That pained me a little bit, physically. Particularly the Olive Garden bit.

I think it depends on how it's presented. Whether it's the Holiday Inn in Des Moines, or one in Paris, it's probably more typical of what someone may expect. Especially if the traveler doesn't have status. An in-depth review would be very interesting.

Alternatively, there's some good framing to be had for business travelers, e.g. "How to make your monthly flight, car rental and stay in Little Rock slightly nicer by accruing status." Especially with some kind of status/no status comparison. A newspaper I'm forgetting did something like that for air travel a few weeks back, with two journalists on the same flight, and it was an interesting read.