Good grief don't ever stay at Best Western

[Tickle]

Best Western double charged me. It took me over a month to get my money back. I had to include the BBB and the attorney general's office to get my money back. I will never stay there again

[Throck]

1. Quality has really gone down in chain hotels.

We're 3 for 3 as losers the past 2 years. One hotel didn't have sheets on the bed and night manager couldn't find keys. Stains on the blanket and ice bucket was used for an ash tray in a non smoking room.

[Tickle]

2. Best Western no longer cleans the rooms

You have to ask and it's an extra $50 . Never again

[Throck]

3. In our case they didn't clean it after the last guest.

[Tickle]

4. I'm sorry that happened to you

I'm getting the heebee jeebees just reading your post

[we can do it]

28. Not true

[edisdead]

29. Gonna need to see some evidence of that.

[sarcasmo]

24. Yep, easier to stay in my minivan and cleaner.

[Pacifist Patriot]

5. I fled one in terror a couple of years ago.

Left within 20 minutes of checking in and had photos of how bad it was. Never got my money back.

[Sanity Claws]

6. Thanks for the warning

[MOMFUDSKI]

7. I am currently at a Candlewood Hotel in Milwaukee area

and all is good. It is an IHG owned place. They are a big corp that owns certain hotel chains. It is what they call long-term and have a kitchen. Lot of 'contract workers' staying here that live in other states. I am sorry for the trouble you had. Screwing people over is now the law of our land.

[SergeStorms]

10. I stay at IHG facilities exclusively.

I've never had a bad experience at them, and the rewards points rack up quickly.

I always give my free nights to my daughter and her family. What the hell, I always stay there anyway, let my family enjoy their facilities for free. Lodging is always a large expenditure when you're on vacation, so Dad looks like a hero when he springs for the bill. 😉

[KPN]

12. How do you give them to other family? Do they need your rewards card?

Card number?

[SergeStorms]

31. I give them my Chase IHG credit card.....

and tell them to have the manager/concierge phone me if there's a problem. They always call, which is somewhat reassuring, but after a couple of questions there's never a problem.

[KPN]

37. Ah. Good idea. Never would have thought of that. Thanks!

[csziggy]

27. I had to stop going to IHG properties

They now have a policy that since the bed is the "most important piece of furniture" (quote from UIHG) it should be tall. I measured the last time I was at one - the top of the bed was 30" high - that is table height! I'm too old to climb up on something that high.

I've complained every time I had to stay in one with a very tall bed and complained to IHG directly - but a IHG property was the only decent place to stay near my parents for many years. Finally, a Hampton Inn opened with normal bed heights so I stayed there in preference until after we'd finally closed their estates.

Hilton set up an member's account for me (IHG never even offered) and I've stayed mostly at Hilton properties since. On our trip to Minnesota last fall only three nights were not at Hilton places because there were no choices near where we wanted to be.

[ProfessorGAC]

32. I've Stayed In A Couple Of Those

I thought it completely acceptable.
I worked weird schedules when I traveled for work so I wanted someplace as close as possible to the site.
Company would pay for a Hyatt or Hilton. But, the lower priced places were typically closer. And at 2 sites, the Candlewood was nice & it was close.

[we can do it]

8. Location would help. They are independently owned.

We’ve stayed in many very clean and nice ones for years.

Did you book direct?

[Tree Lady]

20. Thats just what I was going to say

I have stayed at many good ones. You have to read reviews on all places you want to stay. Can't go by price alone as some are very well taken care of.

We just stayed at one in Eugene OR near university that was just fine, clean, meal area clean, pool area good.

[jayschool2013]

9. From "The Office"

?si=nL6qzxo_4-rEmn95

[ProudMNDemocrat]

11. Having worked as a Housekeeper at a Hotel in Rochester

I made sure the rooms I did were cleaned as if a Health Inspector was coming. I ended up becoming a Supervisor, training housekeepers, scheduling, fighting for fair wages, inspecting rooms done as a checkout, inspecting smoke alarms in the rooms, doing sheet and supplies inventories, etc. This was some 30 plus years ago when no one worked for less than $5 an hour for at least 30 hours per week, with paid time off after a year.

This was a hotel across the street from one of the largest hospitals in the Upper Midwest. Seldom were the 55 rooms vacant. It was hard work. I was there for 3 years.

When staying at a hotel, I notice the little things that make or break a stay for any length of time. I know that many hotels now have cut back on housekeeping as to keep down labor costs and increase profits. I find myself bringing my own towels and washcloths as to not use the hotel's.

[Delphinus]

13. Thank you

You did fantastic work! Thanks for taking care of everyone there - the fighting for fair wages and time off. Important things.

[Delarage]

14. I like La Quinta

Not sure if they are owned by some other company, but never had a bad experience. And they are very pet-friendly. Driving a friend to Kansas, one of her cats disappeared overnight. She blamed me for letting her out when I went out in the morning. Called the front desk and they said "Look under the vanity--way up past the pipes and drains---there's a little shelf built in there. That's where most cats end up." On my back looking up with a cell phone flashlight---there she was!

They know their stuff and facility was spotless.

[Tree Lady]

21. We stayed at two La Quintas

and a Best Western on our road trip last month.

Didn't have problems at any of them except one put too much chemicals in spa.

The front desk at La Quinta in Bellingham, WA loves pets and treated my dog great, of course being a golden he loves everyone.

All of the rooms were clean. Of course since I use to work in travel at AAA for years I am very organized about setting up all places I stay with reviews.

[MurrayDelph]

25. Location makes all the difference in this thread

Like Tree Lady in reply 20, I've stayed at the Best Western in Eugene (in my case 13 months ago) and found it sure a pleasant place.

I stay in La Quinta, which is part of the Wyndham family, fairly frequently. The one in Redding CA, which is one of the ones I stay fairly frequently as it's roughly halfway between Portland and LA, is slightly shabby at the moment, but was in the process of renovating when I was last there a few months ago. The ones in Fruita CO and Albuquerque were quite nice.

The one in Reno, however, which was one of go-to places when I traveled with my dogs, is a stay away place. Filthy, overpriced and rude, it should be imploded and bulldozed. And the remaining rubble would still be a better place to spend the night than the hotel.


(When we first started commuting between northern Oregon and LA thirteen years ago, the Reno La Quinta was Travelocity rated #13 out of approximately 60 places to stay. I just looked; its current rating is #72 out of 75).

[Tree Lady]

30. My favorite on the route from Oregon to CA

is Best Western Tree House in Shasta northern CA, besides being a cool mountain town the motel is in great shape, has nice pool and spa, with nice bar. It's costs a lot to stay there though, definitely not on the budget side so I rarely go but love it.

They do have pet rooms also.

[Farmer-Rick]

15. I use to have a trick when staying in those less expensive chain hotels

If they were new or recently finished complete renovations, I would stay at them. Otherwise it was a gamble even before COVID, if they were half decent.

The problem is today they aren't putting money into them like they use to, so new or newly finished renovations are hard to find.

I stayed at a Courtyard by Marriott last month for my brother's wedding, and they didn't clean the rooms either. I had to ask and then it showed up as a charge on my bill. But they took off the charge the minute I complained. Also there were some weird $20 and $30 charges on my CC that had to be removed too.

[Sympthsical]

16. We're Doubletree people

My partner's job pays for overnight if he has to travel more than 40 miles away to visit a location. Sometimes I go with him, because we just want to raid their breakfasts. Always had a solid experience with them.

[yardwork]

17. The quality at all hotels is way down, I've noticed.

Even luxury hotels that claim to provide exceptional service are now struggling to provide what used to considered "standard" service.

I think a lot of it is cost-cutting. And wages are so low now compared to living expenses. People don't feel a commitment to their employers because they're not treated well. Greedy corporate leaders have really wrecked our society.

[USALiberal]

18. Lounge

[madinmaryland]

22. Most hotels don't have bars. BYOB!

[Torchlight]

35. lol ok nt

[Freethinker65]

19. Just got back from a road trip and stayed at quite a few places

I would read recent reviews prior to online booking the evening of our stays. We largely avoided high end places as we pretty much just needed a convenient, clean, and safe place to sleep, and we didn't encounter any problems with double billing. Some of the "breakfasts" were pretty bad, but not deal breakers. We stayed at a couple of Surestay (budget) Best Westerns and found them to be super clean, with lots of cleaning staff working as we would leave.

It was interesting that even in motel group chains (Best Western, Wyndham, etc.), there was no consistency in say, La Quintas rating higher than Super 8'. We even stayed at few independent older Mom and Pop Motels and found them to be adequate for our needs.

[Mosby]

23. This is a good example why one should use a credit card

If a company refuses to reverse charges, call your bank and do a stop payment. Problem solved.

[stumpysbear]

26. THIS. Save yourself the runaround and have the bank put an end it it.

[Xolodno]

33. It depends largely on the management.

Often the hotel "chain" can be a franchisee. When visiting family in another state, we often stay at the Super 8 vs. the Best Western or Quality Inn. Why? The rooms are smaller, but we don't stay in there long anyway, but are cleaner and better maintained. Plus the pool and spa are indoors. The Best Western gets a lot of "school trips" and the rowdy teens with it. The Quality Inn has an indoor Spa, but dated. Breakfast is better at the other two however.

When travelling, if I know roughly where I may eventually stop, I look at the hotels in the area and then go to trip advisor to read the reviews.

And always use a credit card, its easier to reverse charges.

[DFW]

34. I try to limit my experiences with unknown hotels.

I hate bad surprises when I’m on the road. There are the utilitarian N10 or NH chains in Spain and Holland. In Brussels the most convenient for me is the Marriott. Although their head office’s social positions on issues clash withy my own, the franchise owners in Sprout City hire an absolutely superb staff. I have known some of them for 15 years or more. They have relatively low turnover for an international hotel in an important European city. I stay there so often, I know most of the employees, their nationalities, and what languages they prefer to speak. I write letters of praise for them to Marriott’s head office (the employees DO get the feedback), and I get automatic access to the business lounge and the big breakfast buffet for free. They also gave me Platinum for Life status, although that hasn’t translated out to much. But I greet everyone in French, Italian, Turkish, Tagalog, Spanish, Romanian, one guy even in Basque. They love it, and I love the service I get in return. I rarely spend the night in Paris any more. To stay in a decent place with reasonable security and location can cost upwards of $900 there, where the same room in Brussels can cost a quarter of that or less. It’s an 80 minute, $95 train ride to/from Brussels. So, unless it’s REALLY necessary that I spend the night in Paris, I don’t.

In the States, I take whatever my head office reserves for rme. The good, the bad and the ugly, but if it’s good enough for the rest of our staff, it’s good enough for me. If everybody else at some conference is staying at a Doubletree, I’m sure as hell not going to stay at the Hyatt across the street.

[Tommy Carcetti]

36. Could be just that one location.

Even with chains, quality and service can vary from place to place.

Haven’t stayed at a BW in a couple of years, but I hadn’t had any issues with them before. So sounds like you got a bad place.

I will recommend one hotel chain in particular, though (not an ad, I promise.)

Drury Inns—I’m actually staying in one as we speak. Nice clean hotels, not super expensive, great breakfast and they even give you some hot offerings at dinner and complimentary drinks.

[Mysterian]

38. The lower price chains like Super 8 are like flop houses now

In days past, 20+ years ago, the cheap chains usually gave you a clean room. Now, the cheaper chain motels are like crack houses.