Best Hotels Chains - Reviews and Guide:

Which hotel chain is the best to stay at? I was recently discussing this with some business colleagues of mine and we all came back with different answers. Many of us travel for our jobs so earning hotel 'perks' was a main concern. Amazingly, all of us stay at different hotel chains - Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, Sheraton, and Embassy Suites. The biggest confusion with hotels are all the second and third tier hotels associated with larger names like Marriott. Fairfield Inn, Courtyard, Residence Inn, Springhill Suites, are all part of the Marriott family. If you are interested in earning points while traveling, pick a hotel partner and stick with them. I have been using Marriott rewards points for years and part of the bonus of traveling for business is that my family can stay almost anywhere for FREE when we travel together on vacation. You can go online to find countless hotel reviews done by business people and average travelers from around the world. They can only give you their opinions on specific locations, but it's hard to come up with a generalization about all the major hotel chains.

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Consumer Reports does surveys each year from their subscribers and recently they pulled almost 35,000 readers to find out about their experiences with hotels. They rated hotels on value, service, upkeep, and problems or complaints. CR does an excellent job since their surveys include so many respondents and you feel like it's a good sampling of the population in all socio-economic levels. There was another recent article in the Wall Street Journal on Tripadvisor.com discussing how valid the ratings are for hotels in various cities that people vote on. A budget minded traveler may say that the Ritz-Carlton was over the top and not worth the money, while a wealthy businessperson may say they expected more. Two people with different expectations and income levels would certainly give you completely different answers as to which hotels are the best. Certainly price is a key factor in determining just which hotel room you book for vacation or business travel. Also, most of us want a quiet location so we can actually sleep. A quality bed is tops on the list of amenities as well as a clean bathroom and bath/shower. The biggest complaint that most people have with hotels are the bathrooms being less than clean. I always go to check the bathroom when I first walk into a hotel room to make sure it's clean. Otherwise, I request a new room immediately. As consumers I think we all have different expectations based on the price we pay for a hotel room. If you stay at a luxury hotel for $350/night you expect great service while a $100/night room means probably just a bed to sleep in and nothing more. The ideal hotels are those that offer value, service, and upkeep for a reasonable price. Down below you can find the results of the best hotel chains in the United States. Some hotel chains offer international locations, but many are strictly limited to the US. Booking a room at any hotel and getting the best rate is often a question of how you do it. Sometimes official hotel websites will list "Internet Specials" or "Online Discounts" which aren't available on travel sites like Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz. If you are a last minute type of person, then perhaps using Hotwire or Priceline is the way to go. With those 2 sites, you can try to get discounted rates on hotels, but you are not able to pick the hotel chain or brand. Calling the 800 # for any hotel chain is probably the first thing I would do to see what the "best rate" is for the particular night(s) you are looking for. on average 1 in 3 hotel rooms is vacant each night and you know they would prefer to book all rooms.

Best Luxury Hotel:

Who doesn't want to travel in style and stay at a luxury hotel? The big name brands for luxury hotels are Westin, Sheraton, Marriott, Omni, DoubleTree, Hyatt, Hilton and Renaissance to name just a few. Consumer Reports notes that Renaissance Hotels rates the highest in terms of customer satisfaction. Renaissance is a Marriott propoerty and having stayed there a few times in my life, I must say it was memorable. They offer international and domestic locations with exotic locales like Aruba, Curacao, Malaysia, and Thailand. Many of the Renaissance hotels are actually resort style properties with high end features. The official website for Renaissance hotels is HERE and they describe their hotels/resorts as having "expressive décor and luxurious bedding". Rooms are generally from $120 to $200 night and you can earn free nights or upgrades through the Marriotts Rewards program. You can book rooms online or by calling their reservation phone number at 1-800-HOTELS-1. Their overall service and room amenities are top notch and you are assured a comfortable nights stay.

Top Rated Upscale Hotel:

Want an upscale hotel without paying too much? Homewood Suites is part of the Hilton family of hotels and resorts and there are currently 190 hotels to choose from in the United States. Homewood Suites get excellent ratings for service, value, upkeep and very few complaints. As the name suggests, Homewood Suites by Hilton is an all-suite hotel with some rooms offering 2 bedrooms. High speed internet access is available at all locations and you also get the convenience of having a kitchen in your hotel room. You get a complimentary daily breakfast plus from Monday to Thursday during the week they offer a free light meal and beverages (most states). The hotel chain was established to fit the needs of "road warriors" or business people who travel all the time. With rates priced between $90 and $125 a night, Homewood Suites provides a great place to rest your head when traveling.

Moderate Hotel:

As you descend down the hotel chains to the "moderate" level, you start to see a major drop-off in service and upkeep and you also see a rise in complaints. In this category my choice of hotel has always been the Fairfield Inn by Marriott which I find to be quite reasonable. Fairfield Inn rated fairly high on the Consumer Report survey but Drury Inn/Suites was the top rated moderate hotel on their list. It tied for 1st with Wingate Inn for "value" but what set Drury Inn apart from the rest was it's superior upkeep and cleanliness. Drury Hotels website is located at Druryhotels.com and you can make reservations online. Drury is definitely a smaller brand of hotels with just a little over 100 locations in a limited # of states. They did, however, win the J.D. Power and Associates award for "Highest in Guest Satisfaction Among Mid-Scale Hotel Chains with Limited Service" in 2006. The hotels are located in the South (Alabama, George, Carolinas, etc.) and middle America (Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Texas, etc.).

Budget Hotels:

First, let's define what "budget hotel" refers to. We are talking about hotel chains like Motel 6, Super 8, Days Inn, Travelodge, Microtel, and Extended Stay America. The prices for these hotel rooms range from a low of $40 to about $70-$80. Not that you would expect much in terms of service at these places, but the biggest drawback are problems and complaints reported from guests of these cheaper hotels. Upkeep and general service is lacking in most, although Microtel came across as the clear winner in this category with average ratings (that tells you how bad the others were). Microtel Inns & Suites are located in almost all the major states and they recently received an award from J.D. Powers & Associates for "highest in guest satisfaction among economy/budget hotel chains" for the 5th straight year. You can find them online at Microtelinn.com.

All-Suite Hotels:

When I travel with my family I prefer to stay in a suite hotel with separate rooms for my wife and I and the kids. I also like having access to a kitchen (refrigerator, microwave, coffee) when I'm on the road. I recently started staying at Springhill Suites by Marriott in the last year or so and have to say the experience so far has been great. For upscale hotels they ranked 2nd in the Consumer Reports survey only to Homewood Suites. Embassy Suites are an excellent first choice, but for the money (value) I prefer Springhill Suites if I'm paying the bill. Perfect for family travel since most have pools, breakfast service, and laundry on-site.

Best Business Hotel:

There is 1 hotel that stands out for business travelers and that is Embassy Suites. Embassy is considered a luxury hotel by many, but having stayed there dozens of times I would not call it "luxury". Embassy Suites is a great hotel chain but what sets them apart from the competition are their suites. Although other hotel chains have followed their lead by having business ready rooms with Wi-Fi, sitting area, work desk, etc., Embassy Suites offers all that plus a nice happy hour and a free breakfast. Years ago when I travled more often for business, Embassy Suites was one of the few that offered a nightly reception with free alcoholic drinks and snacks to go with them. Now, you see that service being offered at several leading hotel chains. Also, the free breakfast thing was another excellent way to attract business travelers who didn't want to hassle with paying for breakfast onsite or off. The Residence Inn and other hotels offer hot breakfasts as well, but Embassy Suites is still one of the best business hotels around. You can find their official website HERE. On a side hote, Hilton was smart enough to see the potential in Embassy Suites and they bought them out a few years back.

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