Confessions of a four-star hotel snob

By Brian Hoyt

I have a confession to make. I’m a recovering snob, I think. I was "a man of the people." An everyman. A man’s man. Wasn’t I?  But I have grown soft. And in my softness, a result of corporate rates in hotels with the finer things in life. I have been blind to true greatness. And I have sinned in my vanity.

I need hip hotels. Boutiques. Trendy bath products. Bathrobes … oh, comfy bathrobes. Slippers and spas.

But now I am not ashamed to say it. And I will say it proud. I love you, budget hotel.

I love you Best Western. Homewood Suites. Fairfield Inn and your sister hotel, the Springhill Suites. Days Inn. Sleep Inn. Hampton Inn. And Holiday Inn Express. How I love you all so.

No, you don’t have a spa. No, a five-star restaurant does not bring me room service.

But when I needed an affordable room rate, you were there. And when I thought you were going to be a poor man’s version of your big sister brands at the JW Marriot, W, Hilton and InterContinental … well, you blew away my expectations.

You had free Internet. Cleanand comfortable beds and linens. Nice showers. Renovated properties. Free cable TV. You had nice workout rooms and pools. Shuttles to the airport. Some of you had lounges with fireplaces, welcoming me in from the cold. When I was hungry, you fed me. You fed me for free. Had I brought my whole family, you would have fed them too.

I realize I am over emotional about a lodging property, especially one with free food. I’m just excited to have had another journeyman’s epiphany, an awakening to a travel truth. And enlightenment came in the form of free eggs and Internet access.

I don’t think it used to be this way. A budget hotel used to mean you could look at your two feet while lying in bed and see your car out the front door all at the same time. If they had breakfast, it was bad coffee and stale donuts. The bathrooms were questionable and thetowels reminded me of steel wool. Two-, three-star properties are definitely re-defined.

I often wonder now as I travel for business why I still book myself in those big sister brands. Those classy and elegant hotels of grandeur. I mean, are they giving me free eggs and Internet? No, in fact it costs me and my company another hundred bucks when it is all said and done to order in room service.

But a lot of business travelers have caught on, and I vow to do so as well.

True story. On the drive from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh, PA, northbound on Interstate 70, my father-in-law and I got caught up in classic mountain white-out snowfall. Out of the snowstorm,like an oasis in the desert, there were the lights of Breezewood, PA. It’s a truck and rest stop where I-70 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike meet. We couldn’t drive farther. But what motel would we find in a place like this? Holiday Inn Express, I love you.

You took us in. Shelter from the storm. But this was no trucker’s motel. It looked relatively new. They had an outside pool hibernating for winter. A warm fire to welcome us. Free breakfast the next morning was evening more surprising … in a good way.

This was no lame continental fare. They had eggs and sausage. Bagels and danish. Biscuits and gravy. Good coffee — not the bad kind of coffee posing as good coffee.

Another recent stay in the SpringHill Suites in Annapolis, MD, was as enjoyable. A pool with lifeguard supervision and it was indoors! Free breakfast. And a jacuzzi bathtub in our suite! This room was huge, actually. It was almost the size of a small one bedroom or studio apartment.

So these hotel properties are winning me over. And next time I travel — be it for business or pleasure, I’ll be checking these hotels out. At the end of the day, how can you beat made-to-order waffles in the morning? Now if they can only fix airplane turbulence …

Brian Hoyt is the head of corporate communications and government
affairs for Orbitz Worldwide. He and hiswife are parents to an
energetic 2-year-old daughter. Their favorite places to visit are Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Florida, the Shenandoah Mountains, New Orleans,
Charleston, S.C., and Yankee Stadium.

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