Originally Posted by
pinniped
I think most Bonvoy properties are still nice hotels. (Where one is in need of maintenance/renovation, it's a slightly different topic than the one about services and benefits provided to guests.)
My main point is that they've removed everything that makes the hotels uniquely Marriott (or whatever specific brand they are).
So at this point, the inside of a Choice hotel room doesn't look a lot different than the inside of a Marriott hotel room. If both hotels no longer have lounges, restaurants, spas, room service, etc. - in part because the Choice hotel never did - then we're pretty much down to comparing who has better mattresses, working fixtures, good plumbing, fast wifi, etc. In many cases, the answer is "the newer hotel", regardless of the brand.
Understandable, while my Bonvoy experience has been less benefit-absent than others in this thread, I get that consumers who feel like Bonvoy isn't offering anything of value to them are free to explore other options for different value propositions. As someone who travels to and mostly stays in "city center" areas, my hotel choices pretty much come down to major chains that are all relatively the same price. Anything that is significantly cheaper often would not be somewhere that I would want to stay (I place much more emphasis on my hotel than many other people in my life when they travel). However, if a Bonvoy member was traveling to other areas where their choices are more limited (or there is a larger proportion of non-major properties - I'm thinking road trips, etc), I can definitely see the appeal of looking at other options (i.e. what is newest?) in the absence of benefits.
For me, it always comes down to Marriott vs. Hyatt (I don't stay at Hilton for several reasons - the largest is their lack of a set late check-out benefit), and then, it really comes down to which chain has the property that looks the most interesting to me.