Lots of interesting comments on both sides of the fence. I don't have anything against chains and do stay in them when on a road trip in N. America. I couldn't live in a Hampton Inn as one poster says would be OK, but I could probably live in a Marriott Residence Inn for an extended period of time. My wife, sister-in-law and myself stayed in one which had 2 separate bedrooms, a living room with fireplace and a kitchenette. Located right on the lake. Residence Inn Gravenhurst Muskoka Wharf - Guest Reservations

I'm not an AirBnB fan at all, in fact I am 100% against using them, primarily because of their unethical business model. They knowingly allow illegal rentals to be listed and hide behind their lawyers and say, 'we are only a listing site and not responsible for what is listed.'

I agree with the comment regarding UK B&Bs. Quality varies tremendously with there being a lot of low quality examples. It's ironic that the birthplace of B&Bs has some of the poorest example in the world. I avoid them and look for smaller hotels. Here is an example: The Woodside Hotel - The Woodside Hotel, Aberdour, Fife hotel rooms, wedding venue, restaurant, function suite & venue hire Coincidently, this hotel and the first one I linked in the OP, share the same birthdate, 1873. The Woodside is a half hour by train from Edinburgh city centre and with much more reasonable prices. The village it is in, Aberdour, is a nice little seaside village with a period train station. http://c8.alamy.com/comp/DF46A4/aber...and-DF46A4.jpg I can assure you it is far nicer to stay there than in the Sheraton in Edinburgh, I"ve done both. One you feel you are in Scotland, the other you could be anywhere.

Regarding Holiday Inn and Gulf Oil, yes I remember that now that you bring it up cblaisd. Then of course came along Howard Johnson's which captured the vote of my Brother and I as they had their attached restaurants with 28 flavours of ice cream. 28 FLAVOURS! That got our attention at age 10-12. I switched my attention to girls by the pool at age 13.

I think there is a place for both chain and non-chain hotels. My OP was just about not developing tunnel vision in the pursuit of Loyalty Points when there might be a more unique hotel that would appeal to you if you took the time to look around. For those who do like to find more unique hotels, it would be interesting to see some of your finds. So add a link and let us see what you have found. Here is one of our favourite finds: Château Eza - Hotel Chateau Eza | Eze Village | Site Official | Cote d?Azur Found in the days before the internet when it was not so easy to do.

The internet like everything else has its pros and cons but in terms of travel and finding hotels, it is definitely a plus for the traveller. Nowadays, almost every hotel, hostel, B&B, etc. has its own website making it easy to search out some little gem. Here is another of our 18th century favourites: Hotel Tamaro Ascona Switzerland | Official Site | Piazza Ascona Lake Maggiore

And for those who dislike B&Bs, here is a 17th century B&B to consider. They rent only one room, it is in the turret on the left in the picture. https://www.sawdays.co.uk/france/pic...=1&term=France Here's a better photo. Not your average B&B is it and yet it is available at an average B&B price of from $85 USD per night. http://frenchbattlefields.com/blog/w...-la-Quincy.jpg