Comments on: You call that a two-star hotel?

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:57:55 +0000

And throwing gasoline onto this fire, this article came out today:
http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2010/01/18/daily55.html?ana=yfcpc

Yet another Days Inn…this time it is rated the 2nd most dirtiest hotel in the United States! Yay, Way to go Days Inn!

I know one thing…based on this posting and the article above…I’ll not be staying in a Days Inn…ever!
Ed

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:24:56 +0000

The Days Inn in Flint is no longer bookable on the Days Inn website for any date – may have finally been booted from the chain..

By: Carver

Carver — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:48:43 +0000

@Buckster

Your post shows a lack of understanding of how wide the range of travel dymanics can be. It is obviously a value of yours to know what hotel you are staying in before you buy. It so happens that I share that value.

However, a reasonable person, who is not an idiot, may not care which hotel they are staying in as long as it meets certain standards. For that person, Hotwire and Priceline are logical venues.

A good buddy of mine just booked a room in LA for next weekend. His one criteria is that the room is cheap. He has a master’s degree in engineering and owns his very successful robotics company. Obvious, not an idiot. But he honestly doesn’t care about lodging. So hotwire and the like works for him.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:15:15 +0000

“If you choose a 2-star and expect it to be decent, you haven’t traveled much.”

On the contrary, I think there is zero excuse for any national brand, all the way down to the level of a Motel 6, not to provide a decent (ie, reasonably clean, safe) room. As Ed pointed out, the star rating refers to the amenities or lack thereof, not the basic quality. His complaint that the place was filthy and unsafe was totally relevant.

I don’t care if I’m paying $29 at a Motel 6 or $200 at a Westin: my MINIMAL expectation is a clean, safe place to stay. Other amenities like breakfast, pool, restaurants, etc, are extra and my expectations depend on what I’m paying. But a filthy room is unacceptable at ANY price.

By: Chicky

Chicky — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:35:54 +0000

Ed, I feel for you. I got burned on Orbitz a few years ago, before the travel reviews websites were really up and running, and you had to kind of go by the pictures. I booked a (ta da!) Days Inn in Morganton, N.C. It was listed as a three-star establishment. Hoo, boy.
It was an old property, which meant outside doors. It was mostly clean, although the carpet was a little doubtful. It was obvious the place had not been painted or upgraded in a *while.* My husband and I managed the one night we had booked there, but it was still kind of icky. And this wasn’t an opaque site, even!
I didn’t have the travel savvy then that I’ve acquired through reading Chris’ blogs, so I didn’t say anything. We just cut our losses and skedaddled.
I’ll rent a car from an opaque site, since I really don’t care who provides the car, as long as it’s clean and mechanically safe. But hotels? Just not that comfortable doing it.
Nevertheless, someone at Hotwire should be required to check reviews on properties they sell once in a while, and to stop selling those that have these kinds of poor reviews. And, they should have had enough sense to know an upgrade for you would have been a nice goodwill gesture. Now, they’ve received negative publicity and no doubt, many people will think thrice before they book a hotel through Hotwire again.
I also think Days Inn needs to take 99 percent of their owners and managers to the woodshed if they want to keep any kind of reputation as a decent hotel chain. Oh, well.

By: Justin

Justin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:19:28 +0000

@ ED,

I got to say, taking one for the team, is certainly more than most would want to do. Might I suggest, anyone booking a “Motel” or “Hotel” that is possibly suspect, google and look up reviews first. Also, try to find pictures of the location. I am not trying to be a know it all, but the economy is CRAP. As the economy goes, certain places and facilities suffer. Having lived in the Midwest 95 percent of my life (moved not too long ago), consider it a warning. Other places are bad too. Check things out and check them out properly. Even higher brand places could suffer the same fate, as companies cut costs to save. Any how, glad to hear it finally worked out for you ED.

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:01:33 +0000

As the OP, I would like to clear up a few comments that were made about my choice of choosing a 2 star hotel. First off, Hotwire’s star rating does not cover how clean the hotel is kept, only what amenities it has. According to their rating system, if the place provided all the items listed to be a 4 star hotel, it would show on the system as a 4 star hotel. However, the place could be cockroach infested with paint peeling off the walls and still be listed as a 4 star hotel.

I choose the 2 star rated hotel because all I needed was a place to sleep. I didn’t need the continental breakfast, or a swimming pool, or an onsite laundry facility. I just needed a bed in a clean environment. Before I booked, I looked at the example hotels they had and saw the Days Inn. While I may not be as traveled as some, I have done my share of traveling. I have stayed in Days Inn in the past and never had a problem with any of them. They were a brand I used to look for when I traveled, until this one. I wasn’t expecting the facility to be a Hilton (and I have had Motel 6 rooms that have been better than a couple of Hilton’s rooms I have had), but I was expecting it to be clean and safe. Neither of which it was. Also when I arrived in Flint, we went by the facility. The picture shown on Hotwire was of this place, but from like 20 years ago when it was built. If they had had a current picture of this place, believe me, I would not have chosen a 2 star hotel on Hotwire just to be sure I wouldn’t get this place. As Justin said, it looked like the Bates motel’s landscape.

I have booked several other “cheap” rooms with Hotwire before. Not all of them have been to my expectation, but they all have been clean and offered a place to sleep which was all I was needing and wanting to pay for. I felt my request to upgrade to a higher star rating was reasonable given all the bad reviews of this place. I have forwarded all these reviews yet all I got from Hotwire was the canned response mentioned here. And given the comment by the company spokesman, I should have never had to go through this. However, if by my going through this experience has resulted in Hotwire removing this property so no one else gets burned by it, then yes LeeAnne, it was worth the hassle.

By: Buckster

Buckster — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:39:42 +0000

And I love the Hotwire position that it “stopped selling the hotel because of the volume of complaints”. the “volume” of complaints? How many were required? How about a couple of complaints? Where’s the duty the company has to the customers?

Another reason NOT to use Hotwire.

By: Buckster

Buckster — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:37:19 +0000

And who complains about getting the shaft from Hotwire or any of these sites that you can’t understand what property you’re getting before you buy it? What kind of idiots use these services??? Would you do this with any other part of your life? Would you give a company 15K for a used car not to see until after the check cleared? Of course you wouldn’t.

Spend the extra $20 and know what you’re buying.

By: Buckster

Buckster — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:34:58 +0000

Booking a two star hotel in a war zone like Flint, MI. What were you thinking?? When you so stupid things you get bad results. Learn from this.

By: Carver

Carver — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:45:01 +0000

Part of the problem is that we tend to equate stars with AAA Diamonds. Bad idea. Different ranking agencies use different criteria for stars ranking. However, AAA Diamonds are specific and more importantly trademarked. Here is AAA Diamond Ranking (copied from AAA website). If hotwire used this rating, then we could book with assurance of quality. Personally, I rarely stay at a property without a AAA rating.

One Diamond

Properties appeal to the budget-minded traveler. They provide essential, no-frills accommodations. They meet the basic requirements pertaining to comfort, cleanliness and hospitality.

Two Diamond

Properties appeal to the traveler seeking more than basic accommodations. They provide modest enhancements to the overall physical attributes, design elements and amenities of the facility, typically at a moderate price.

Three Diamond

Properties appeal to the traveler with comprehensive needs. Properties are multifaceted with a distinguished style, including marked upgrades in the quality of physical attributes, amenities and level of comfort provided.

Four Diamond

Properties are upscale in all areas. Accommodations are progressively more refined and stylish. The physical attributes reflect an obvious enhanced level of quality throughout. The fundamental hallmarks at this level include an extensive array of amenities combined with a high degree of hospitality, service and attention to detail.

Five Diamond

Properties reflect the characteristics of the ultimate in luxury and sophistication. Accommodations are first class. The physical attributes are extraordinary in every manner. The fundamental hallmarks at this level are providing meticulous service, exceeding guest expectations, and maintaining impeccable standards of excellence. Many personalized services and amenities provide an unmatched level of comfort.

By: Ellen

Ellen — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:57:13 +0000

I live in Flint and have had vendors that have booked that hotel blindly. There is no way that hotel is a 2 star. I agree there needs to be some kind of consistent rating system. However, who ever books a 2 star and not expect a “surprise”?

By: Ted - Phoenix Justice

Ted - Phoenix Justice — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:51:28 +0000

I thought that AAA used to give out standardized ratings as well as a few travel guides. Why can’t the different lodging resellers use them?

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:43:59 +0000

@ Regina,

While a two star hotel might not be “Luxury”, one has a reasonable expectation that the:

1) Room is clean and inhabitable
2) Bed is made and property is kept up
3) Property security is in place

That’s the whole point of a hotel. Who wants to stay in a facility teaming with cockroaches, bugs, or unknown filth. Better yet, who wants to come to a room and find hair, dirty sheets, etc. Two star or not, a place that should be condemned SHOULD NOT be listed on the site.

Two star to me means CLEAN BUT BASIC. You got a room that is kept up, but offers no frills. You got a CLEAN BATH, Shower, and sheets. No continental breakfast, no perks. You got a place to sleep without the fear of something gnawing you alive or someone shooting you outside your room. If they can’t meet that standard, they shouldn’t be listed.

By: Carver

Carver — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:27:18 +0000

I’m going to have to disagree that the OP was wrong to book a two star hotel with Hotwire. I’ve had tons of friends who booked cheap rooms with hotwire and priceline. Sometime they’ve saved money, other times not. Like anything else, its a gamble.

Each person has a different risk profile, so we cannot reasonable state whether its worth the $10 or so saved.

I place the fault purely on Hotwire. They shouldn’t offer any place that does’t meet certain minimum standards.