Originally Posted by
gottaluvNW
Thank you.
We are a couple with a young son. Looking for a 7 night stay in a child friendly environment. My basic question is that I am attempting to understand the brand positioning of the various lower end brands.
What strikes you (i.e. one or two salient features), when you think of
1. Doubletree
2. Homewood
3. Hampton Inn
4. Hilton Garden Inn
We would love a really comfortable bed. A balcony would be an added plus but not required. Ample sitting space. The only requirement is that the hotel has a pool.
We'll be eating out most of the time so don't need in-house restaurants or a concierge service (familiar with the area) or similar hotel services. Free parking/breakfast are a plus but not required.
At this level of brands you should look at each individual property and not to brand - quality may vary greatly within same brand. So I can suggest that you check the reviews of properties you are thinking about on Tripadvisor and such.
More generally speaking, I would choose Garden Inn in 99% of cases - nice, uncomplicated design, big enough rooms, free full breakfast for Diamonds, free Internet, good bed and so on. Homewood and Hampton tend to be lower in quality, and Doubletree is the most inconsistent brand that I know - them hotels range from "good" to "absolute dump" in my book. Never had an unpleasant experience with a Garden Inn and people working always been very friendly.
But again, at this end of brand scale - look at each individual property reviews/features and choose basing on that.
Regards,
El Puerco Volante.