Hotel Chains Discussion

[Bletchleyite]

Moderator note - split from:

Getting to Glasgow for 9am on Monday 20th June

Just thought I’d open this up to the forum in case I’m missing anything. I need to get to Glasgow City centre by 9.00am on Monday 20th June. I live in Milton Keynes ideally placed on the West Coast mainline, normally this isn’t a problem and I would head down to Watford the night before and...

www.railforums.co.uk

For (e.g.) the Old Bailey, RCJ, Central London County Court (Gee St), etc - Travelodge Farringdon £89.99 for tomorrow Wed June 1st, Kings Cross Royal Scot £99.99, London Central City Road £109.99. Lots near Snaresbrook (for the Crown Court) under £100, cheapest £73.99 at Chigwell 2.5 miles away. We get, shall I say, 'senior' types moaning about the 'standard' of the within-budget accoms, but this is pretty rare.

To be fair some Travelodges are utterly awful and none are what I'd call nice. Out of respect for your staff it might be better to at least allow Premier Inn unless the difference is utterly swingeing - the two are like chalk and cheese. Travelodge is often poorly maintained and dirty, whereas Premier Inn rooms are usually* to the standard of a Marriott or similar, you just don't have the extras like a gym/pool and trouser press.

I think it's at least right that business travel should offer a quality of accommodation equivalent to at home (remember it's not, for most, a free holiday, but rather an impingement to start with), and while homes vary most professionals will have a far nicer bedroom than most Travelodges.

At least we don't have the American practice of making people share rooms on work trips here. I would flat refuse to travel if anyone even suggested that.

* Give or take some very old ones, but they are progressively being refurbished, and even the old ones aren't bad, just a bit, er, old.

 

[contrex]

I think it's at least right that business travel should offer a quality of accommodation equivalent to at home (remember it's not, for most, a free holiday, but rather an impingement to start with), and while homes vary most professionals will have a far nicer bedroom than most Travelodges.

I agree, but should add that most of the people whose expenses I approve are also on a daily fee exceeding £500 (some quite a lot more) and the policy seems to be that the reimbursement can be seen, if the person wishes, as a 'contribution'.

 

[mike57]

Reading this thread reminds me of why I became a 'contractor' nearly 40 years ago, no one can tell me to be at a place and time, they can ask me and I will give them a price, and if I am going to lose a good bit of my weekend the price will reflect that fact. My own formula is based on enough £s to cover a day off later in the week/whenever and a premium on top to cover the inconvenience, oh and travel time is chargeable... I make my own travel arrangements, and these are charged at cost, and if I am looking at long journey then First Class is appropriate. I will make use of cheaper fares where I can but ultimatley it costs what it costs. If this isn't acceptable then I assume its not that important (which happens more often than you would expect, and cheaper reasonable day trip options are usually then discussed) or they have found someone else, which is fine by me.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I agree, but should add that most of the people whose expenses I approve are also on a daily fee exceeding £500 (some quite a lot more) and the policy seems to be that the reimbursement can be seen, if the person wishes, as a 'contribution'.

Yes, contracting is a bit different - if you're a contractor you choose based on the whole package. I was thinking more employees on expenses.

I used to know a guy who tended to do "rate included" contracts and used to stay in an utter rathole (literally, there were rats) of a B&B near Heathrow so he could pocket the difference. Fair play to him but I'd not do that!

 

[concerned1]

Good to know, thanks!

 

[concerned1]

Yes, contracting is a bit different - if you're a contractor you choose based on the whole package. I was thinking more employees on expenses.

I used to know a guy who tended to do "rate included" contracts and used to stay in an utter rathole (literally, there were rats) of a B&B near Heathrow so he could pocket the difference. Fair play to him but I'd not do that!

Yes, been in this situation myself a few times, but not anymore

 

[Blindtraveler]

Back when I was a poorly treated employee of a wealthy but cheapskate charity, they had plenty of money for television adverts but not fur workforce, I very quickly started point blank refusing to use the travel and accommodation subcontractor as we would get some outrageously expensive travel option (think crush loaded x c all the way from Scotland to Birmingham just because it was direct when actually anyone who had even the vaguest idea what they were doing could find better?) And then I truly terrible hotel. I never actually had a Travelodge booked by them but quite a few extremely substandard ibis or or non-branded budget properties that really weren't good at all all


The mistake are provider often made was by sending us an email with how much each part of the itinerary had cost in order for us to keep our records. I very very quickly realise that I could do a lot better than them so much to my managers frustration stopped my dealings with them and simply put everything on a credit card and claimed back. About 2 or 3 work trips later my manager to realise that I was good at this and and was often staying in a decent hotel Premier Inn mainly or sometimes even jurys and travelling long distances for decent value for money, not always by train either but often a hybrid of multiple modes


Back then and still the guys today I have never found that Travelodge works particularly well for business, the combination of chargeable Wi-Fi, substandard facilities of one kind or another and usually a noise problem simply rules them out for anything other than a crash pad at the end of a work trip when you are totally exhausted and either unable or unwilling to make a long journey home ma straight after you finished work and and so are therefore dipping into your own pocket for a bed for the night

 

[cactustwirly]

At the moment those figures are low anywhere, hotel prices are a bit expensive at the moment generally. Rather than a ceiling it should be a standard of accommodation, i.e. "budget hotels such as Premier Inn, Ibis/Ibis Budget etc are preferred and the cheapest of these should be chosen".



To be fair some Travelodges are utterly awful and none are what I'd call nice. Out of respect for your staff it might be better to at least allow Premier Inn unless the difference is utterly swingeing - the two are like chalk and cheese. Travelodge is often poorly maintained and dirty, whereas Premier Inn rooms are usually* to the standard of a Marriott or similar, you just don't have the extras like a gym/pool and trouser press.

I think it's at least right that business travel should offer a quality of accommodation equivalent to at home (remember it's not, for most, a free holiday, but rather an impingement to start with), and while homes vary most professionals will have a far nicer bedroom than most Travelodges.

At least we don't have the American practice of making people share rooms on work trips here. I would flat refuse to travel if anyone even suggested that.

* Give or take some very old ones, but they are progressively being refurbished, and even the old ones aren't bad, just a bit, er, old.

Premier inn are certainly not to the standard of Marriott! I actually avoid Premier inn because I find them overpriced for what they are.

Some of the hotels are worse than a Travelodge, they are marginally better but still poor.
You have to pay for basics like useable WiFi (free wifi is deliberately slowed) which is appalling in the year 2022, everywhere else has free wifi.

Personally I think Ibis and Holiday Inn is better, also Jury's Inn too.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Some of the hotels are worse than a Travelodge, they are marginally better but still poor.

In what way? I am struggling to see how even the worst PI isn't better than a Travelodge, other than their new premium rooms which I haven't tried. And often PI isn't much more expensive or is cheaper than TL.

You have to pay for basics like useable WiFi (free wifi is deliberately slowed) which is appalling in the year 2022, everywhere else has free wifi.

I do think the wifi is rubbish, but with a large data allowance on my phone I only want to use it if the signal is poor anyway.

Personally I think Ibis and Holiday Inn is better, also Jury's Inn too.

Ibis is certainly better but typically in my experience about 1/3 to 1/2 more expensive - it's not quite in the same market (Ibis Budget is in the Travelodge market, it is a bit more basic but generally well maintained and clean unlike TL). Never stayed in a "regular" Holiday Inn, but that's Marriott level, and I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express (Shrewsbury) a while back and it was tatty and the breakfast was very poor. Jury's Inn are good but there aren't many of them about.

The ones I think are really good for the price are the German import Motel One, whose name belies just how good they are. Main criticism is that as they're a direct German import the breakfast is only continental, though so far as continental breakfasts go it's pretty good. An annoyance is also that they won't allow booking of a Saturday night alone. But do allow Friday which must result in empty rooms!

 

[Davester50]

Premier inn are certainly not to the standard of Marriott! I actually avoid Premier inn because I find them overpriced for what they are.

Some of the hotels are worse than a Travelodge, they are marginally better but still poor.
You have to pay for basics like useable WiFi (free wifi is deliberately slowed) which is appalling in the year 2022, everywhere else has free wifi.

Personally I think Ibis and Holiday Inn is better, also Jury's Inn too.

Genuinely surprised anyone cares about hotel wifi.
I don't use it for work for security reasons, and I just use a tethered connection to my phone.

(Some Jurys Inns re-flagged as Hilton a good few years ago, and the remainder are to become Leonardo soon)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Genuinely surprised anyone cares about hotel wifi.
I don't use it for work for security reasons, and I just use a tethered connection to my phone.

(Some Jurys Inns re-flagged as Hilton a good few years ago, and the remainder are to become Leonardo soon)

Interesting - I've stayed in one Leonardo hotel - the one just opposite the turning into Heathrow, and by all accounts while fairly cheap it was pretty rubbish - scruffy, long check-in queues and miserable staff. Not something I'd associate with Jury's Inn which is generally pretty decent!

 

[cactustwirly]

Genuinely surprised anyone cares about hotel wifi.
I don't use it for work for security reasons, and I just use a tethered connection to my phone.

(Some Jurys Inns re-flagged as Hilton a good few years ago, and the remainder are to become Leonardo soon)

Because I may want to watch videos on YouTube or Netflix, and not use up my data

In what way? I am struggling to see how even the worst PI isn't better than a Travelodge, other than their new premium rooms which I haven't tried. And often PI isn't much more expensive or is cheaper than TL.



I do think the wifi is rubbish, but with a large data allowance on my phone I only want to use it if the signal is poor anyway.



Ibis is certainly better but typically in my experience about 1/3 to 1/2 more expensive - it's not quite in the same market (Ibis Budget is in the Travelodge market, it is a bit more basic but generally well maintained and clean unlike TL). Never stayed in a "regular" Holiday Inn, but that's Marriott level, and I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express (Shrewsbury) a while back and it was tatty and the breakfast was very poor. Jury's Inn are good but there aren't many of them about.

The ones I think are really good for the price are the German import Motel One, whose name belies just how good they are. Main criticism is that as they're a direct German import the breakfast is only continental, though so far as continental breakfasts go it's pretty good. An annoyance is also that they won't allow booking of a Saturday night alone. But do allow Friday which must result in empty rooms!

I have stayed in some really run down, tatty and dated PIs. Some of the newer Travelodges are better.

Normally Premier Inns are £70 a night and Travelodge is £40 so usually a big price difference.

I find Ibis to be practically the same price as PI, roughly £70 a night

 

[DelayRepay]

Premier inn are certainly not to the standard of Marriott! I actually avoid Premier inn because I find them overpriced for what they are.

Some of the hotels are worse than a Travelodge, they are marginally better but still poor.

Not my experience. The Premier Inns I've stayed in have all been clean, reasonably up to date and have staff who actually help if there's a problem. And the Breakfast is decent.

Travelodges have been dirtier, more worn out, and the breakfast is awful.

The worse Travelodge I stayed in didn't have a working light in the bathroom. The receptionist told me there was nothing she could do, the staff weren't allowed to change light bulbs, they wouldn't call out a contractor just to change a light bulb, and there were no other rooms to move me to. Her advice was either to use the torch on my phone or leave the door open.

I once stayed in a Travelodge for work (last minute and everywhere decent was booked up). I was allocated a ground floor room. My female colleague was on the first floor. The receptionist said to her 'we don't put females on the ground floor in case someone breaks in during the night'. I slept well after that!!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Normally Premier Inns are £70 a night and Travelodge is £40 so usually a big price difference.

I find Ibis to be practically the same price as PI, roughly £70 a night

It will depend where you go, but this week I booked two PIs for £35 a night each (this is the lowest rate, you're most likely to get it on a Sunday onto Monday as that's the quietest night for hotels). I've not seen £40 for a TL for a very long time.

Ibis varies but they do in my experience tend to be on average dearer than PI.

I generally see a small price difference between PI and TL but given how poor my experience of TL is I'd rather pay more.

 

[Davester50]

Because I may want to watch videos on YouTube or Netflix, and not use up my data

I replied to a thread about a business trip so was referring to it's use there.
You need to get a better contract if you're worried about data usage.

 

[DelayRepay]

It will depend where you go, but this week I booked two PIs for £35 a night each (this is the lowest rate, you're most likely to get it on a Sunday onto Monday as that's the quietest night for hotels). I've not seen £40 for a TL for a very long time.

Ibis varies but they do in my experience tend to be on average dearer than PI.

I generally see a small price difference between PI and TL but given how poor my experience of TL is I'd rather pay more.

I think it used to be true that TL was cheaper. When I was younger and more willing to 'rough it' I'd often end up in a TL to save a few quid compared to PI. But that's changed over recent years, now the prices seem more or less comparable.

I've just looked at a random weekend. TL is £1.98 more expensive than PI. I've stayed in both hotels before and know the PI is nicer. They're about a two minute walk apart, and neither has car parking, so I think a fair comparison.

 

[WelshBluebird]

In terms of prices, I have noticed prices go up across the board recently. What used to be less than £50 a night is now £70 or more. I travel a fair bit for gigs (so don't really have the flexibility of dates as a gig is a specific date!) and I'm defo paying significantly more for similar places than what I was 3 years ago.

I think it's at least right that business travel should offer a quality of accommodation equivalent to at home (remember it's not, for most, a free holiday, but rather an impingement to start with), and while homes vary most professionals will have a far nicer bedroom than most Travelodges.

In terms of work specifically - I'd absolutely expect to be put up in something better than your average premier inn or travelodge. My work put us up in the Hilton Doubletree when we are in London (or failing that one of the premier plus premier inn rooms nearby, which are a fair bit nicer than their usual rooms).

Travelodge is often poorly maintained and dirty, whereas Premier Inn rooms are usually* to the standard of a Marriott or similar

My experience has been that both are actually pretty similar and that the main difference is simply if the hotel has had a recent refurb or not. Newer Travelodges or ones that have had a recent refurb are nicer than older Premier Inns (or ones that haven't had a recent refurb) and vice versa. If both have had a recent refurb then I'd agree the Premier Inn tends to be slightly nicer, but barely so.

And in my opinion anyway, the lack of flexibility in their check in and check out times more than gets in the way of any other advantage they may otherwise have - Premier Inn's normal check in time is 3pm so it does match Travelodges one (though Premier Inn was 2pm before COVID, and at one point during COVID was 4pm) but the main issue is they don't offer an an early check in or late check out - Travelodge do.

 

[johncrossley]

If you are travelling by train then Travelodges are nowadays very conveniently located as there has been a deliberate attempt to rebalance their portfolio towards city centre and railway station locations. By definition those are the newest ones and often the best ones. I personally find them very acceptable, especially if I've only paid £35 a night. They have everything I want. A room with adjustable heating, a bed, a shower and toilet. Sometimes even USB sockets. The traditional Travelodge locations near motorways and main roads are much worse, but often have low rates.

 

[Davester50]

It will depend where you go, but this week I booked two PIs for £35 a night each (this is the lowest rate, you're most likely to get it on a Sunday onto Monday as that's the quietest night for hotels). I've not seen £40 for a TL for a very long time.

Ibis varies but they do in my experience tend to be on average dearer than PI.

I generally see a small price difference between PI and TL but given how poor my experience of TL is I'd rather pay more.

Agreed. The time I was put in the Coventry Broadgate TL was a shock to the system.
I see it's no longer in their portfolio of properties, and am only surprised it's now student accommodation, and not a punishment block of some kind.

 

[Bletchleyite]

In terms of prices, I have noticed prices go up across the board recently. What used to be less than £50 a night is now £70 or more. I travel a fair bit for gigs (so don't really have the flexibility of dates as a gig is a specific date!) and I'm defo paying significantly more for similar places than what I was 3 years ago.

Yes, all hotels have gone up somewhat this year, I've definitely noticed it.

In terms of work specifically - I'd absolutely expect to be put up in something better than your average premier inn or travelodge. My work put us up in the Hilton Doubletree when we are in London (or failing that one of the premier plus premier inn rooms nearby, which are a fair bit nicer than their usual rooms).

I'm fine with a PI on a work trip but not a TL. The Premier Plus rooms are a nice touch but I wouldn't call them an essential.

My experience has been that both are actually pretty similar and that the main difference is simply if the hotel has had a recent refurb or not. Newer Travelodges or ones that have had a recent refurb are nicer than older Premier Inns (or ones that haven't had a recent refurb) and vice versa. If both have had a recent refurb then I'd agree the Premier Inn tends to be slightly nicer, but barely so.

Obviously that's all personal opinion both ways, but I find it hard to understand how you can think that. TL's whole room is just cheap - every single fitting and fixture is absolute bare minimum. Plastic curtains, cheapest possible panel heater, cheap creaky bed, small television, small and basic desk and unpadded plastic chair. Even when brand new they are incredibly basic and Spartan. TL is then made worse by the fact that the cleaning is inadequate (particularly the bathrooms) and broken fittings are not properly repaired, e.g. if there's a cracked tile they just messily silicone it up, and there's often black mould everywhere.

My personal take is that the worst PIs are somewhere towards the better end of TLs, and the best PIs, particularly the Premier Plus rooms, are excellent.

TL are I believe changing their room design for new refurbs, but the rooms can be as nice as they like if they're filthy and bits are hanging off. Ibis Budget manage to do basic (more basic than even TL, the rooms are more like YHA triple rooms with en suite) but with proper maintenance.

I don't believe I have ever been wholly satisfied with a stay in a TL, even at a very cheap price.

And in my opinion anyway, the lack of flexibility in their check in and check out times more than gets in the way of any other advantage they may otherwise have - Premier Inn's normal check in time is 3pm so it does match Travelodges one (though Premier Inn was 2pm before COVID, and at one point during COVID was 4pm) but the main issue is they don't offer an an early check in or late check out - Travelodge do.

Yes, that's one thing where TL win, though to be fair PI's default of 12 suits most purposes, whereas TL's default of 10 is a bit early but can be extended to 2 for a fee. I believe PI used to offer it but did away with it a while back (pre COVID).

Given how many people will arrive at hotels after 5pm on a Friday I'd love to see one of them adopt the approach of giving say a £10 discount to accept a later check-in (e.g. from 6 or 7pm) such that one could pay say £20-30 extra to be able to stay until say 5pm without booking another night. I'd go away during the week a lot more (and "work from home" from the hotel) far more often if that were an option.

Agreed. The time I was put in the Coventry Broadgate TL was a shock to the system.
I see it's no longer in their portfolio of properties, and am only surprised it's now student accommodation, and not a punishment block of some kind.

The worst one I've ever stayed in was Edinburgh Old Town, someone had vomited in the room and it hadn't been properly cleaned up. It stank. Meanwhile the gap between the secondary glazing and the outer window was full of filth, clearly never, ever having been cleaned at all. I've also stayed in Luton, and that was pretty awful though clean (though the window wouldn't close properly), though it was the only option considered in that case as it was the night before an operation at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital and I needed to be there very early (6am I think) so it being directly opposite the hospital would have sold it in this case even if it'd been £150 a night* and the worst TL in the world. Morecambe was little better - quite a new building I believe but gave the impression of old and decrepit.

The principle of TL is great - keep it simple and cheap - but I just find they are not looked after at all, not even the very basics.

 

[pdeaves]

TL's whole room is just cheap - every single fitting and fixture is absolute bare minimum. Plastic curtains, cheapest possible panel heater, cheap creaky bed, small television, small and basic desk and unpadded plastic chair. Even when brand new they are incredibly basic and Spartan. TL is then made worse by the fact that the cleaning is inadequate (particularly the bathrooms) and broken fittings are not properly repaired, e.g. if there's a cracked tile they just messily silicone it up, and there's often black mould everywhere.

It looks like either you have been incredibly unlucky or I have been equally lucky as that doesn't come anywhere near my experience of Travelodge. The standard fittings are just that, standard, but seem fine to me. Definitely not a creaky bed! Whether it's maintained or not I suppose, like any multi-site business, lot depends on who you have working at any given site. The people can make or break the experience, if they want to help or can't be narked.

 

[Mojo]

To be fair some Travelodges are utterly awful and none are what I'd call nice.

I find that in when I look, Premier Inn hotels in an are almost always cheaper than Travelodges in an equivalent location. When they aren’t cheaper it’s normally only a tiny amount more.

Not sure why this is the case given that, as you say, Premier Inn hotels are far superior. I wonder if it’s because, about 10-15 years ago they built up a reputation for being so cheap and having such great offers, people don’t even check the alternatives and go straight to Travelodge. I certainly remember in the late 2000s balking about paying more than £30 a night for a room.

 

[DelayRepay]

It looks like either you have been incredibly unlucky or I have been equally lucky as that doesn't come anywhere near my experience of Travelodge. The standard fittings are just that, standard, but seem fine to me. Definitely not a creaky bed! Whether it's maintained or not I suppose, like any multi-site business, lot depends on who you have working at any given site. The people can make or break the experience, if they want to help or can't be narked.

If @Bletchleyite has been unlucky, then so have I. I've stayed in lots of Travelodges over the years and they've all had a 'cheap' and 'worn out' feel to them. Except the newly refurbished ones which just felt 'cheap'.

Maybe we have different standards? When I was younger and funds were tighter I'd happily stay in Travelodge. More recently I've preferred to pay slightly more for somewhere nicer, which includes PI.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I find that in when I look, Premier Inn hotels in an are almost always cheaper than Travelodges in an equivalent location. When they aren’t cheaper it’s normally only a tiny amount more.

Not sure why this is the case given that, as you say, Premier Inn hotels are far superior. I wonder if it’s because, about 10-15 years ago they built up a reputation for being so cheap and having such great offers, people don’t even check the alternatives and go straight to Travelodge. I certainly remember in the late 2000s balking about paying more than £30 a night for a room.

If I recall TL had financial issues not so long ago (pre COVID). I suspect it's after that they cranked their prices up.

If PI was £100 and TL £50 I'd put up with TL, but of late I'm not noticing anything like that difference.

I wonder if there are differences in their approach to yield management, as there are between easyJet and Ryanair (which are also comparable with PI and TL respectively). PI I've noticed tend to price relatively consistently based on how busy they think a given date will be (though they sometimes creep up for the last few rooms) whereas I wonder if TL do a more Ryanair style approach of very low prices to start with on all dates then they jump up more steeply as the rooms sell. The latter these days is considered a bit of an old fashioned approach I think; you can do pretty good data analysis these days to work out how to price, rather than just going for the first room being £30 and the last one £200. Like with rail travel, I'm not an early booker - more than 1-2 months ahead is very rare for me.

 

[ChrisC]

I’ve not stayed in a TL standard room for quite a few years now. It’s too basic for me. I want some shelves or drawers to store my clothes and other belongings and at least a comfortable chair to sit on. There was so little storage space that I ended up having to keep things in my case. I have however stayed in a few TL super rooms in recent years and find them in some cases better than many Premier Inns. The hotels and breakfasts are still inferior but once in your room they are quite comfortable with more storage space and an easy chair. I’ve used TL super rooms at London Vauxhall, York Micklegate, Glasgow Queen Street and Leeds Central. I would certainly consider staying in all four of those again.

Contrary to their current adverts you do not always know what you are getting with PI. I accept that they are generally better than a TL but not always. One PI that I have stayed in on a number of occasions has been London Hampstead. A lovely location not far from Hampstead Heath and handy for Belsize Park Tube. When I first stayed there about 15 years ago it was ok but even then was getting ready for refurbishment but it still has not happened. You only have to read the reviews on Tripadvisor to see how bad people say it now is. Also on each floor it has some very small rooms on the side of the hotel. I was once allocated one of these rooms for a 7 night stay and they are so small that you can hardly move down the side of the bed and there is no room for the usual easy chair. Yet, mainly due to its location this hotel charges high prices and it’s just bad luck if you are given one of the tiny rooms. The whole hotel has out of date bathrooms and very small square TVs and the air conditioning rarely works. I love the location and the staff are great but I won’t stay there any more.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It appears TL have realised the limits of their approach and as such seem to be piloting "PLUS" hotels:

New Look Hotels - Travelodge

We’re always trying to improve your experience and now we’re redesigning our rooms with a new look. So you can relax, work and socialise in style.

www.travelodge.co.uk

It appears these are more up to (possibly in some ways better than) PI, in the super rooms at least (the standard room in that picture looks like the same old garbage in a different colour scheme, most notably fluorescent lighting is not suitable for a bedroom). However it remains to be seen if they will skimp on maintenance as usual or improve that, too. It's not actually TL's base offer that I think is bad, though it is certainly basic, it's finding dirty rooms, loose and draughty windows, poor heating*, hairs in the plughole, fuzz on the extractor fan etc that rile. As budget hotels now don't clean during the stay (which I'm fine with, I don't really want them poking around anyway) they should have plenty of time to take maybe an extra 5 minutes per room to get this sort of basic sorted out. But even then, if stuff breaks it needs repairing properly, e.g. properly replacing a broken tile rather than filling it with goop, and they just don't seem to get that.

For balance, some PIs don't seem to clean awkwardly located windows (which isn't great) and I don't like the way the heating/aircon resets itself every 6 hours or so - if I set 20 degrees at the start of my stay (say), I want 20 degrees throughout.

* To be fair some older PIs have the same electric convector heating but there are relatively few of those left.

 

[johncrossley]

The French chains Hotel F1 and Premiere Classe are super cheap if all you care about is the price. You bring your own towels so only really suitable for drivers. They tend to be out of town anyway,

 

[bspahh]

I find Travelodges are more variable in quality than their competition.

The one truly horrible hotel that I've stayed in was a Travelodge, but that was 15 years ago. It had mould on the wall, and smelt musty. It was after midnight and was really tired, so I opened a window and crashed out. I was woken at 4.30am as a lorry went past on the A road. I packed and left. That hotel had a mixture of positive and negative reviews, so I guess there were some reasonable rooms, and I just got one of the horrid ones.

Since then, I check Tripadvisor reviews before I book and I avoid anything with 3* or less from the customer ratings, and read a few of the comments. I ignore moans about things I don't care about, like parking or the distance to the station if I am with or without a car. On a Saturday night, hotels in a city centre or that will host weddings might be noisy. On a Monday night, the same place could be quiet.

If I'm paying, and I just need a room with a bed and a shower, then I might go for a 1980s Travelodge, even if it means there is no air conditioning and the corridors and stairs are narrow. If its for work, then I can go for something more expensive.

 

[ABB125]

The French chains Hotel F1 and Premiere Classe are super cheap if all you care about is the price. You bring your own towels so only really suitable for drivers. They tend to be out of town anyway,

The Premiere Classe in Reims is a "favourite" of my dad's. I've stayed there once. There were 4 of us, in a tiny room (about half the size of a standard Premier Inn room) with two bunk beds and barely enough space to keep bags. It was also a, errr, "warm" night, so we left the door open at one end and the window open at the other in the vain hope that there might be some air flow. There also happened to be a coachload of German schoolchildren staying that night. It was, to put it mildly, not the most comfortable night! Though better than I've had on the Caledonian Sleeper and Night Riviera (in a seat).

I'd definitely choose a couchette on the Snälltåget Berlin-Sweden sleeper over Premiere Classe though!

 

[tomuk]

I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express (Shrewsbury)

Interesting you mention that hotel. It has been various brands since opening, well opening twice because it burnt down in 2005.