC is the Library Hotel and some of its other properties, nice places.

I haven't seen a plane or hotel since January so who knows today...

[lkabug]

I don't travel as much as I once did, 3 or 4 times a year now. After a long day on the road I want a clean comfortable bed, hot water, and working HVAC. The Hampton Inn is a big favorite.

[ladder13]

They can leave a light on (so the roaches scatter? ) but I’m driving right by.

[PatriotX]

Originally Posted by DWalt

.... They say that if you took a UV light to most any motel room, cheap or expensive, you would probably leave and go sleep in your car. I've never tried that but I imagine it's true...

I do travel with a UV light, and some of the ‘reveals’ have been spectacular. This is last Vegas trip, pre-pandemic. The manager refunded the night and upgraded us to a less...glowing room.

This is only a small sample of pics from the ‘premium’ Strip hotel room.

[BearBio]

When I worked out of the Sacramento office of my agency, my geographical area was Kern, Tulare Counties as well as certain projects in Merced, Fresno Counties. I would attend a staff meeting each Monday AM and, on the third week of each month, leave for the week for meetings and site visits to discuss projects. Tulare County scheduled the County Commission Meetings for the third Tuesday of each month so we could discuss a county-wide Habitat Conservation Plan, I asked my boss if I should check out a cell phone (didn't have my own=this was 20 years ago!) and he said "No, your time is too important for BS calls. I have your itinerary and know where to leave messages if I need you!"

Anyway, I would hit a local motel at the end of the day and stay a night or two, depending on where I had to go. I'd usually stop at a Motel 6 or something cheap (Varied widely=some were REAL dives!). One trip, I met one of the supervisors from another branch for a joint project and he was staying at a "higher class of joint" with a restaurant and bar. He said, the government pays you a per diem and lodging, so why not go one place good and use it as a base of operation.

Started doing that, then the government started tightening up and we had to do that because of "budgeting" and prior approvals. Had so much paperwork we nicknamed the USDA as the "United States Department of Accounting"

I got my supervisor demoted when she ordered me to an 8 hour meeting 4 hours away as her substitute and then refused to give me comp time or mileage (POV) because I didn't have prior approval. I showed her my e-mail telling her I was going (she hadn't read it) and told her to please not send me on her errands if she was not going to pay me. I "cc'd" the state office and she was "transferred" the next day.

I wasn't the only one who complained about her.

[GRT3031]

Have traveled extensively in the US and around the world. My recent experiences with hotels in the US is well below standard. US hotels, due to covid, are getting over by not supplying the breakfast. Yes, questionable before, now they are handing out the cheapest bottle of water, an apple, and a granola bar as breakfast. Japan, on the other hand, due to Japanese pride and work ethic, has outstanding hotels.

[Old_Cop]

"Everybody go, "ho-tel, mo-tel, Holiday Inn"
You say if your girl starts actin' up, then you take her friend"

Sugerhill Gang

[DWalt]

Regarding specifically Las Vegas hotels, nearly all of them today (the larger ones at least) have what they call a "Resort Fee" as an add-on. Typically, it will be in the neighborhood of $40/day, and it provides nothing of value to the guest. If you ask what it's for, they will tell you that it covers use of the health club and possibly internet access through a terminal in the lobby area. And they won't budge on it. I don't know if it is the same in other NV casino areas such as Lake Tahoe, Laughlin, or Reno, but I suppose it is. I have noticed that some recent advertising indicates that as an enticement due to COVID-19, some hotels are offering 50% off of the "Resort Fee." No thanks.

[hoosierone]

My wife will only travel when necessary and only stay at high end motels.
Even then she manages to find something to complain about.

Once in North Platte we stayed at a motel where they sheets had not been changed. We told the clerk and he came over with a set of sheets and handed them to us. We complained in the morning and got the bill reduced.

[jscheck]

Although I rarely have the need for hotels now we use Comfort Inn regularly. And as someone who has a "black light" and knows how to use it-you really DON'T want to know what's in those rooms!

[johngalt]

On the plus side, they are better about prohibiting smoking in the rooms.

[Rustyt1953]

Originally Posted by Old_Cop

"Everybody go, "ho-tel, mo-tel, Holiday Inn"
You say if your girl starts actin' up, then you take her friend"

Sugerhill Gang

"Have you ever went over a friends house to eat
And the food just ain't no good?
I mean the macaroni's soggy, the peas are mushed
And the chicken tastes like wood."

[GypsmJim]

I traveled extensively for business for 40+ years. The company let us make our own reservations, but many of our plants were in east podunk with only 1 combination motel / truckstop in town.

Once I came back from dinner after dark and as I opened the room door and turned on the light, at least 20 cockroaches went scurrying back to their hiding places.

Another hotel had a broken bedside lamp supported by a phone book. I found that out when I tried to make a phone call. The next morning there was a huge dead cockroach on the floor next to the bed. I kicked it over under the sink, but in plain view. At the end of the week the maid still had not picked it up. I accidentally left an ink pen mark on the bedsheet, and thus learned that the bedding was not replaced all week.

But the filthiest one ever was so dirty I would'nt even take my shoes off in the room. After work every day we would get a sixpack and sit on a chair in front of the room. To the owner's credit, he would come around with water glasses and a bottle of whisky every evening and comfort the guests.

My last example was a famous name brand hotel in Paris. I had been driving all day and was tired. When I got to the room I turned the heater up and went into the shower. When I came out I swear the room was 40 degrees. I tried to get some heat to no avail and nobody in the place spoke English.

I could tell 100 more tales. Glad to be retired now. We're Platinum at Hilton and Gold at Marriott. I don't mind spending $200 even though now its on MY dime.

[charlie sherrill]

I travel quite a bit and I used to stay in the cheapo joints, but not anymore. Here are a few things that happened while staying in these dumps. I don't remember most of the locations but here are a few things that happened:

1-Complained to the desk clerk we had no hot water. He was sitting behind the check in desk wearing a wife beater and sweating like a pig. His AC was out. His reaction? "I'm so sorry sir, I will get that fixed first thing in the morning'"

2-Stayed in two different hotels with bullet holes in the room.

3-Watched as the occupants in the room next to mine sold drugs and pimped hookers. I was giving a play by play to the local cops when they swooped in and busted them. That was fun.

4-Was staying in a former Mafia owned hotel in New Orleans and didn't notice the outline of a body drawn on the floor until the next morning.

5-Guy beating his girlfriend in the room next to mine. Called the cops and he was busted. Found out he was wanted in my hometown. I got to testify in court on that one after I got home. Weird co-incidence.

6-Guy attempted to jump from the balcony into the pool from the third floor room next to mine and missed. That makes a sickening sound.

7-This happened to my daughter. 18 years ago when she turned 21 I gave her some money so she could go to a casino on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She had fun while there but as she left a guy committed suicide by jumping off the top of the parking garage. He missed my daughter by about 20 ft. I'm guessing he didn't win.

8-We found a former drunk floating in the bottom of the hotel pool.

9-We went to a show in Jackson a few years ago and every car in the parking lot was broken into but mine. One dummy left his keys in the truck and they stole it and the trailer attached to it. They have a 12ft. fence around that hotel now. Even so, I will not stay anywhere in Jackson,Ms.

10-Somewhere in Texas near the Louisiana state line we got the last available room at a hotel that was hosting two family reunions. The swimming pool was packed and the water was yellow. The guests watched with interest as we unloaded a bunch of firearms from our van. We were coming back from a Tulsa Show. That night anybody in the area who wasn't in one of these two family reunions got their car broken into but me. Even the waitress at the Awful House next door got hit.

11-We went to check out a hotel in Tuscalousa and there was a large crowd in the parking lot openly selling drugs and pimping hookers. Didn't stay in that one.

12-I have had hookers knock on my door at several hotels. Most appeared to be nasty looking drug addicts. I'm guessing the only reason they don't run these people off is the desk clerk must be in on some of the action. I have had a couple ask me if I needed any company at my room. No, these people steal and carry diseases that might not go away.

These are just a few that I remember. Now when I travel I go ahead and spend a few extra bucks. I've gotten decent rooms or cabins at a lot of state parks. They usually have some kind of law enforcement close by and it seems to discourage the bums and druggies. I take all valuables out of my ride and try and find a place to park where there is plenty of light. My next trip will be to the Nashville area. I don't like staying downtown in any of the larger cities so I'm looking at Lebanon, Tn. A hand held laser pointer will discourage folks from messing around where you park. I've got two of them. One of them is attached to a S&W M&P.

[walkin jack]

I wrote this up about 20 years ago. I thought it would fit in here.

A fishing group I run with had a get together down in a little South Texas town, Matagorda. If you aren't there to hunt or fish you are in the wrong town. It's all they got. And there ain't a woman over 14 years old anywhere with a full set of teeth. Garage door beer joints on nearly every street corner. You get the picture....

My friend Jimmy and I rode down in his truck and fished out of his boat. I agreed to pay for the room and meals.

Adventures in Motel Living

Jimmy and I stayed at the Carla Court for a previous
gathering. We were inside out of the bugs and the
weather but it wasn't the Ritz. But it wasn't over
priced either. Our room had a king sized bed and a
roll-away. I know that the same thoughts that were
going through Jimmy's head were going through mine...
"I get the bed. No way I can sleep on that thing over
there!". But I conceded and let Jimmy have the bed.
As we were getting settled down for the night Jimmy
graciously offered to switch, his back was about 8
inches off the floor. But I had gone to considerable
trouble to locate and commit to memory all the
cigarette burns and stains and I wasn't about to move.
It was adequate, but just barely and that's about the
best I can say for it.

While we were looking for a place to stay we had quite
an adventure. Just about every place was full but when
we pulled into the white shell parking lot of the
Matagorda Motel we left the natural world behind and
entered the Twilight Zone. There was an "L" shaped
collection of hovels there which the fresh coat of
whitewash could not disguise as anything but but the
stye it was. We were trying to decide where the office
was when a tenant came out of one of the hovels and
yelled, "they're in the bus". We looked over to our
right and saw a dilapidated old school bus, sitting on
rotten, deflated tires and nestled comfortably and for
decades in the middle of a huge patch of really tall
weeds.

Jimmy and I looked at each other..."uh-oh". So we
walked over to the door of the school bus and, even
though I'd never knocked on the door of a bus, I made
a fist and hit the glass pane on the door 5 or 6
times. For what seemed like a very long time nothing
happened. I didn't really want to knock again, some of
the sensations of impending doom that I felt earlier
had intensified and I was pretty sure I just wanted to
run screaming back to Jimmy's truck and get as far
away from there as possible, as quickly as
possible...too late the doors open and before my eyes
can focus on the creature standing there, my sense of
smell was overwhelmed by a powerful smell of really
cheap, really bad whiskey...took my breath away. I
wiped the tears out of my eyes and saw a shabby,
bearded guy there and he looked homeless (but at least
he wasn't busless, eh?) He stared blankly at us for a
time and then he said, "She's in the back. She's sick
in the back of the bus". And he pointed to the rear of
the bus in case Jimmy and I couldn't figure out where
he was talking about.

I finally spoke, "Would you have anything open for
this Friday night?" His eyes looked like stewed
tomatoes floating in buttermilk and the smell only
seemed to be getting worse. coming from the back of
the bus were the sounds of some one softly but
relentlessly loosing their breakfast. He said, "We
don't take reservations and we don't take credit
cards. Come back Friday and we'll see if we can fix ya
up...bring cash".

Don't take credit cards??? don't take reservations???
Now I call that a real innovative style in motel
management. Oh, we thanked him and vowed to return on
friday with high hopes in one hand and cash in the
other and then we got the hell out of Dodge, as they
say. I'll never forget it. Long after I've forgotten
even the tinest detail of the gathering, the good
friends, good times, and good fishing, the Matagorda
Motel will remain bright in my memory, burned there
for all eternity.

[mtgianni]

Between 06 and 2017 I spent between 90 and 120 nights a year in motels, almost all in Montana. Corporate had a rate deal with Hilton/Hampton and we did OK but in the smaller towns you took what you could get. One town I would always ask for a room on the highway side of the motel. It was opposite of what most would do but not if you knew the back was against a 24 hour busy railroad yard.
My co-worker liked his beer so we always tried to have a place to eat you could walk to rather than drive to. I carried earplugs and a sleeping bag in the truck if I thought the bed wasn't perfect. I don't miss it at all.

[Dave_n]

I did a lot of overseas trips for Uncle Sam, mainly in the Pacific Islands and surrounding neighborhoods (small to large) and the "best one" i remember was in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. Nothing like entering the hotel though a barbed wire gate with armed guards, and then discovering that within the hotel, the four main corridors N, S, E & W that had the rooms opening off them, also had barbed wire entrances "WITHIN " the hotel plus armed guards on each entrance to the room corridors. Later that night, heard 2 grenades go off in town (outside the hotel!!). The morning paper gave the box score. Grenades 3, Machetes 2. Yes fun and games for Uncle Sam's representatives!! Dave_n

[DWalt]

My favorite motel story involves a trip to the 1987 Cotton Bowl game (Ohio State vs. Texas A&M) in Dallas with my son who was 13 at the time. No rooms were available close to Dallas, but I did find a room at some cheaper motel in Fort Worth, don't remember which one. Anyway, the walls were thin, and the couple in the adjacent room gave my son an audible sex education lesson almost all night long.

[Rustyt1953]

I spent years on the road. After the gig was over and after the hotel bar closed and after mingling at Waffle House with the other nocturnal denizens who ply their trades in the wee hours I was never too concerned about my sleeping arrangements.

Ya get used to it.

[Telecaster]

Same experiences as the OP, hotels are disgusting. Higher end rooms are ok, never found one stinky or moldy or bug-infested, but the highway chain motels are things I wouldn't want to be caught dead in. For this reason we've been using AirBnB and similar services. Similar cost but much larger and cleaner accommodations.

[ggibson511960]

I road trip on a motorcycle a fair bit. All I want is a non-smoking room that doesn't stink too bad with a shower, toilet and semblance of a bed, and Super 8 generally suffices. I can put up with almost anything because I am leaving in the morning. The national chains buy other chains motels cheap at the end of their usefulness and re-brand them with surprising results. I found an old Ramada in Rogers, Arkansas, rebranded as a Super 8 that was punching way above its weight. Same for one in Kerrville, Tx. I also have my share of horror stories. Wife and I were waiting out hurricane Harvey, stuck in Boston. We paid $300 for a no-name motel that was hard core third world. Right down the road next to Logan Airport was a new Marriott for $100 that was five star. I've also paid $200 for Super 8 in the Permian Basin that had people fighting to get in. It pays to call around if you can.

[Oracle]

I few years ago the family wanted to go to Portland (pre-antifa). I did some research and found a place with good reviews. The rooms were clean. The place had advertised "Free Breakfast" as part of the amenities. We went to the lobby for breakfast and off to one side was a prior cloak room, two tiny tables, four chairs, assorted cold cereals and a jug of milk. Lo and behold!!! the "Free Breakfast".

[MRB1]

The company I worked for had a contract with Sheraton, and that's where we were required to stay. The one in Ankara Turkey always put us in the same two rooms on the end - overlooking the back of the Iranian Embassy. We were told in advance never to discuss company business in either of those two rooms. I'll sleep in a ditch before I set foot in a Sheraton Hotel again.

[Golddollar]

As an underpaid company minion, I was using low end motels a lot when traveling, but without too much problem. I do have one bad experience. I was in a stage play, and for some reason I decided to go and stay the night before opening night in the town where I was performing. Being that the town was on an old US Highway (the freeway of its day), I figured there would be a motel along there. I found one and rented a room. That night it started raining, and guess where the roof leaked in the room? Right on the bed. It was late and I needed to get some sleep, so I put two chairs in line and that's where I slept. Luckily I never needed to sleep in that town again.

[delcrossv]

Recently drove to Bismarck ND and stayed at a local "chain" (properties in Bismarck and Fargo). Nice room, comfy bed, everything worked and $85/night including taxes.

Livin' right, I guess.

[Tubbsy]

Last motel I stayed in was a motel 6 in El paso before a cousin's wedding.... never again....

[GypsmJim]

Originally Posted by Tubbsy

Last motel I stayed in was a motel 6 in El paso before a cousin's wedding.... never again....

The only Motel 6 I ever stayed at was also in TX. Once again, the only horse to ride in east podunk.

I was put on a side wing and after i arrived a school bus came in with a bunch of sports kids. They ran up and down the halls half the night knocking on doors and screaming. I can't imagine where the coaches were. (of course HS coaches are all idiots and poor teachers based on my experience).

I had to get up at 5 AM to drive 100 miles to catch a plane.

Amywhoot, at about 1 AM I called the front desk and complained.

No help.

At about 2 AM I called again and got no help. Then I called the police. They didn't answer the phone.

When I checked out I asked for the night manager. He apologized. I told him you have my name address and CC #, so you understand I'm not a deviant. But, I'm not paying. In fact, under the circumstances i think you owe ME for the night.

Never heard from them again. My only problem was my boss complained because I had no hotel receipt for the night I was out of town....

[DWalt]

Back when I was traveling frequently, I stayed at Motel 6 fairly often. Far from luxury and no amenities, but I never had any bad experiences that I can remember. After all, when the lights are off you can't see how crummy the room is anyway.

Thinking on it, I sort of remember staying at a Motel 6 in Little Rock and someone siphoned the gas from my car in the parking lot overnight. That was before the little doors over the tank filling opening had locks.

I remember reading about some Japanese hotels or motels which have no rooms, just small one-person sleeping pods and common toilets. They also have special "Love Hotels" for the express purpose of providing a hookup place for single couples who have nowhere else to do the dirty because so many younger Japanese people live with their parents. Wikipedia says there are 37,000 of them in Japan, many more than I would have expected. I seem to remember that quite a few years ago (I think in the early 70s) some company in the US tried to set up a similar "Love Hotel" chain but it didn't work out. But there is no shortage of cheap US motels which fulfill the same purpose.

[ancient-one]

My worst experience was on the Texas coast. I don't remember the town or motel chain but pulled the bed back to see pubic hair and semen stains. Changed motels in a hurry.

[raljr1]

For several years I traveled extensively. I used to say I slept in more hotel beds than a hooker. I used mostly Hamptons, Hilton Garden Inns, Sheraton Four Points. I had very few issues over the years.