However, I have noticed that a lot of Residence Inn's are getting "tired" Homewood is a newer chain and doesn't seem as "tired" overall.

Marriott is generally pretty good about making franchises stay up to par, but IMHO they aren't as on top of the Residence Inn situation. That's what I meant about "weak link". For example, near me several Fairfields have been
removed from the Marriott brand, but none of the Residence Inns have been removed and none of them are doing much to upgrade the facilities.