Originally Posted by OTD

I just wish the little bottles had the contents written in big letters. I don't wear my reading glasses when i take a shower and it sometimes takes a couple tries to figure out which is the shampoo.

Putting hand lotion in your hair is not the best way to start the day.

Originally Posted by pinniped

A couple months ago, a full-service Autograph Collection hotel in NYC refused to store a bag unless I paid the bellman $3 cash. I was a guest at the hotel who had just checked out 5 minutes earlier.

I was taken aback by the nature of the request and ended up *not* storing a bag, even though I always tip about that per bag. The guy made it sound like a hotel charge, which would certainly be a decrease in an important service I use regularly on business trips where I leave the hotel room at 8AM but don't fly out until evening.

Originally Posted by DenverBrian

Courtyard and Hilton Garden Inn share significant DNA in a single person: Adrian Kurre. Adrian was heavily involved in the initial growth of Courtyard; thought they weren't being consistent enough; hopped over to Hilton to "out-Courtyard" Courtyard by building HGI with its full breakfast. (These days Adrian heads up Homewood Suites, which no doubt explains the consistency in that brand.)

Both Courtyard and HGI have a huge inventory of 80s (CY) and 90s (CY and HGI) builds, so it's no wonder that people tend to think of them first in the "select service" category. I'd posit that Courtyard invented the select service hotel; HGI perfected it; HIE copied it.

Originally Posted by drgmobile

There are only so many full service Hiltons you can open in any given city. But come up with a different kind of hotel offering -- one that appeals to a different segment of the market -- and you have room to grow.

...By the 1990s, the hotel companies came to realize that many of these sub-brand properties were cheaper to construct and operate.

Originally Posted by Kagehitokiri

courtyard is defined by marriott as "limited service"
marriott notes massive select service expansion/pipeline in press releases

Originally Posted by RichardInSF

I stayed in a HGI in Bakersfield that had installed a separate motion sensor on every light switch in addition to the one on the HVAC. Nothing stayed turned on for long. That kind of "improvement" constitutes a decline to me.

Originally Posted by cbn42

Unless this charge was displayed somewhere or you could pay it by credit card at the front desk, it sounds like it was just a corrupt bellman. I would have reported it to the manager, and then to corporate if I didn't get a satisfactory answer.

Originally Posted by pinniped

I've kind of wondered if there won't be a future evolution by Marriott and Hilton into the realm even more rural than Fairfield and Hampton.

I know that sounds nuts, but there's a market there. New Hamptons and Fairfields these days have gotten pretty good: they've upgraded the product and command $100-125/nt in most places. As such, they tend to be right along major interstates and usually within an hour or so of a large or medium-sized city. They can't get *too* rural.

Thus it wouldn't surprise me if one of them devised a concept in the $60-80/nt. range that they could deploy to less-trafficked interstates, state highways, and small towns that today might be lucky to have a Best Western type of place. It seems like there's a huge fragmented market full of lousy motels: ripe for one of the Big 3 (I'll add IHG to this...although I'm not sure how you brand HIX to something even lighter while still keeping the HI name) to come in and dominate with a clean, fresh brand.

Since the lower end is where the profits seem to be, I'm just surprised it hasn't been done.

This is what goes through my head when we're roadtripping late at night to Minneapolis, getting to an MSP airport hotel at 1AM. Last Marriott/Starwood/Hilton on I-35 is in Ames, 3.5 hours south. Between there and MSP, it's nothing but truckstops and strong coffee.

Originally Posted by Oformula

Would soap/shampoo/conditioner coming from wall-mounted units, as opposed to individual bottles, be an example as well?

Originally Posted by Azamaraal

Somewhat contrary to the general view my experience has been that lately the Hampton Inn has become much more than it used to be and has become my "Hilton" of choice. A classic example for me is the Hampton in Spokane Washington on the road to the airport.

Originally Posted by jsn55

I don't think so ... those thousands of plastic bottles are an environmental disaster. I applaud hotels that have stopped using them. The low-wattage bulbs are annoying, but someone always brings me a decent lightbulb promptly so I can read. I never let housekeeping in my room, so just ask for what I need while they're in the hall.