BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?

Subject: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: GUEST,Sapper on MENTOR after a grueling week away.
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 05:24 AM

Just spent 4 nights away with work at the Strathclyde Hilton at Bellshill, Glasgow.
Now, will someone advise me, what is supposed to be so special about the Hilton Chain?
Rooms were comfortably average with the normal problems of poor ventilation and no power sockets near the bed.
I do not do restaurants, prefering a fairly simple bar meal or room service, but the food on the 2 nights I ate in was poor to mediocre at best. Ever tried eating an over-microwaved nan bread? Apart from nearly breaking my teeth, you could have used the bloody thing to knock nails in!!
At £15.50, the Lamb Rogan Josh it came with might haved been good value from the Safeways Ready Meal section for something under a fiver, but not at that price.
Anyone else got stories of poor value from hotels they've stayed in?

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 06:32 AM

I think the giveaway word is "chain". In my experience (and I used to be married to a travel writer for a national broadsheet), "Luxury hotel chain" is almost always a contradiction in terms.

The Four Seasons chain may be an exception...The George V in Paris is lovely. And you get the sort of attentive service that you expect from a luxury hotel. When we stayed they and milk and cookies at bedtime for kids, and gave them teddies...

For me, luxury hotels are the opposite of chains: the rooms are styled well, and at best individually; the amenities they provide (from facilities to food to the giveaways in the bathroom) are first rate; but I think it's the staff (and often the ratio of staff to guests) that often makes the biggest difference.

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 06:32 AM

I find the same with all these big chain hotels, usually the self service breakfasts are OK, but evening meals are crap. Pub meals are usually your best bet.
Nice to hear from you again, we don't see you around much these days.
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: GUEST,Sapper, just done Carlisle Kingmoor Yard
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 07:55 AM

Did find a decnt little Indian in Bellshill, but that was a 35 min walk away!
What gives with the current trend for plonking these places in the middle of Industrial Estates & Business Parks miles from bloody nowhere?

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 08:05 AM

You should have complained and asked for a discount. It is possible to get one if the complaints are justified and it sounds as if they were.

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: GUEST,Sapper, doing 80 down Shap
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 08:42 AM

I did, and got a price reduction. Not much benefit to me as I'm on expenses!!
Also made sure they realised why I was walking to the Indian place in Bellshill. Lovely little restaurant too!!

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 09:33 AM

Consumer Reports recently did a report on hotels and motels. They found the best value for money is not in the upper tier, but in the mid-range (say USD 60 - 100 per night) range. One simple example: the upper-range hotels almost always charge for Internet access while the mid- and low- range hotels/motels provide it as part of the price of the room.

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: Greg B
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 09:42 AM

The Hilton by the Los Angeles airport is quite pleasant.

Down in Philly, there is a Marriott Residence Inn right by
city hall that is quite a bargain on weekends. For under $100
a night you get a suite of two rooms with a very decent little
kitchen as well. Big, thick comforters on the beds, flat screen
TVs, internet access included, a work desk.

Alas, it's been 'discovered' by the tourists and sports fans,
so it's frequently booked up.

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: GUEST,Sapper in Carnforth Up Goods Loop
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 09:44 AM

Right on there Rapaire!
The Hilton charges a "modest" £15.00, $30.00 per day for net access!!
Several UK Best Westerns have a wireless LAN for BB access and either charge a modest fee for access or it's free.
Mate I'm working with scored a 1st too. He felt the porn was not as advertised, complained and got it struck off his bill!!
Receptionist was highly amused as he's the 1st to complain.
I suppose that is more to do with the "Giant Dildo Refund" scam than any real satisfaction with the service!!

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 09:45 AM

Try not to stay at the Paris Hilton...it's been over-used recently.

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 09:47 AM

I think it's only right that Hilton is an upmarket load of rubbish, the same is true of Paris Hilton!
G.

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 09:54 AM

As part of a package deal, Manitas and I stayed in the Ramada, Manchester - in a room that for two of us, for one night, would normally have cost £115 not including breakfast which was an extra £15. Breakfast comprised a help yourself buffet of croissant and rolls, tea and coffee. And this was in 1995!

Just because a place has a big name, doesn't mean you'll get big name service. If you get bookings just because you're called the Hilton, then you don't really need to worry about little things like quality of service or value for money.

If your company is looking to make savings, suggest to them that they find a cheaper hotel to send deligates to, rather than make half the staff redundant.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: Snoozer
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 09:55 AM

The company I work for has their annual Holiday Party in center city Philadelphia, PA. They reserve a block of rooms at the hotel where the party is held for people to stay over night after the party, if they wish.
For two years I opted to stay overnight, since it is a 45 minute drive for me to get to center city. One year we were at the Bellevue and the next year at the Ritz Carlton. Two very high end hotels.

The Bellevue was nice, as Sapper said in the first post "comfortably average". Maybe slightly above average.

The Ritz, on the other hand, was a disappointment all around. Not only the tiny room (for two of us, at the discounted rate of $180.00 a night), the non-working TV (which was OK cause we wouldn't have watched it anyway), the lack of coffee in the morning (it was available in the lobby but we happened to get down there just as they ran out. They went to refill the urns, and we waited around for a while but we left before they returned). But the whole Holiday Party there was a disappointment, the food, the band, the long lines for drinks, and why did they have to keep the ballroom so dark, it was like a cave. You'd think they'd never held a party there before.

We just expected better due to their "reputation", it was the Ritz Carlton, after all.

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: GUEST,Sapper on MENTOR, just pulling into Derby
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 02:06 PM

One of the biggest bugbears is that, because people see us staying in "posh" hotels, they get the idea that when we're working away, we're having a whale of a time.
Well, if over 58hrs work in a week is a good time, I'd hate to see a bad one!!
Generally, we get in, check in, grab some scoff and away to bed!!
If we have an early finish I might go for a walk and do a recce on the area.
Just as finish times can vary between mid-afternoon and late evening, so start times can be between "silly o'clock" in the morning and 10ish. Can knock any social life well and truly on the head!!

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 28 Jul 07 - 10:02 AM

I do NOT stay at upmarket hotels when I'm traveling on vacation, but I did have a job that involved business travel and the service usually booked us in 'upper tier' hotel chains such as Hilton, Marriot, etc. First of all, the big chains nickel and dime you to death. EVERYTHING is extra, and meals, drinks at the bar, etc. are always expensive. Not worth it, in my opinion. I've been in smaller independent hotels, or some of the less expensive chains such as Hampton Inn, Sleep Inn, Microtel, and the rooms are basically comparable. As long as it is clean, the bed is comfortable - what more do you really need???   So that is what I seek out. Even Travelodge is fine - I don't usually spend much time when I am on vacation in my hotel room so as long as there is a reasonable bed and bathroom I'm quite satisfied.

When I used to go to Mexico City on business most people stayed at the Nikko - an elegant, but sterile hotel that at the time was almost $400 a night. Our Mexican agents stayed at a small independent hotel and suggested we try it instead. It was so much nicer. For $90 a night we got a lovely room with a Jacuzzi, the staff knew us and greeted us by our names, and there was a reasonably priced bar and excellent, moderately priced restaurant on site. And it was located in a great area on Paseo de la Reforma.

BTW I feel the same way about super expensive restaurants, which I had ample opportunity to sample when I was on an expense account. Mostly rip offs - what can they really do to food to make it so delicious that it costs a weeks averag wage????

And i agree with Sapper on business travel. Even if you stay someplace comfortable, it's grueling!

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: iancarterb
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 12:46 AM

I joined the Hilton frequent flyer plan years ago when visiting my mother because the Hampton (a Hilton property) gave a discount to visitors at the care facility she lived in. Always managed to use the accumulated points to stay at the O'Hare Airport Hilton from which I could crawl on hands and knees to my next flight- virtually in the airport. That way -free- the Hilton was a good deal. Otherwise, pretty much the same except the Southern Pines Hampton had as good a breakfast for free as the Hilton for big bucks.

Subject: RE: BS: UP MARKET HOTELS?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 01:06 AM

Any large group of hotels such as Hilton or Marriott have hotels that vary in the accommodations offered and the services rendered.
Look them up in your AAA or RAC or whatever you use when deciding on advance reservations.
Blanket condemnation or recommendation is not justified.

I loved the Amsterdam Hilton, on a canal and outside of the noisy, quivery town center. A fine hotel!
My company maintained a suite there, and it was available whenever the company brass weren't using it (The advantages of working for a multinational).