tom169

I've found these chains to be gold mines. When I was first visiting my fiancé I stopped in them frequently.

I can't complain and $70 a night and the beds were comfier than the holiday inn that I stayed at down the road.

I'm taking my grandmother on a tour of NC and stopping in a few of their hotels.

That leads me on... Does anyone stop in these or other cheap hotels and have good feedback? Or feedback of cheap chains to avoid?

I stumbled on the hotels only by accident way back. There must be some more I'm yet to discover.

I'll shell out $$$ on a romantic stay, but on any other occasion, a clean bed and no drive bys outside is all I need. Oh, and air con does help too.

kodokan

There are loads of them - I've definitely done overnights in very nice Comfort Inns and La Quinta motels, at around the $50 mark. They're basic but consistent, like Premier Inns in the UK.

This may be a useful list: Cheap Hotels - Budget Hotels

We spent two months recently living in a Marriott Townplace Suites following a job relocation. Even this was very tolerable, despite having kids of 15 and 11, because the staff were so amazingly friendly and helpful; I find all US hotel staff so. I'd definitely recommend them for traveling families - we had a 2-bedroom apartment with living room and small but full kitchen, then our 15 had his own studio apartment next door to us but could've easily managed for weekend stays on the pull-out sofabed in the lounge.

tonrob

The cheaper the chain the more variable the quality as a rule, as less is invested in maintaining brand consistency. It's for this reason I think it's best to look at feedback on particular properties rather than chain-by-chain when dealing with the lower end of the market.

You show me a great La Quinta - I'll find you 10 crap ones. You show me a crap Fairfield Inn - I'll find you 10 great ones. Also most chain hotels utilize demand-based pricing where the first room might sell at $50 but the last one will go for $250 (for example), so it's tough to generalize on price too.

For all its faults I tend to put some faith in TripAdvisor when traveling to an unknown town.

tom169

Cheers for the link. Some ones to check out on there.

I think you're probably right. I definitely wouldn't book without reading reviews and then I run the address in Google Maps to be sure of the location.

Sheepdip

Not impressed by MainStay Suites or Studio 6. Have found Towneplace Suites and Country Inn & Suites to be better than average but as others have said it's not consistent.

kodokan

Since they're so ubiquitous, I don't bother booking these sorts of motels but instead do a drive by (will the area be noisy, is it somewhere I'm happy leaving my car), then wander into reception, enquire about price, ask to see a room, and generally get a vibe on whether I want to stay there. So far, I've always been pleasantly surprised at how obliging the desk staff are, and the plain-but-cleaness of the rooms.

Pulaski

Sounds like good advice - and if you're looking at a room, look behind any pictures hanging on the wall, as I hear that is where bedbugs like to hide. ..... They are very common in cheaper hotels.

Generally speaking I would avoid hotels directly adjacent to large interstates, in NC that would be I77, I85, I40, and I95, as the interstates are conduits for all sorts of trafficking and police raids in nearby hotels and parking lot shootings are not uncommon.

tom169

Uhh ohhh... Concord, directly off I85. My grandmother has specifically said she wants to go to a mall. And at 81 years old it will take a good week to circle Concord Mills.

Anyway, I've stayed in the hotel before - it's decent. However, I did wake up one morning to the sound of one of those mimic NASCARs that they put outside Walmart at race time.

Then I've got one up in Boone to see a graduation, and then i'm thinking Raleigh as a midpoint between Boone and Wilmington as I want my grandmother to see the beach at least once.

Pulaski

You should be OK there, it's fairly touristy, and the hotels are mostly quite new. ..... Another tip is to avoid hotels with the doors into rooms directly from outside. Those hotels tend to be older, and because the rooms are accessible without passing through the lobby, they are popular with people engaged in shady activities.

While you're there, take her on a tour of the Concord Motor Speedway, just up the hill on the south side of the interstate. The tour is pretty cheap, maybe $15, and is given entirely in a minibus. The facility is impressive even if you're not a big motorsport fan. It takes about 45 minutes start to finish.

tom169

I've done the tour before. I went to the Coca Cola 600 last year. It was definitely an experience seeing the race and festivities (including ZZ Top!). But yeah, I might actually do it again to take her. The place is humongous.

My fiance is from the Concord area, but getting her to a race (or any sporting event) is hard work.

When this K1 malarkey is all said and done I will be able to go alone at my own leisure.

Pulaski

I went to the CC600 several times, but eventually got fed up of watching 42 cars chasing Jimmy Johnson. The first time we went was in '99, when we saw Jeff Burton win, that was the year that Tony Stewart did the Indy and CC600 double. He started at the back of the field because he missed the drivers briefing, but as he rose through the field the cheer with each car he passed got louder. He took the lead on lap 267, and the crowd drowned out the cars! He eventually finished fourth.

tom169

Pretty neat story. All of the NASCAR races are televised in the UK on one of the premium channels. Definitely does have a niche following with quite a few from one of the fan groups that do the trips over to see races.

I remember standing in line at CLT waiting to board and some locals were pretty bemused at people travelling all that way to see a race.

Good times

kins

You don't need to worry about that so much up here in the frozen wastes. Husband works for a company that owns several hotels near freeways - they're all fine.

Pulaski

Well it's not like Maine is exactly "on the way to somewhere"!

NC on the otherhand is a major staging post for the FL-DC-NY-MA and Mexico-TX-GA-DC-NY-MA routes, not to mention the end of I40 that goes all the way to California.

Bob

A shit load of drugs and guns are run through Maine though...plus all those skiiers heading up north for the slopes.

There are some right sketchy hotels along 295/95, but not so much in way of shootings.