Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Choice Hotels

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 29 (Comfort Suites Newark – Harrison)

    2022 US Trip – Day 29 (Comfort Suites Newark – Harrison)

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    I’ve been to Newark before and after 24 hours on board a train, I wanted to get straight to my hotel so that I arrived before it got dark.

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    I’d booked using Priceline as it was cheaper than booking directly with Choice Hotels themselves, always a slightly ridiculous situation that they’re paying a third party. It transpired that I was charged twice, once by Priceline and once at the hotel despite them saying they were only taking the deposit. I queried this when back in the UK with Priceline who immediately phoned the hotel up, who then denied this could have happened. However, ten minutes later I got an alert from Chase saying that my account had been refunded, so the hotel made what I assume was an inadvertent error and at least corrected it without delay.

    The room was on the ground floor which I don’t usually like as it can be noisy, but I didn’t have any issues during the stay. I had a desk, a sofa and plenty of space, it was a bit more expensive but it was comfortable and it was my last night in the United States on this trip. I always feel the need to sit on a sofa in a hotel room, well as long as it doesn’t look like it’s been lifted out of a skip, just to get use out of it. However, I read a book for about five minutes on the sofa and then return to the desk chair or lying on the bed, but I feel better from getting value out of the furniture. I sometimes wonder just how sane I am, but there we go.

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    There was plenty of choice at the included breakfast, but as usual, little was to my taste and I remained unconvinced about American chain hotels and their options. The turkey sausages and eggs looked frightening, the waffle machine isn’t my sort of thing, but the cereals were sufficient along with a heap of cakes that I didn’t need. The orange juice is processed but tastes fine, although the coffee always tastes slightly odd. I was starting at this point to really be craving some proper breakfasts as might be served in Poland….. There we go, I have to mention Poland at least once every five posts.

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    I felt slightly guilty as the hard-working breakfast attendant asked if I liked their breakfast and I didn’t have the heart to say that some of it downright frightened me. I don’t know if they actually wanted feedback anyway, but they didn’t get any from me on the matter. That’s not least as judging from the reviews most of the guests seem to love their breakfast, my continental European tastes just aren’t quite in tune here. The rest of American cuisine is bang on target with me to be fair, so that’s not a sneering reference in general to the food in the United States.

    I left the hotel refreshed and planning to spend a few hours in Newark before catching a bus to the airport and then leaving the United States to return back to the UK. That meant that unless anything went wrong, I wouldn’t be spending any more nights in the United States on this trip. And as an unexciting spoiler, I can confirm that nothing did go wrong.

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 27 (Econo Lodge Homewood Birmingham)

    2022 US Trip – Day 27 (Econo Lodge Homewood Birmingham)

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    The bus that I had travelled on to get to the hotel wasn’t the cleanest, but it did drop me off outside and on time so I relieved to get there. Also, public transport in the United States is cheap, so it had been a cheap expedition. I was a little worried about this hotel in advance as I had read that they needed a cash deposit and I had spent most of my remaining money at a restaurant in New Orleans. The ratings are also dreadful and I only stayed here as it was very cheap, indeed the cheapest stay of my entire trip.

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    I had a wait of ten minutes before I could check-in as the desk staff were struggling with their IT, but everyone seemed calm and ready for their fate. The hotel is sizeable, but guests are allowed to look at the site map before trundling off to their room. There was a deposit of $25 which seemed ridiculously low to me, it’s apparently a cleaning fee in case you smoke in their room or pinch their bed. I’m not sure that the $25 would cover much, but they put my deposit on a card and refunded it the next morning, so I had no need to worry in advance about needing cash.

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    Here I am at my room. They haven’t gone down the route of buying numbers for their doors, they’ve just written them on with a pen. I was humoured, I liked it as it just shouted quirky, quality and decadence.

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    The hotel room looked quite tolerable in the dark. One of the things that the owners have done is put in new flooring. This is a great concept, but it was like I had done it, with bits not lying flat, some not reaching the wall and gaps in other areas.

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    The mostly broken hanging rail, not that I had anything to hang up. I just chuck things into my bag or onto a chair, I’m not a demanding traveller. There was an ironing board and iron holder, but no iron.

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    I admired the attention to detail here as this ceiling had recently been painted. There was no plug in the bath and I don’t mean that the rubber bit was missing, but the whole lot so there was just a huge gaping hole. I was a little concerned that a snake could come up there, so I ensured that I shut the bathroom door. I only spotted one cockroach, so that was good as others have seen whole bus loads of them walking across the room.

    There was meant to be breakfast included, but I knew in advance from the reviews that there wouldn’t be and I also didn’t think I wanted to eat here anyway. But, actually, I quite liked this hotel as although it was a complete dump I did sleep well and very cheaply. I felt safe in the hotel (not because the safety lock was even there, but I barricaded the door with their assorted furniture), the staff members were pleasant and I was quite amused at the state of the facilities that they were renting out. I also got the impression that they had given me one of their best rooms, so I didn’t feel hard done by. I was only staying in Birmingham for one night and although my expectations were hardly exceeded, I did feel that I got what I paid for.

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 25 (Comfort Inn from Choice Hotels at New Orleans Airport)

    2022 US Trip – Day 25 (Comfort Inn from Choice Hotels at New Orleans Airport)

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    I had booked the Comfort Inn at New Orleans airport to ensure I didn’t have far to go after landing on my American Airlines flight, but pre-paid so was slightly nervous that my travel plans might be forcibly changed by a flight delay or the like. Fortunately, everything went to plan and I stood outside the airport ready to get the free shuttle bus.

    There was then a problem, my phone for reasons unknown wouldn’t ring the hotel to ask the shuttle to turn up and I wasn’t sure if it was on a fixed schedule or just on demand. Then I had a plan, my friend Richard was also in the United States on an RV holiday (which I’m sorry to say wasn’t videoed despite several requests as I suspect it would produce more entertainment than my trip) and so was awake. I messaged him and he kindly phoned the hotel for me and it was fortunate that he did as the shuttle was on demand only. He likes phoning people for reasons unknown so that was a nice treat for him. 15 minutes later the shuttle arrived as promised.

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    American hotel rooms are often overly large and this was more space than I really needed for the night. However, I had no complaints, it had a deep bath tub, it was clean and I had a proper table to sit at. I didn’t sit at the table, but I liked having the option. I won’t go down the line of moaning about how some Accor hotels are taking desks out of their hotel rooms, not least I’ve done that several times before, but there’s more desk working space than I could shake a big stick at.

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    The view from my hotel room in the morning.

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    The breakfast was included in the room rate and there were hot and cold food options. I’m really not that engaged with turkey sausages and grits if I’m being honest, but there was a decent choice of different foods. And a sink.

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    Cereals, a biscuit, turkey sausages, muffin, yoghurt and a range of drinks. It wasn’t the best breakfast I’ve had and the sausages weren’t particularly tasty, but it was all sufficiently filling and met my expectations.

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    I liked this hotel, it was clean, the staff were friendly and I felt that it was value for money given its location near to the airport. This was my tenth night in a Choice Hotels in 2022, all of which were on this trip, meaning that I’ve got Gold status back with them. I had status with them for around five years when BA were paying for me to visit the United States several times a year. I’ve also got enough points from this trip to get a free night’s stay in one of their hotels and since they have some in the UK, I’ll hopefully use that later on in 2023.

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    There is a free shuttle back to the airport, but there’s also a nearby bus stop and that’s how I decided to get into the city centre of New Orleans. It’s not a quick journey as it takes an hour or so, but it’s cheap, just a couple of dollars.

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 10 (The Annoying Quality Inn & Suites Raleigh North)

    2022 US Trip – Day 10 (The Annoying Quality Inn & Suites Raleigh North)

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    Well, let’s start by stating that this hotel annoyed me.

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    The check-in process was a confused mess where their technology didn’t work, but the staff member was helpful and polite. However, to cut a long story short, they couldn’t get my card to work as it doesn’t have a number on it (Chase’s modern technology) so I used another card. I wasn’t quite sure why not having a number would make any difference, and indeed it doesn’t as it transpired they charged both cards for a deposit and despite promises they wouldn’t charge their ridiculous $4.99 local fee (which I haven’t see any other Choice Hotel outside of Las Vegas try and charge) they did anyway. And they then entirely ignored an email I sent to them asking if they could charge the card they initially tried to since they now had a choice and noting they had charged two.

    I’m writing this nearly three weeks on and the hotel still hasn’t released the pending charge on the credit card, the last hotel from the US trip not to do so (despite my only checking out of some hotels a few days ago). Chase, who the card is with, are now cancelling the pending payment as the hotel has failed to respond. It’s annoying because it’s such a sloppy thing to annoy customers with, and their reviews show they’ve done this to others. Their greed in trying to take $4.99 fees has cost them numerous bad reviews. I also incurred a foreign currency fee with the card they did charge (only my debit cards are currency free), although the card company removed that so that’s all good.

    But, putting my annoyance to one side (although I’m not parking that issue far away if I’m being honest) I was also humoured that when I asked about breakfast the staff member said “it’s not really a breakfast I’m afraid” which suggested the level of respect the staff had for the local management. Anyway, back to the room, which was entirely adequate although the wi-fi wasn’t particularly reliable. There were no noise issues internally or externally, so that all went well.

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    The ubiquitous coffee machine that’s in US hotels and they also had tea bags available.

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    The view of the road from the hotel room.

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    I quite liked the carpet in their seemingly never-ending corridors….

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    The breakfast arrangement. Shall we just say that it was uninspiring, although I always have low expectations of breakfasts in US hotels, or at least, those at the price point that I’m booking them at. I had a yoghurt and coffee, that had to do. The woman at reception the previous evening wasn’t lying….

    I overheard a staff member say to another “we have no customers checking in today” which seemed incredible to me for a hotel of that size, but that is perhaps testament to the local difficulties that they’re facing.

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    Not a hotel that I’d stay at again, I hate locations that ignore emails. Fortunately, Choice Hotels took up the matter and forced the hotel to respond, which they did in a passive aggressive manner that I was privately quite impressed with. They didn’t bother dealing with the issue but there’s an arrogance that they’re holding deposits and not doing anything to release them as other Choice Hotels seem to manage with. I wouldn’t say that the hotel stay itself was a disappointment, but I’m not big on contempt for customers.

    Moan over ?

  • 2022 US Trip – Day 9 (Econo Lodge in Richmond)

    2022 US Trip – Day 9 (Econo Lodge in Richmond)

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    Despite trying to get hotels of an acceptable, and very cheap, quality, I still wasn’t sure before arriving how good this Econo Lodge from Choice Hotels would be. The reviews were mixed and so had low expectations, but I was surprised at just how clean and comfortable it transpired to be, so it ended up being good value for money.

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    These rooms often seem quite dark as they don’t have lights on the ceiling and instead rely on table lamps and the like. But it was clean and functional, with everything as expected. There was a bath in the bathroom and the usual toiletries provided, functional and entirely acceptable. There was also a coffee machine, although this particular Econo Lodge doesn’t offer breakfasts.

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    It’s a motel type arrangement, so you can look out on your car should you so desire, although that wasn’t something I concerned myself about. The large window only has heavy curtains rather than any form of net curtain arrangement, although I’m not sure that many people walked by anyway. I didn’t have noise issues either internally from other rooms or externally, I wondered whether the mixed reviews was giving them a low occupancy.

    All things considered, I was pleased with this choice as the staff member was helpful, the room was clean and the price was affordable. I’m writing this a couple of weeks later in Birmingham (the Alabama one) and I have suspicions that I might have issues with the hotel tonight that I’ll be reporting, although I hope it transpires to be like this one that exceeded my expectations.