Carl Johnson

Wingtips Lounge at JFK had the wall dispensers the last time I was there, and somebody put something in the soap dispenser. I didn't know what it was at first, but when I looked in the mirror I figured out that it was vanishing cream!

I was just happy that this happened after the Terminal 4 rearrangement and the lounge was airside instead of landside as it had been in the past, and I had already passed the TSA checkpoint. I wouldn't have been able to get past the checkpoint in the state I was in, because it would be impossible for the TSA clerk to check my appearance against my photo ID.

How are they "terrible"? I've stayed at a few - most recently 6 years ago, so maybe I'm not up to date. I found them plain, but totally satisfactory, and each time I had a car so that it was easy to get food and things i wanted. I thought everything about them was "OK, not great but OK." The price was right in each case and my judgment would have been different if the price had been higher.

That being said, I'm going to look into SBS based on your evaluation - I didn't know anything about it.

pinniped

I was referring to Aloft. That's where I saw it in the Starwood portfolio. Aloft seems like it *wants* to be a hipster brand, although I don't know how successful it's been.

I just think of 4P as a dead brand. I hardly ever see them anymore, and when I do it's a tired old hotel that should probably be a Holiday Inn. Is there a region in the world where they're really building new hotels under the 4P brand?

I think I've stayed in exactly 1 in the past 10 years: by the PIT airport, a Category 1, when I had a very early flight out. It was OK...I think the toiletries were "normal" for a low-end hotel. Not the locker-room dispenser.

Totally agree with both ends of this statement!! I slogged through a couple Candlewood nights during one of those weird (but lucrative) "try all our brands" IHG promos. Absolutely brutal property in North Dallas. Not sure if I'll ever stay in one again...although I suppose if another promo is sitting there and 50k-75k points are hinging on it....maybe.

Nugget_Oz

Although there are three different types of Ibises (Ibii). Ibis Budget (there are two in here the old Formule 1 and Etap) and Styles. I think Styles is a little below Courtyard. For instance they advertise that they have no in-room safe or air conditioning in some locales.

pinniped

No air conditioning? That's not a hotel: that's camping.


Not that I don't enjoy camping. Or staying in an un-air-conditioned cabin from time to time provided it's north enough and/or otherwise cool enough. But it can't even be on the spectrum with Courtyard if the rooms don't have A/C.

Low Roller

BearX220

My son is a commercial pilot who gets billeted in midrange properties all over the country, sometimes on the airport perimeter, sometimes in the city. He says no lodging brand is more loathed by him and his colleagues than Candlewood Suites.

Peoriaman1

I really like the little bottles the hotels provide. And as a bonus, they're smaller than regular "travel size" bottles for even more space saving. Maybe I should start hoarding them!

pinniped

On a 3-day stay, I'll reuse the bottles and soaps I started using on Day 1 until they're gone. I don't need them to take the old ones away if they're still usable, and can sometimes go a whole stay with just one little bottle of shampoo. (Although some of them are *really* small...just 1-2 shower's worth.)

I just don't want the locker-room dispensers unless I'm in an actual locker room.

mecabq

Totally agree. As others have mentioned, the extremely comfortable beds to which all of these chains have upgraded in the U.S. is a significant part of their appeal.

darthbimmer

I also re-use one miniature bottle until it's gone, leaving the new bottles untouched on the shelf. I presume housekeeping leaves them there for the next guest if they're unopened.... And when I like the shampoo a hotel provides (e.g., I find Holiday Inn Express's shampoo surprisingly good for a hotel shampoo) I'll take the opened bottle with me to the next place. With my short hair I can easily get 7 days use out of it.

I don't use the locker-room dispensers even in an actual locker room / shared shower area. I use one of those little hotel bottles I've snagged. They fit easily in the 3-1-1 bag I always pack.

Low Roller

I LOVED the cinnamon scented shampoo that HIE used to have. I'd actually stay there instead of other hotels just for that reason and bribe the housekeepers for a few extra bottles to take home. Sadly, they don't use it anymore...I miss smelling like a cinnabon all day

Fraser

Rather timely this!

I travel every couple of months to the same office and pretty much have my pick of the hotels, there's just a be sensible policy ^ All within a few hundred yards there's a Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Hilton Garden Inn.

The first four or five times I stayed at the Hampton Inn, it's a pretty decent one as Hamptons go and price was always cheapest, the HGI which would be my preferred choice but was always double and more of the HI and doesn't fit in with the "be sensible" policy. Last time I stayed at a Homewood Suites which was cheapest and am currently staying on this trip at the Hilton Garden Inn. When I booked it was way cheap. I've not stayed at HGIs in a while but always found them to be rather decent regardless of where in the US they've been (AK, NY, VA, SC etc. etc.) so I was rather looking forward to the upgrade over the Hampton/Homewood. This one seems a bit meh...the bathroom is smaller than the Hampton with the same amenities and a smaller bathtub and the room is very similar too. Sure it has room service and a bar and a slightly better breakfast but there's not much in it...

pinniped

I like all three of those Hilton brands (assuming it's a reasonably new Hampton Inn). HGI would usually be my top choice, as the bar/restaurant at least give it a "real hotel" feel (kind of) as opposed to the roadtripping feel of the Hampton Inn. Homewoods are great for trips with family...

All of these are good examples of brands that vastly improved upon what existed in those locations prior to them.

Points Scrounger

Four Points Seattle Airport is new, with dispensers. Agreed that Aloft is hipsterish.

uncertaintraveler

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

What Hilton needs to do is combine the Hampton bed with the HGI breakfast and they'd have a knock-out product.

Even better, combine the Hampton bed, the HGI breakfast, and the Homewood Suites kitchenette--that would likely be a great deal for HH Gold/Diamond members.