Best Western Rewards - BW consistency

Hi all,

Looking around at the BW program and properties, I found it a bit "disordered".

I think, that there's a lack of consistency between the product itself, the the websites around the world, the contact info with any hotel...

I mean: entering Accorhotels (for example) I get consistency in the website, with all info really close to a click. I'm new at BW Rewards and Accor, and maybe I'm wrong.

What do you think about?

Best Regards,

You aren't wrong, at least not in my opinion. However, as Best Western always mentions in advertisements, they are the world's largest hotel chain. I would imagine with that many hotels it's not easy to enforce consistency.

What you're forgetting is that Accor operates oodles of hotel brands, but unlike other hotel families the different Accor brands do not all share the same website or the same points program. Accor has everything from Motel 6and Ibis to Mercure to Sofitel and lots and lots inbetween, but unless you find a corporate site (at which you can't book):

http://www.accor.com/en/brands/brand-portfolio.html

you may not realize how many of their hotel brands are missing from whichever of their individual booking websites you tried.

A|Club comes closest, but only covers about 2300 of their over 4000 hotels worldwide:

http://www.accor.com/en/brands/loyalty-program.html

Go to www.motel6.com and see if you still think Accor is standardized.

On the other hand, Best Western Rewards works through all Best Western hotels worldwide, doesn't it? I can use one Best Western site for all their hotels worldwide (even when I'm traveling), so I don't know how BW sites in other places look. (But that's an inconsistency I've noticed in lots of hotels programs, if I happen to visit their sites in other countries.)

But are you asking about the consistency of the websites/etc, or the hotels themselves? Those are two very different questions. It seems you were asking the former, but CMK10 seemed to think you were asking the latter.

Hi all,

Looking around at the BW program and properties, I found it a bit "disordered".

I think, that there's a lack of consistency between the product itself, the the websites around the world, the contact info with any hotel...

I mean: entering Accorhotels (for example) I get consistency in the website, with all info really close to a click. I'm new at BW Rewards and Accor, and maybe I'm wrong.

What do you think about?

Best Regards,

No offense, but why does ANYBODY stay at Best Western??? Seriously?!! Why not try Starwood or Marriott? Trust me, it is a MUCH better product!

No offense, but why does ANYBODY stay at Best Western??? Seriously?!! Why not try Starwood or Marriott? Trust me, it is a MUCH better product!


Maybe because there are many places without Marriott and/or Starwood? (At least my reason.)

No offense, but why does ANYBODY stay at Best Western??? Seriously?!! Why not try Starwood or Marriott? Trust me, it is a MUCH better product!
Maybe because you're paying on your dime, and BW is often incredibly lower in price than nearby Starwood or Marriott.

Or myabe because the only Marriott you can afford is a Fairfield that you tried once and was way dumpier than the better Best Westerns in the area.

(I also tried a Starwood's Four Point or whatever their budget brand is/was once, and had a similar "this is what Starwood quality is????" experience there.)

I'm happy that you get your employer to pay for all your hotel stays, and that you never need to stay in small towns without either Starwood or Marriott (where the choices might be just Best Western, Choice brands like Comfort and/or Quality Inn, and WyndhamRewards brands like Days Inn and Super 8, plus indie motels).

Not all of us have the same travel patterns as you, nor the same reasons for travel as you.

No offense, but why does ANYBODY stay at Best Western??? Seriously?!! Why not try Starwood or Marriott? Trust me, it is a MUCH better product!

One of the nicest hotels I stayed at this year was a Best Western. Even if I was a billionaire I'd stay at this hotel (BW Monterey, CA Beach Resort) rather than any hotel, including the Intercontinental, in Monterey. Furthermore, as others have said, there are places where a Best Western is the, pun intended, best option. And they're often a really good value. Sadly, the consistency just isn't what it should be.

No offense, but why does ANYBODY stay at Best Western??? Seriously?!! Why not try Starwood or Marriott? Trust me, it is a MUCH better product!
It's the only place that offers a government rate in a certain area? It's the closest hotel to where you are working? Because it's the only reasonably priced hotel in a certain area? Because it's the only hotel within walking distance of the pub that's having a party for you because you're visiting while on your honeymoon?
Maybe because there are many places without Marriott and/or Starwood? (At least my reason.)
^ You're correct on this reason too. Mr. Kipper spent about 10 months in a Best Western because it was the closest hotel, and the only hotel that included free breakfast but offered the government rate.

We're still using his points for free stays. :)

I've also stayed there because they were the only hotel offering a fairly inexpensive rate in a town, and that one turned out to be really nice.

Then, I've stayed at another very nice Best Western on my honeymoon, because it was within walking distance of a pub that Mr. Kipper frequented every time he's been in England, and that his best man frequents regularly, and the pub was having a party for us, since we were there on our honeymoon. Figuring that it was best to not drive, and was best to be within walking distance, we opted for the Best Western. It was very, very nice, and breakfast, which was included, was amazing.

You can't compare BW with the major hotel chains like Hilton or Starwood. It's more a pool of a lot of different properties than a concept chain. The number of properties is the most important aspect I guess.

I too belong to BW and Accor. Accor has a wide variety of different levels of hotel, whereas BW is much more consistent in level.

In Europe, BWs are absolutely fine. I use them all the time. However, I have to say that I find BWs in the US to be substandard in comparison to European ones, and so I tend to use the Hilton chain whenever possible.

No offense, but why does ANYBODY stay at Best Western??? Seriously?!! Why not try Starwood or Marriott? Trust me, it is a MUCH better product!

As others have said, you can't have a Starwood or Marriott family property in every small town across the country. But Best Western can do better. It appears they've tried with the Best Western/Plus/Premier tiers. But at the bottom are many Best Western properties that probably need to be culled. But Best Western seems to like being the "big name" in a small town, so the consistency among the bottom tier doesn't exist.

They need to take a page from Holiday Inn, who forced franchisees to upgrade and rebrand if they intended to stay with the brand. I stay in hotels too many nights a year to suffer at a lousy Best Western any more than the absolute minimum.

They need to take a page from Holiday Inn, who forced franchisees to upgrade and rebrand if they intended to stay with the brand. I stay in hotels too many nights a year to suffer at a lousy Best Western any more than the absolute minimum.[/QUOTE]

A girl can dream! There are a couple BWs I stay at (because in the small towns they are located in they are the lesser of evils) that have been rebranded as BW "Plus" but there is not a chance they deserve that title without a massive reno. Maybe an upgrade in standards is also on the way?