Earlier this week I was in Indiana…small town with lots of corn fields…smaller hotel chains…fewer restaurants. Being a Marriott or Hilton brand gal…I try to stay in their hotels where ever I go. Now working in a big town means better hotel options….bigger rooms, better Internet and nicer amenities…So are smaller hotels a downer you might ask?
There has been a substantial improvement in the design of the less expensive chains in the last few years. Overall smaller hotels brands have some drawbacks…. they tend to have a…breakfast menu that leaves a lot to be desired….it might include speckled bananas, canned fresh fruit…I think that’s an oxymoron, and the best is the rubbery scrambled eggs with sausage….how do they do that you might ask…over cooking the eggs in the microwave!!! There must be a multi-tasker in the kitchen. Now if I stay two days, the second day consists of biscuits and gravy…obviously not very health conscious…as we aren’t all going out to work in those corn fields.
Another difference is the shower head in the bathrooms…now, I’m not a big woman… my friends would say I’m small. I have no idea how an average to large man would enjoy taking a shower under the shower head on the left…I know I didn’t. Tonight I am staying in a big city so I get to have the super-sized shower head to enjoy tomorrow! It is hard to believe we ever showered with the older version isn’t it? What did we know about super-sizing back then…NOTHING!
A third difference is an exercise room…which could be no exercise room…or a room with equipment so old that I would not use it. I have also been at a hotel with an exercise room that was a little larger than a walk-in closet…a bit claustrophobic for me! Every now and then I will go to a smaller hotel that has a wonderful exercise room and I think that the owner must recognize how important it is for a traveler’s health and well being. I really appreciate it and I always let them know what it means to me as a weekly traveler.
Now for most women one of the more important items in a hotel is the hair dryer…my recommendation when traveling to a smaller town…TAKE YOUR OWN DRYER…I have had some small hairdryers eat my long hair and make me cry…no dryer is worth that!
So what makes a small hotel a good place to stay when it’s the only game in town? The manager…the staff…housekeeping…providing a cookie in the evening…having small hard candy around for someone with a sweet tooth watching her calories…I can’t imagine who that might be.
These hotels may not have what the big brands have…but they can be great because of their customer service…attending to a guest’s needs…having a clean room and making a guest (like me) feel welcome and comfortable! Bigger may be better…I’ll take great customer service any day!