Originally Posted by
bobert24
I agree that there's a lot of spending required for not just a ton of return, but I've got another question that I think a lot of people may be asking: how good are Best Western's hotels now?
We stayed in them a lot when I was a kid and we were on family vacations. They were, in general, a cheap place to sleep. I've since found myself avoiding them (either consciously or subconsciously) simply because I could often find something better for not a whole lot more.
Are BW properties still primarily a good place to get a cheap sleep, perhaps at the sacrifice of quality or cleanliness? Or have they brought their standards up somewhat?
I know the answer will be "it depends on the property", but any additional insight would be appreciated.
It does look like their Rewards program offers a "No Catch" Status Match to other hotel programs. If that's good for life, it could be useful.
There's a whole forum about that:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/best-...n-rewards-416/
In short, they now have three tiers: Best Western, Best Western Plus, and Best Western Premier. The BW Premier properties are far and few between and I've never seen one yet. But in general the BW Plus properties are a bit more geared toward business travelers, whatever that may mean. If you don't have time to check reviews, then you'll probably have a better "batting average" of getting a nicer hotel if you go for BW Plus than for non-Plus BW. However, there are
some non-Plus BW hotels which are quite nice too.
Some years ago they booted the very worst motels out of their system (including one miserable one I stayed at once and vowed never to return), so definitely don't use memories from multiple decades ago as your only "barometer" for Best Western.
One thing you do need to understand about Best Western: "Every Best Western is independently owned and independently operated." You notice more differences from one BW to the next (even when both are good quality) than from one Hilton Garden Inn to the next or from one Comfort Inn to the next or from one Fairfield Inn to the next.