As low as $44 some weekends in Atlanta this past spring. Still as low as $54 in some places over weekends. $63 for Las Vegas over July 4th weekend.

At those rates you can give me a "tired" Courtyard and I'm fine.

However, these days I prefer SpringHill Suites for a midprice Marriott family hotel.

I think I'd have to rank midprice hotels in this order, assuming they're "all on the same corner" where I'd like to stay and all the same rate:

StayBridge Suites (my current fave, though there aren't many of 'em)
SpringHill Suites
Hilton Garden Inn
Holiday Inn Express
Courtyard
Hampton Inn
Hyatt Place
Fairfield Inn

The above ranking which places Courtyard in the bottom half, from somebody who generally posts very favorably towards Marriott, speaks volumes. From Marriott online sites, the new Courtyards look very nice and their concept (such as the redesigned lobby and restaurant) sound right. But I've never seen one in person, and because there is no easy way of determining which few properties are the new Courtyards, it's not likely I'll see one soon. On the other hand, I've stayed at a few new Fairfields, and they are very nice indeed. I previously posted about a very nice new one in Wausau Wisconsin.

I guess that means you've never stayed at the FI Asheville Airport (NC)! (Disclusre: it was years ago and the property might no longer be an FI.)

While I'd rather stay in a SHS, FS or Ren, sometimes CY is the best choice. Usually it's a price or location issue. In the past few years, though, I've stayed in some good CYs. Most are the newer style, some are renovated. I've probably stayed in more bad CYs.

Here's the off-the-top-of-my-bald-head list of the good properties:

- SF Downtown - a little out of the way, but a nice property.
- Altoona - For some reason, it's really nice. If all CYs were like this, we wouldn't have this thread.
- Weston, FL - Restaraunt on site, nice hotel.
- Schaumberg, IL - Kinda cool vibe. Nice staff.
- Miami Lakes - now that the renovations are finally done...
- Jacksonville Beach - it's on the beach, with easy access, a bar/rest.
- Carolina Beach - every room has a balcony on the beach. Nice people. Well maintained property.
- Ft. Lauderdale East - It's an old dump in a horrible location, but it's clean and convenient to where I need to be. Despite my first sentence, I love this hotel for some reason!
- Miami Beach - It's on the beach, has a Carraba or something in the lobby.
- Bellevue, WA - It's swank. The breakfast is overpriced, but it's the best choice in this Seattle suburb.
- Charlotte Downtown - Great location. You can walk to everything in downtown Charlotte.
- Orlando Downtown - It's a pretty normal highrise CY, but it's always so much less expensive than anything else in the area. It's real near some funky neighborhoods with great places to eat and shop. Not the kind of chain/Disney places you think of with Orlando.
- Dallas Downtown - not what you would expect locationwise from downtown Dallas, and that's a good thing.
- Milwaukee Downtown - historic old building right on a city square/park, nice staff and it's attached to a small mall.
- Burlington, VT, Harbor Nice hotel, nice views, nice area.
- Toronto - a little removed from downtown, it's more like a well-aged relic than a modern CY.
- Watertown, NY - Funky renovated older hotel, with restaurant on site.

Wow, it's a longer list than I expected...

To be avoided at all costs:
- Wilmington, NC - Yuck. That says it all.
- Charlotte Arrowood Meh. Not a good location.
- Whichever property is in SC just south of CLT near the amusement park - Pitch a tent on the highway. It will be less noisy.
- Austin at the highway split - If you're going to rebadge a Holiday Inn, do some upgrades.
- Wilmington, NC - In case you missed it earlier on my list.
- Augusta, GA - Everything that's old and dated with CY is on display here.

On my current assignment (Lloyd Center, Portland) I have the choice between a Doubletree, a CY and a RI. I'm splitting my time 50:50 between the DT and the CY (both have preferred rates with the client) as I don't know where my next assignment will be, and I'd rather hit top tier with 2 programs than one so I have double the chance of being top-tier with the "next" hotel.

So, to the choice between the CY and the RI ... basically it comes down to $$$. The break-even point where the RI comes out ahead is somewhere near four nights a week and I'm only (???) doing three. If the $$$ were close I'd jump at the RI but I'm not sure I could swing it where they fall right now.

The ONE thing I really like about CYs is the in-house laundry. Go up to a FS (or a Doubletree or FS Hilton) and you lose that - and my stuff isn't so expensive that dropping twenty or thirty for valet laundry makes much sense when a handful of quarters gets the job done. So I can leave my stuff at the hotel over the weekend, do laundry Monday night (when I'm not up to doing anything anyway) and I'm travelling much lighter.

The above post which takes #5 out of 8 and instantly restates it in the most negative way as "in the bottom half" speaks volumes.

Actually, HIE and Courtyard are essentially the same to me; I go HIE if I want breakfast in the morning and Courtyard if I don't. I'm a rarity on FT: I actually don't pig out on "free breakfast" every morning or make it the cornerstone of my hotel choices.

Hmmm...this now has me thinking...

Ranking midscale brands is tough because so many of them are now approaching 15-20 years old. Offhand, I'd like to rank Residence Inn very high, but too many of them are becoming worn out and in bad need of a retrofit. Same goes for Hilton's Embassy brand: I've been in a couple of worn-out ones in the past few years.

Anyway, assuming I'm in a new or renovated property in each case, I'd rank 'em as follows:

(1) Homewood Suites (Why? King-sized beds and full HH earning. Marriott, are you listening?)
(2) HGI
(3) Aloft
(4) Residence Inn (Again, I'm talking about clean, newer ones. The 50% points penalty and queen-sized beds are drawbacks.)
(5) SHS (the new ones only)
(6) Embassy Suites
(7) Hyatt Place
(8) Courtyard (A few exceptions would rank higher, but the near-full-service CY's are generally urban and priced at Marriott/Renaissance levels.)
(9) Radisson
(10) The old Doubletrees - their suburban midscale hotels (e.g. North Tampa. Yes, I realize DT has some nice urban flagship properties. But they also have these gross semirenovated HoJo type places that really shouldn't wear the DT brand.)


In the lower category - the Interstate roadtrip motels - Hampton crushes Fairfield IMHO. I would also pick it over Four Points, Ramada, Sleep Inn, or Holiday Inn in most cases.

Here's one you can add to your list:
San Diego, Downtown I just completed a stay there and overall, I was impressed. It is a renovated bank building originally built in the '20s. The lobby is the original bank lobby and is quite impressive. It is on the north side of the Gaslamp quarter so there are many good dining options nearby. Unlike most Courtyards, there is a bar/restaurant open in the evenings and they offer turndown service in the evenings. And unlike almost any Marriott these days, not only did I get a newspaper delivered, but they actually honored my preference!!^

But...the fact that we can list the "good" Courtyards in a couple of messages does not speak particularly well for the brand.

One thing I have noticed is that the Courtyard brand seems to be a common choice for Marriott's "oddball historic renovation" properties. In addition to San Diego, I have stayed in unusual Courtyards in Omaha, Pittsburgh and New Orleans.

The slogan should be, "Designed by business travelers for business travelers -- in 1985." The design has grown stale over the years, along with many of the buildings, and other chains have surpassed its offerings. Even internal competitors like Fairfield are doing better in many cases. That's probably why I'm seeing some CYs priced lower than FIs in the same neighborhoods....

Staying at CYs is not why or how I've become a Marriott elite. I earned that primarily through staying at FS properties overseas, where I've found MR offers more options and more affordable options than other US chains. I've shifted over from HH to MR as my travel patterns have changed. If I were still traveling mostly within the US and staying at mid-tier hotels, I'd stick with HH. Hamptons, Hilton Gardens, and Embassy Suites are much better than CYs, FIs, and RIs. Or maybe I'd even switch to Priority Club. After all, there's a HIX in Bishop, CA....

Speaking to a number of business travellers- the consensus seems to be that the NEW design Springhill Suites are some of the best

I'll take a stab at this.... Just a few from my past year or two on the road....

Good....

Paso Robles, CA (despite closing the "bar" at 7:45pm)
Overland Park Conv Ctr., KS
Tukwillia (sp?), WA


Not Good....

Dallas Stemmons Exp, TX
Orlando, LBV, FL.
Bettendorf, IA

A couple more good ones:

CY Columbus - Easton, OH

CY Thousand Oaks, CA

CY Columbus - Worthington, OH (Older but well maintained property. Friendly staff and priced appropriately for what you get).

--Jon

Well, you should note however that Intercontinental Hotels are also part of the Priority Club loyalty-scheme, and they have some decently impressive properties and resorts as well (like the IC Bali Resort, the one in Cyprus or Miami to mention something within the US). So including these and also those Crowne Plazas that offer reasonable quality I would rate Priority Club on par with Hilton or Marriott.

On a more general note, I just went through my stay-listing for the recent year and found only a single Courtyard stay..

As mentioned before by others the lack of breakfast is the deciding factor for me. When in the US I usually stay at Residence Inn properties for the added space and the full-size refridgerator (besides free breakfast), when in Europe it is mostly Full Service because of the free breakfast and lounge access as a Platinum.

Have tried a Springhill Suites in the US recently (a newly renovated one) and was positively surprised by the value I received...if only their room-descriptions would actually match reality (the one-bedroom I reserved was actually what one would consider a studio at a RI).

Greetings - Dirk

Too funny.

I have stayed in the Omaha Courtyard and almost included it on my "bad" list. My room was right on the highway. It was winter, but the ceiling was so high that the room never heated to a liveable temperature. And the pastel pink and green decor looked like something from The Golden Girls. But some people really like the hotel????

Agreed 1000%.

There is no doubt that there are awesome properties associated with that brand....there has to be merely by default! But the point is that I would have to make this my preferred hotel chain of choice in order to rack up enough points/status to experience some of those "awesome" properties and it is not feasible to cease staying @ Marriott or Hilton properties in order to do that.

Maybe it is the old feeling of the "Holiday Inn" of years ago, but I just don't see it being on par w/Marriott and/or Hilton for that matter. But that is probably because I have not experienced many of them because I would only stay at one if there was no Marriott or Hilton.

I have only stayed in one CY myself...it was okay, but I didn't have a microwave and they charged for breakfast (I do like to get some fresh fruit/yogurt). But there were always better choices for me...like I said in the OP, I don't know why anyone would pick a CY over a RI (other than the 50% reduction in points).

But the bottom line is, for me anyway, I can't maintain Plat in Marriott and Diamond in Hilton consistently. I will likely lose my Diamond w/Hilton this year as I have basically turned the corner and have been staying mostly at Marriott properties, hence the Plat. I have a better idea of the true differences between the two brands now and they both have pros/cons.

This will be my first year trying a Marriott outside the country as Plat (Australia) so I will really be able to compare apples w/apples in a couple of months.

Dawn