Well let’s see if we can figure out this scintillating question. Sometimes people want something cheap and fast. And other times people want to relax in a nicer environment.
Forth. I’ve paid extra for nice hotels and they seem kind of impersonal, very clean and magnificent breakfast buffets but sterile and professional. I like places with a bit of character. Sometimes you find places like Hotel Spirit, Bratislava, http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k602/gobobo1/HotelSpiritBratislava.jpg and sometimes it’s a plain hotel but the staff are warm and welcoming, and you get to know some of the other guests.
Location matters first and foremost which can be a big factor in the price. Beyond that, my priorities change depending on the nature of the trip.
If I’m solo on a motorcycle trip, I’ll stay at something cheap - Motel 6, Super 8, that sort of thing - close to whatever my route is. On these occasions, I pretty much just need a place to sleep.
If I’m traveling with my wife, our needs are different. She doesn’t care for spartan accommodations, and I’m happy to oblige. The extra money (>$200 in some cases) gets us a room on a high floor with a good view, nice furniture/carpet/tile/fixtures, attentive staff, and (sometimes) a restaurant where we want to eat breakfast in the morning.
In Japan we’ve spent close to $300 a night for a room on top of Kyoto Station. Nice room, extra floor space, good view, and a very short walk to a zillion shops, restaurants and trains. When your vacation consists of a whole lot of walking, a nice room is a pleasant place to relax once or twice during each day. The only reason it was less than $300 was because the USD/JPY exchange rate favors American tourists lately.
Yeah, imagine asking for peoples’ opinions about a less-than-earthshaking subject, and in this forum too!
If I’m traveling with my debate team, cost plays a factor. If I’m traveling with the wife, nothing below Marriott level even gets considered. Even so, I can usually get special rates from Marriott for the team. I’m done with the days of wondering exactly what died where in your hotel room. If I can’t go in comfort, I don’t go at all.
There seems to be a point of diminishing returns. One year, around our anniversary, my wife and I realized that we had some expiring credit card points and dumped them into a stay at Trump Tower in Chicago at something like $700/night for the hotel room. It was a very nice room but… not $700 nice. Certainly it wasn’t twice as nice as a $350 hotel room. Now, if I had the sort of money that made that price trivial then maybe I’d judge it by other criteria but I certainly wouldn’t pay cash for the same experience again. I’d rather spend $300 a night for a nice room and pocket the other $400+ for dinner and whatever else.
In my more real day-to-day though I don’t want to spend more than a night in a cheap room. Cheap rooms have cheap beds and I hate sleeping in hotels enough as it is. For a brief overnight while traveling I’ll suck it up but if I’m spending a few days at a location, I want a clean room I can feel comfortable in, especially when waking up in the morning.
Vacationing, we tend to stumble back to our room at 3 am and pass out until sunrise. A quick shower and we are out again. A bed, toilet, and shower are all I need.
I have basic needs for a basic level of comfort, but I can also really appreciated when I indulge a bit, or happenstance provides me a room at a upscale place.
This totally depends on my reasons for traveling and the duration of travel. And also on who is with me – other humans or any pets I might have at the moment.
I’ve been know to drop a lot of money on a swanky, luxury hotel because the location was safer and/or more convenient to my destination and I was traveling alone. Or because I wanted to treat myself to a resort-like experience. A weekend in New Orleans is awesome. A weekend in an old French Quarter 4-star hotel is even more awesome. Or because it was the only place within a 50-mile radius that was pet friendly and I had no choice but to bring my dog(s).
If I’m staying more than one night, or if I have something important to do, for which I have to be well rested (say, traveling for business to give a presentation), then Ima need a high-quality mattress. If the bed sucks, I won’t rest or sleep well and I’ll feel horrible the next day and my performance could suffer for it. If I’m staying a few days, I might want a pool or a gym and/or some sort of easy access to food and coffee (continental breakfast, Starbucks on the corner, in-hotel restaurant, something). Especially if I’m not paying for it (company’s expense), there’s no need to scrape the bottom of the barrel. I will probably need WiFi on a business trip.
If I don’t particularly need to be well-rested and I’m just stopping off during a road trip for a quick 8-hour nap, then I will go bare bones without hesitation. I would not need Wi Fi, a pool, a gym, a hot tub, or anything much other than a bed and maybe a TV in that case.
Different types of trips present different needs. Different levels of acoutrements exist for that reason.
The assurance that the sheets have been changed and that that vague outline on the floor isn’t what you suspect.
Right, I then agree. Spending extra to go from a decent clean & comfortable hotel with some amenities to a luxury hotel is usually a waste.
I can get a luxury hotel in Vegas at a modest price and enjoy it, and once the Govt got a great rate on a ***** hotel off season in Texas and that was interesting.
Right, after you get to clean & comfortable, after that each dollar gets you less and less.
My benchmark tends to be the Holiday Inn express. I normally pay about £60 for a night for a family of 4 and that includes a decent breakfast (an excellent breakfast if you are in Bavaria!).
The rooms are small but clean, comfortable and decent free wifi.
For longer stays we’ll always shell out for an apartment and that never runs to more than £100 a night and often I’ll have a private pool. So if I were spending double that I reckon I’m into fast diminishing returns. I’d resent the money spent because I know I’m getting nothing more for my money that actually matters to me.
If I’m just crashing for the night then I’ll go to the cheap $50 to $70 a night places but if I’m staying for a bit I like to have the extra room like one of the “suites” places that are geared towards business travelers.
Look, I’m only going to be there for an hour…
For me, it comes down to towels and sheets – I want nice ones.
In my experience it makes an enormous difference in big cities, especially Manhattan. A couple hundred dollars a night is the difference between a standard Holiday Inn room, and one with a broken lock on the door, broken glass on the pictures, black mold in the shower and no hot water (I’m describing the Hotel Pennsylvania, for anyone who didn’t recognize the description.)
I’ve found that if you’re not some decor snob who can’t live without the latest style, you can get a bigger room, with a bigger, just as comfortable bed at a chain motel than you get at a fancier (but by no means super fancy top tier -never been to one of those) hotel. Since i don’t wanna look at the bed, just lay in it, works for me.
Nice hotels tend to have nicer showers, views, tv’s, and work space. (but, damn it, they also charge for wifi more).
I like a nice hotel. I’ve stayed in my share of cheap ones, and would not be a snob about it if I had to again, but I do enjoy the finer things…
When traveling solo, I can’t bring myself to pay for a hotel room. I’d rather crash in a cheap hostel dorm and spend the money on just about anything else. I’m not sure what it is about hotel rooms in particular that seem so wasteful, but I just never feel like it’s worth it. I’d rather be in a hostel anyway, as I like having common spaces to chat with other travelers in, and once you’re in the hostel you might as well go for broke and get the dorm.
Traveling with others, I’ll go along because the finances make a bit more sense and I’d rather not hear the other people complain.
That said, when I’m traveling for business and working long hours, it’s a different story. It’s nice to have a decent on-site restaurant and bar, and a few things to do to keep me entertained when I don’t feel like wandering around Lima or whatever after a long day of work.