But perhaps you’d like to stay in the room a little longer and order a room service breakfast. Or you come back from sightseeing and want a late night dinner from room service. But that’s why people need to choose a hotel based on their needs. If you’re just going to be sleeping at the hotel, then a luxury one is overkill. But I’ve stayed at a couple of four- or five-star hotels, and it’s fun.
That’s generally what I want on vacation, too. But when I’m traveling for business, I want a hotel that’s near my downtown destination , not ten miles out of town and one with an onsite ( or at least sharing a parking lot)restaurant and preferably room service.
But if you are traveling on business, it’s very nice to a have good place to eat and a good fitness club and even a pool. If you are working 10-12 hour days (and who doesn’t, when they travel for work?) it’s a bonus not to also go find some place to eat after work, or some place to have breakfast. And what do you care if they charge $12 for a breakfast that Denny’s would make for $7? It’s expensed.
Another time when at least some amenities are nice is when you are traveling with a group or attending a function where a lot of people are coming together. So, like, if four kids and their families are visiting Grandma and people are staying at a hotel–because grandma can’t sleep 8 adults and 15 kids–it’s awfully nice to stay somewhere where people can gather. It doesn’t have to be nice-nice, but having some sort of lobby, some sort of restaurant, some sort of pool (if it’s summer) is really nice because being able to do some socializing at the hotel without having to get into each other’s sleeping space is worth a great deal since different parts of couples have different sleep schedules/need to socialize. This is also true for weddings, conventions, etc.
At the Waldorf Astoria–The Towers, natch (separate key-locked elevator)–my floor concierge offered for someone to take a cab to get dog food for my pup, since I hadn’t planned for my stay. And it was free! No tipping, even though I offered. (Although I had already tipped the check-in girl $500 for the best room available.) In the end I had room service bring up a couple Chef’s Salads for him.
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The high end hotels that I have been to recently have started giving free internet if you join their loyalty program. This information tends to be not quite as prominently displayed as the request for $15 per day for internet.
It’s been said several times here already, but it’s worth emphasizing - in large part, you’re paying the big bucks for location, and attending a conference is a perfect example: staying at the host hotel while attending a conference is worth the extra money to me.
I don’t mind paying a premium so that between talks, or during lunch, or if I simply want to put my head down for an hour, I’m already ‘home’. No rushing between hotels, no finding a cab, etc. It’s more than worth it for me.
Besides things already mentioned, I find that the bed quality is usually noticeably better in the more expensive hotels. The last few times I’ve stayed at a Marriott or an Intercontinental, I had very comfortable beds, more so than at cheap places.
Embassy Suites is not a cheap chain. It’s an upscale brand at about the same level as Hilton and Marriott.
But it all depends. I’ve been on trips where the whole purpose of the trip WAS to go to the hotel. People have mentioned business conferences, but I have another example.
A couple of years ago I went to a wedding in Atlanta. The wedding was in a hotel. The reception was in the same hotel. I only had time to fly in and out for the weekend of the wedding. So I flew into town, went straight to the hotel, spent the entire weekend at the the hotel, then went straight back to the airport to go home.
Believe me, I did use various amenties at the hotel from time to time.
When we travel, we try to stay in the best place we can afford. Not because of intangible fanciness or mints on the pillows or whatever, but because the walls are thicker, the mattresses are firmer, and the air conditioning doesn’t sound like a 747 taking off. In addition, if your neighbors are drunk and screaming in the hallway at 2 a.m. (as happened to us on one occasion), you can call the front desk and have them quieted down or bounced.
And we don’t indulge in the mini-bar crap or other overpriced amenities. All we’re really interested in is being able to sleep, and this is a more likely outcome in the better places.
I stayed at a beach hotel recently where removing things from the minifridge triggered the charge. I found out b/c of course we had removed those items to, you know, use the fridge ourselves. Nowhere was this spelled out anywhere in the room, except in the little room service binder, or so the manager told me while I was checking out.
He was actually pretty cool about removing the charges - I can’t imagine that little trick makes his life any easier.
Really? They always seem kind of second-rate to me, compared to the Marriotts and Hiltons I’ve been to.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but to the common wedding goer this sounds like to me like the purpose of the trip was to get celebratory drunk and have a safe and nice place to do it where driving was not required. It’s not to experience the hotel, it’s to experience the alcohol in a safe environment for the purpose of the celebration.
All I can say is that the Four Seasons is worth every single dime, even in extras. There is nothing like having a NYT, two ice cold beers and an extra robe in your room when you walk in. I still have no idea how they do that, I just checked in and the clerk changed my room (upgrade).
Capt
Maybe for some of the guests. We didn’t drink. Well, my wife doesn’t drink at all – she never touches alcohol, can’t stand it. I might have had a glass of wine.
It wasn’t to experience the hotel either, it was just for the convenience. We were only in town from Saturday night until Monday morning. It was just easier to stay at the hotel the whole time.
It’s all relative. I decided a few years ago that on road trips I wouldn’t car camp with my tent in state parks any more, as I had for forty years, I would luxuriate in a Motel 6 instead. I love Motel 6! I’ve never been to even the very shoddiest Motel 6 which required me to eat off a filthy picnic table or put up a tent in the dark. Did you know they all have a private bathroom right off your bedroom so you don’t even have to get dressed to take a shit? Clean sheets! Hot showers are universal! Sometimes you even get a teeny fridge!
And as for thin walls and noisy clientele, well that’s why God invented ear plugs. I always have at least one large unclean dog with me so I figure I’m contributing to the lack of class too.
But that’s not what the OP is asking. You’re missing the point. The question is why do they do it?
Remember, this isn’t a case of the hotel offering service for more value; it’s the hotel charging for exactly the same product another hotel gives away for free (like Internet access) or engaging in constant, in-your-face upselling. We’re not talking about added value.
I mean, I’ve stayed in four star hotels and two star hotels and in terms of the room I get for the price, there absolutely IS a difference. A four star hotel is invariably better in many ways - the room is nicer, the bed softer, the sheets and towels better, the bathroom better, the facilities better, the lobby nicer, the restaurant better. But the Internet access is no better, so why am I forking out $19 for it?
Of course the answer comes down to price discrimination. But it’s not that the OP is cheap.
I find hotels that advertise themselves as “business hotels” tend to give a better product (bed, climate controls, bathroom, & cet.) and don’t nickle and dime you on things like wifi or breakfast. I’m thinking of places like Cambria Suites.
It would be interesting to see a list of chains, their price points, and which amenities are free. I bet you could figure out their target clienteles based on that.
I think the truth lies somewhere in between. Genuinely upscale hotels tend to provide a lot of service and amenities with the room rate; yes, you can only pay for so good a bed and bath, so the extra goes for service, amenities, facilities, etc.
This is not the same thing as trying to rent the most expensive room in a Holiday Inn, which is going to cost you a fortune and get you Holiday Inn service and amenities and surcharges.
I spent some time working in fairly nice hotels 10-15 years ago, and a majority of our guests during the week (80% at least, I’d guess) were business travelers who would expense everything anyway. People don’t mind paying for shit when they’re not really paying for it.