<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by RobotDoctor:
IMHO, I feel the best of the Marriott affordable chains is Spring Hill Suites. I do like the Marriott high end properties but often cannot justify the cost. However, the Spring Hill Suites offer comfort and a free breakfast. </font>
...not to mention that many SpringHill Suites properties are fairly new, so they are usually clean.
Fairfield Inns offer a very good to excellent value for the money. My favorite Fairfield Inn is the Merrimack/Nashua one in New Hampshire.
I also agree that the Courtyard properties are virtually useless, in my experience, for many of the reasons posted above in this thread.