With just enough time left of this summer to plan one more beach weekend get-away, I'm asking myself where can I go for an enjoyable weekend away from home for a decent price? Aside from the gas it will take to get there, the biggest expense is the hotel.
With hotels, it's obvious that you get what you pay for. I've found that the less I pay for my room, the less relaxing and stress-free the weekend becomes. But on the other hand, the more I pay for my room, the more stress my bank account feels.
My priorities when it comes to hotel rooms are cleanliness and location. I won't sleep on dirty sheets and I definitely won't walk more than a block to get to the beach.
Most hotels look pretty good from the website, but it's past guests that can tell you whether it's really worth your stay. To help me decide where to reserve a room for my weekend at the beach, I checked out what hotels our users are searching for. There was a huge variety in the results. Marriott topped the list with Holiday Inn right behind it. Other top searched hotel chains included Hilton, Best Western and Motel 6.
Do you know of any other hotel chains that did not show up on our list? If so, please tell us about them. Try searching for hotels on AOL Search or check out AOL Yellow Pages to find a hotel in your desired area.
Top Searched Hotel Chains on AOL Search:
1. Marriott
2. Holiday Inn
3. Hampton Inn
4. Hilton
5. Best Western
6. Comfort Inn
7. Days Inn
8. Motel 6
9. Hyatt
10. Sheraton
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COMMENTS
Thumbs up to the Broadmoor...fabulous, elegant. Also, Hampton Inn's are very clean and comfortable. Agree with the comment regarding the foreign takeover of so many American hotel/motel chains, Best Western, Travelodge, etc. Hard to find a nice, clean, friendly, clean, reasonably priced, did I mention clean? motel if you are making a quick road trip for a day or two.
By linda on Aug 24th 2008 at 8:09PM
I really don't know how Holiday Inn got such a high rating. I have spent time in the San Diego Harbor location and the Seattle Washington location and on both occassions found the service and the prices unreasonable. In San Diego they cost $189.00 and you had to pay for parking above that, also the waterfront view was in actualiy a view of the hotels roof. Needless to say we found other accomodation much nicer and more reasonable. Plus the Rooms were in need of repair and the temperature controls were ineffective, I might also add here that the management of the hotel didn't seem concerned that we were unsatisfied. In Seattle, Wa. the Holiday Inn Express had better accomodations than did the actual hotel and they too were more reasonable and better maintained. Here to we moved to another hotel, more expensive, but better accomodations and services.
By Phil Aiken on Aug 24th 2008 at 8:11PM
In contrast to the listed hotels that you have you may want to research one of the best in the country. Namely The Barona Resort and Casino in Lakeside, Ca. Located a mere 15 minutes from the San Diego Shorline and popular attractions there, it was clean and friendly and the rooms were a pleasure to stay in and very comfortable and the rates are fantastic, we have stayed there on several occassions and have plans on returning for several more. I cant complimant the staff and servies enough. And I might add the food is excellant.
By Phil Aiken on Aug 24th 2008 at 8:14PM
All this is why I take my pillow and sleeping bag when I travel.
By bill on Aug 24th 2008 at 8:29PM
I would just like to stay at a hotel that is AMERICAN owned & operated! I travel frequently & that, more than anything influences my decision as far as where to stay.
By Lynn on Aug 24th 2008 at 8:53PM
As a Commercial traveller for more than 30 years away from home 100+ nights a year all over North America I have run the gamut of hotel/motel rooms.
I have seen many changes and many chains come and go. My personal opinion is that in to-days market for business or family its hard to beat Hampton Inns,Fairfield Inns,or Comfort Inns. Holiday Inn Express are also very good.
Stay away from Days Inn and Super 8's unless you love the permeating smell of Hot Curry.
By larry on Sep 1st 2008 at 9:47PM
I used to seek out La Quinta until last Thanksgiving when driving back to Houston from Branson, very late at night, I pulled into the first La Quinta in Texarkana I could find. Turns out La Quita bought some or all Baymont Inns. What a pit. In the wee hours of the morning gang-bangers were roaming the halls. When we awoke the next morning, we got a good look for the first time at the neighborhood. This explained the clientel we had observed in the hallway. As we were leaving, directly across the freeway, we noticed another La Quinta. It had the look of an old independently owned motel. It did not look like it had always been La Quinta. So apparently La Quinta is buying some old motels and putting their sign out front (and charging the same price as some nice ones we have stayed at in the past). To make matters worse, we had to accept a smoking room, because there were no non-smoking available. The hour was late and the weather awful, so we had no choice but spend the night in a smelly room. At Marriott you don't have to put up with smoke----they have gone smoke-free. Good for them. Since leaving La Quinta, we have always enjoyed the facilities at the various Marriott's we've stayed in.
By the way, I emailed my concerns to La Quinta. Never heard back. Guess they are too busy purchasing sub-standard motels to be worried about about customer complaints. Anyone want my unused La Quinta rewards points?? I won't be needing them as long as I can find a Marriott nearby.
By sandy davis on Sep 1st 2008 at 10:56PM