Originally Posted by
jamesteroh
I have never stayed at a fairfield but their breakfast can't be any worse than a Hamptons
It depends on what aspect of breakfast you care about. I was at a Hampton last night/this morning which had a fruit salad that was all made of fresh fruit (sliced oranges, graprefuit, pineapple, plus grapes). At one of the two Fairfields I've stayed at, they used to have only Dole's type fruit salad, and now they've simply gotten rid of it (to make space for something else).
So
on that aspect, at least, a particular Hampton's breakfast is better than a particular Fairfield's breakfast.
Most midscale hotels (if they don't have "cooked to order" breakfast) have fake eggs. So if that's your complaint about Hampton, it's a complaint about the category, not a parituclar brand. The only way, IMHO, to have tolerable eggs at most midscale hotels is if they have hard-boiled eggs (it's a lot harder to fake those!).
Originally Posted by
jamesteroh
One thing to consider is double dipping and promos as well. I think Marriott has some decent promos but most of the ones at BW aren't that great.
Indeed, I finally dropped from (status matched a couple years ago) BW Diamond to BW Platinum because I didn't stay enough. And that, in turn, is because I tend to only stay enough at BW to max out the promos (and then use up the gift cards or certs that I earn in some of those promos), and that not being enough to (re)qualify for Diamond shows how ridiculously capped their yearly collection of promos is.
Originally Posted by
jamesteroh
With BW though you have a lot more hotel choices if travelling to europe.
Actually, also if you're travelling through small-town
USA. There's tons of smaller towns in the US with a BW but no HHonors property and no Marriott property. (Though to be
maximally set up for small-town USA, you may need to use BW
and Choice
and Wyndham Rewards, as some places you'll only find one of those, or at least only one of those available on your dates or only one of those at a price you want to pay.)
And, btw, that's the other factor: Are you paying on your own and on a tight budget, or are you reimbursed (or paid outright by employer)? That can determine whether you can afford certain brands in certain cities. That (price) is the only reason I had trouble maintaining HHonors Gold status (especially before I discovered MVP rates), because in the areas I stay most often HHonors had gotten out of my price range (but Marriott was still affordable and BW still was and Choice still was and IHG still was).