Gynob001

I usually end up in pathetic hotels with misserable stays mostly out of my own poor preparations. Bad neighborhoods, dingy hotels, lumpy and unclean beds, on top of garages, burnt out and dirty carpets, unclean restaurants...

But my luck seems to have changed. My recent stays in both name brand as well as generic hotels have been great. Good clean rooms, quiet, comfortable bed etc. I am not doing anything different-paying perhaps the same amount.

What's your experience? Have the hotels gone better or am I getting better deals for the same amount of money? I usually spend between $100 and $150 per night.

triphunter

My worst experience was at the Ibis Hotel in Amsterdam. 100 Euros per night gets you bed bugs, deafening traffic & incredibly rude staff. Never again!

ericjkelly

Worst Hotel Ever....

Howard Johnson Eureka, CA Snowstorm was coming in...we couldnt get over the pass to our hotel. We slept in our clothes

CubsFanJohn

Worst Hotel Ever
The Hotel Lorriane I stayed at while in Paris this summer.... Ick!
Best Hotel Ever
The Jasper Park Lodge in Jasper, AB I was only 7 or 8 when we took this trip.

Ocn Vw 1K

As to the "worst" U.S hotel, here's a recent reference point with 87 posts:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...ve-stayed.html

pinworm

The worst hotel I have stayed in, bar none, out of literally 800 or more world wide, was the Tulsa Select Hotel and Convention Center in Tulsa, OK.

I don't even know where to begin with this place...the fecal smell in the lobby, the theft of remote controls, the mold in the shower and in the threadbare carpets, the hair smell of the pillows, the springs coming through the mattress, the broken locks, the scary neighborhood, the drunks from the bar downstairs, margaritas made with vodka and lemonade, the sign at the desk that says "We do not accept cash from Tusla residents" or it's proximity to the local freeway.

I have slept in remote Bolivian hostels. I spent a strange night in a sleeping "pod" in Tokyo once. I even slept in a car on the mean streets of Prague during winter..and the Tusla Select made them all look like the shangri-la. DO NOT STAY THERE!!!

The best was a lovely bed and breakfast in Belfast. It was no 6 star resort, but it was very very nice. Plush, clean, modern, with nice folks running it, and it only cost about 20 pounds per night..it wa the best value for the money ever.

peachfront

My worst hotel stay of my life was not the fault of the hotel, so I won't name it. We'll just say "somewhere in rural Bolivia" where the villagers were celebrating the Saints day of their village. I am a victim of a drive-by shooting in my own home, and the noise was such that I really thought I was about to be perforated by bullets in a gang war on the night in question. Talk about flashbacks. I was frozen in terror...but it was all the villagers setting off fireworks and playing the drums. A bit like a movie in retrospect. I would go back to the hotel/B&B -- just not on THAT night.

I guess the best hotel stay of my life was the penthouse suite in Atlantic City, square footage approximately twice that of my home, butler service, anything I wanted at my beck and call -- and as I sat in my hot tub overlooking the city and the ocean I suddenly spotted a lovely pair of Peregrine Falcons. Whoa!!! Talk about value for money...it was comped so it was pretty much infinite value compared to what I'd spent. Again, don't know if I should name the hotel in question, since I think the host would get in trouble if the Donald found out that they'd comped card counters. But wow, what an experience.

I'm a person just as happy to sleep in a tent, a hostel, or a sleeping bag in the back of our old Ford 100...but some experiences do stay in your memory, don't they?

I've never seen a bed bug, I hope they are the shark attack of 2010, knock on wood!

As for the original question, I'm just a hell of a bargain shopper I guess because any hotel I've stayed in for $100 a night or more has been a superb experience. But I'm kind of fanatical about research, planning etc. And I don't mind staying somewhere for $20 a night and judging the place fairly on its merits either.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

Motel 6 in Phoenix. Sheets were stained. We slept on the outer covers in our street clothes and left the next morning without even brushing our teeth.

stevens397

Easy. On my honeymoon in 1970, staying at a decent hotel in Paris (Frommer's Europe on $5/day!). Checked out, went to retrieve the rented car only to find out the place (tho confirmed) was closed. Went back to the hotel but they had already rented the room. Asked for their help and they thought it was unlikely they could find me a room for only one night. Went to lunch and when we returned, the owner told us she found us a place, we wouldn't like it, but it was a bed.

Well folks - it was a brothel! Didn't sleep much that night due to the moaning and screaming but 40 years later, we still laugh about it.

The best was The Point in Saranac Lake, NY. So many upscale properties around the world but this place was magnificent, rustic and truly unique. Doubt I could afford it today.

Global_Hi_Flyer

Worst: a hotel in the Meadowlands booked by a travel agent to stay within per-diem. Me: "There's no blanket on the bed" Desk clerk: "You mean you plan to spend the whole night?"

Best: Hotel Chandelier (no longer exists) in Geneva. "Ah, Mr. GHF, it is early on Saturday and your room is not yet ready, but I know you like to visit the flea market. If you'll leave your bag with me, I will make sure the room is ready for you when you get back".

Honorable mentions: Grand Hotel Serbolini, Bellagio, Italy; Locanda del Amorosa, Sinalunga, Italy; Westin Excelsior, Rome; St. Julien, Boulder, Colorado; Stafford, London; Westminster, Paris; and a bunch of others that I can't list here.

violist

Best
Newport Marriott (RI) - just a lovely, unpretentious place.
Sultan Cave Suites (Goreme) - ditto; only downside was
that bits of cave wall kept falling down onto my bed, but
I am informed that that's part of the experience.


Worst
Must be something about Phoenix. I once stayed at a "Best Inn"
there which was okay but for the fact that the mattress was
stained through with a great quantity of blood, and there were
substantial quantities of hair of various origins in the bathtub.
Oh, yes, the room smelled of disinfectant and the sheets of
elderly Caucasian.

pbiflyer

Was that best or worst?

hiltonlondon2009

Don't hate. I spent a week at the Park Hyatt Tokyo and one night in the "pod", and believe me, the pod was an enjoyable and fulfilling for me. To start, I'm no fan of a hotel that costs over $100. PHT nights were all free so I did it. But I was much happier and at home in the "casket", as my brother and I call it.

hiltonlondon2009

Worst hotel experience: Hyatt Place Phoenix North. Ended up with 40 beg bug bites, some of which swelled up to the size of a half dollar. Stayed at over 25 hostels, each one a GREAT experience. Many more poor hotel experiences; strange correlation: higher price, more likely chance of poor stay. Go figure.

United747

My worst was the Intercontinental Milwaukee because the fire alarm went off at about 2 am. Although that really isn't their fault but it still was my worst.

My best was either the Marriott County Hall or the Rome Cavalieri Hilton. The Marriott because the room we got was amazing and the Hilton because of the views and room design.

Delta747