How many nights do you spend in hotels each year

How many nights do you spend in Hotels each year

  • None

    Votes: 5 3.6%

  • 0-10

    Votes: 35 25.5%

  • 11-50

    Votes: 54 39.4%

  • 51-100

    Votes: 26 19.0%

  • 101 and more... and more... and more...

    Votes: 17 12.4%
  • Total voters
    137
Everskyward said:
How does having an airplane keep you from staying in hotels? I would think having an airplane would mean you would travel more. That's assuming that you are not camping or staying in someone's guest room...
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I get it. He can make day trips instead of overnighters, thus avoiding hotels.

It's one of the reasons we own an airplane, too. As a small business owner, it's usually impossible for us to be gone overnight. With an airplane, we can be in (for example) San Antonio for brunch, and back to work after supper.

I'm actually with him 100% -- I, too, HATE most of the hotels in America. Very few know (or care) what their guests want.
 
Jay Honeck said:
I'm actually with him 100% -- I, too, HATE most of the hotels in America. Very few know (or care) what their guests want.
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Maybe there's just some people who are more high-maintenance than others. I just want a place that's clean, relatively quiet, and the staff stays in the background. The less interaction the better when I'm on business trips. Most of the cookie-cutter hotel chains do just that. I don't care about having a hotel breakfast, or warm cookies when I walk through the door. I don't need a bellboy to drag my luggage. Just give me my room key and leave my bill under the door on the last night (if at all).

Hell, Hilton and others have apps that allow me to check-in via mobile and choose my room before I arrive. The only thing I have to door is grab my key and walk away, no papers to sign.
 
About 40 nights per year, in several countries. I get satisfaction from this experience by writing hotel reviews on TripAdvisor.

TripAdvisor is very clever in stroking its reviewers with praise, to keep the voluntary reviews coming in. For one thing, it keeps track of "helpful votes", so I'm always trying to make my reviews more helpful to accumulate more votes. It's a silly personal goal, I suppose, but it's somehow satisfying to amass the votes. TripAdvisor is particularly clever in using their email-bot. Not long ago the bot praised me for becoming the #20 most prolific hotel reviewer in my town, and encouraged me to send in more to move up higher. It might seem silly, but I actually respond to this email-stroking-bot by continuing to send in more reviews.
 
I'm with SoonerAviator....

Among my peeves... the many of them since I'm an arse:

Calling me to ask if everything's okay. Listen here, sunshine, I've got your number and I'll tell you if anything isn't okay.

Saying "I'm sure you know you're away around" Yes, sunshine, I didn't have a lobotomy between checkout friday and checkin monday.

People in their exercise clothes taking the elevator DOWN from the third floor to go to the gym. WTF? I can barely stand their sweaty asses going up three floors, but at least then I can pretend they put it all into the treadmill and couldn't possibly muster that climb.

No fridge? you mean I have to do the ice cubes in the sink method to keep my beer cold? Don't you know I'm Platinum Premiere, sunshine?
 
Everskyward said:
How does having an airplane keep you from staying in hotels? I would think having an airplane would mean you would travel more. That's assuming that you are not camping or staying in someone's guest room...
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In the racing business, the driver of the car does not have to drive the transporter to the track and be there from thursday ( practice , qualifying, sunday race).. Back 30 years ago the driver didn't have all the media /photo shoots so we could go home each night to sleep in our own beds.... Also keep in mind the NASCAR / WOO circuit was mostly in the SE U.S so I was never more then 3 hours flight time from my home base... YMMV..
 
Shawn said:
Just hate them as a business practice in general and their rating system is not unbiased and 100% user based. The fact that they manipulate reviews based on if you advertise or not...and worse if you decline is pretty jacked up...and basing that on first hand experience, not speculation.
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I would venture to guess that 95%+ of my dining budget, while travelling, (that is not a Subway) is dictated by Yelp searches.

I generally search for a type of cooking (Mexican, BBQ, Italian, Thai, etc) and then filter the results by $$ and by Stars. One or two dollar signs, 3 or 4 stars.

You can quickly ignore the paid advertisements (just like on Twitter, Facebook, or other apps) and focus on the results you wanted. Usually, the returns will only bring you 2-3 legit results, which you can quickly read the reviews, tips, and look at the pictures to decide which one you want.

I won't generally go to a place without checking Yelp, and, I have rarely found the reviews and the ratings in Yelp to be out of line with my own experiences.

Yelp, for a traveler, is the greatest invention for being able to avoid chains and crappy food. I am sure it has driven many Mom and Pops to prosperity with good reviews, unpaid for.


SoonerAviator said:
I haven't really noticed that kind of stuff when I've used it, but I tend to read a few of the reviews and look at pictures of the place mostly. If it's got 5 stars but 2 reviews, I'm not likely to give it much credence. I've found some really great local places with the app that even the employees that live in the area weren't aware of or didn't think to recommend. YMMV I suppose.
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:idea: Yes, this.^^^

Also, I try and always check into a place, and, if possible, snap a picture of the food and upload it in order to leave a "bread crumb trail" so I can find the place on a future visit to the town. And, to make the experience better for the next person.

I usually only review 5-10% of the places I use on Yelp, just because they used to not allow reviews on mobile devices.

Recently, in Europe, it was a severe handicap not to have a country using Yelp. TripAdvisor was not nearly as good, or as easy.
 
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If I bid a line, I tend to do about 10-12 nights a month in a hotel. If I want to be around more, I'll bid reserve and do about 3-6 nights. It just depends on how much money I want to make that month. I don't mind the lifestyle - in fact I enjoy it. But I also don't have kids. I'm betting that would change things. I'd probably just bid the most overstaffed plane in the base and sit around on reserve all the time.

I have a buddy at Delta that dumps his entire month once a year and spends the time backpacking in Europe (or whatever) with his wife. We can do that too, but I'm too cheap to forgo that much of my income. It's a nice option to have, though.
 
I generally stay at Hilton properties mainly Hampton Inns. I just can't wait for my special Diamond member parking spot and bottle of water. I'm not to far off from my lifetime diamond membership. Maybe I'll get an extra bottle of water at that point. I've stayed in some really bad places in the name of aviation.
 
I only stay in a hotel about 30 minutes or an hour. Why do people spend the night?

Wait! nevermind....
 
I want some of yalls jobs. I typically do just under 20 nights a year ranging from 4 stars down to super 8's depending on who's paying and the deals I can find. But I would love to travel for business, probably up to 15 nights a month. Or more if it was international and corresponded to a proportionally long stay at home.

The longest Ive heard of was a friend of mine who was based in Ohio and working in Tampa for a year and a half. Every 6 months he got to go home for a week but then he went back to Tampa. He said at the first of each month he would move to another hotel, so that it wouldn't start to feel like home. Always thought that to be an interesting perspective.

I didn't realize the following that Hilton and Marriot had among business travelers, can y'all expand on that and explain why they are so popular for business?
 
I go home Saturday after three weeks in Yuma Proving Grounds. I can do without hotels for a while. I spent 6 weeks on Wake island earlier this year but I wouldn't cal the barracks there a hotel. I'll do three different weeks in London spread out over this year. I guess that adds up to over 50 so I should change my answer but this is a heavy travel year. Next year will e less.
 
Seanaldinho said:
...I didn't realize the following that Hilton and Marriot had among business travelers, can y'all expand on that and explain why they are so popular for business?
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The experience is highly optimized for a business traveler; everything from the check-in process, to the room layout, to the services/amenities is smoothly and (most importantly) consistently delivered. They do a great job at the keys: Clean, modern room, segregated from traveling families and reunion/wedding/team-building parties, great wifi, comfortable bed, no-hassle staff. Most important is that they are consistent across brands and locations. From the JW Marriott in Anchorage to the Eglin, FL Fairfield Inn, I can have my room key and be on my way in under a minute; they know my preferences for room layout and location (two doubles, 3rd floor, near the stairs), they know what newspaper I like, and they know to have 4 packs of decaf for the coffee maker, although lately I've been bringing my own K-cups to places which have keurigs. I don't get that kind of treatment at home.

Each of these groups has a large-enough market share that a traveler can almost always find a hotel near their destination. This matters when collecting the all-important points. The comfort, convenience, and even deference one receives as a platinum elite member makes spending literally years of your life (over 2 so far) away from home bearable, if not downright comfortable. As I said before, Marriott and Hilton are so good at it they become like a second home.
 
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Yah, I've reached (not achieved) Marriott Platinum for Life. That means that my years of loyalty are rewarded by keeping their highest level forever.

Favorite Perk: Guaranteed Room. I can call a sold out hotel with 24 hours notice and they'll give me a room and walk someone else. If I'm paying, I have to pay rack rate, but I can also do it with points! (like... for free)

The rest is all just fluffy pillows and suite instead of a regular room most of the time.
 
How do I count an hour here and there? (and there, and there, and over there, and ...?) :blowingkisses::stirpot:
 
cgrab said:
I go home Saturday after three weeks in Yuma Proving Grounds.
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Yuck... It's been 30 years since I've been there but I doubt it's improved much.
 
rolivi said:
Yah, I've reached (not achieved) Marriott Platinum for Life. That means that my years of loyalty are rewarded by keeping their highest level forever.

Favorite Perk: Guaranteed Room. I can call a sold out hotel with 24 hours notice and they'll give me a room and walk someone else.
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That's not a perk -- that's a crime.

I can't tell you the number of times we have had families in our lobby, sobbing, on a summer weekend (when there isn't an available room for 100 miles) because they were "walked" by a chain hotel.

For the uninitiated: Chains over-book by ~15%, under the assumption that 15% of their clients are dirtbags that will simply no-show, without so much as a phone call. This practice may work with business travelers, but in a resort area very few people who book a guaranteed reservation at the beach are going to no-show.

That simple and obvious fact does not stop the McHamptiday Inns from doing it to their so-called guests. It is...appalling.

It was Pet Peeve #4 on our list, way back when we bought our first hotel, and as a result we never over-book or "walk" our guests. IMHO, the practice should be (and probably is) illegal.
 
Why do they overbook? Can't they charge at least one night if you end up as a no-show?


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dans2992 said:
Why do they overbook? Can't they charge at least one night if you end up as a no-show?


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Have a flight delayed or cancelled and see how well you like eating hotel charges for a hotel you didn't stay at which was beyond your control.
 
Perk number 2: (not advertised or guaranteed) Typically they'll waive no-show fees for me. One hotel charged me this year, and I thought "Oh, well" and then they refunded it the next week. This is probably because I get into runs where I stay at the same hotel every week for 6-8 months in a row. After the 2nd or 3rd stay they know me by name, face, smell...
 
Jay Honeck said:
That's not a perk -- that's a crime.

I can't tell you the number of times we have had families in our lobby, sobbing, on a summer weekend (when there isn't an available room for 100 miles) because they were "walked" by a chain hotel.

For the uninitiated: Chains over-book by ~15%, under the assumption that 15% of their clients are dirtbags that will simply no-show, without so much as a phone call. This practice may work with business travelers, but in a resort area very few people who book a guaranteed reservation at the beach are going to no-show.

That simple and obvious fact does not stop the McHamptiday Inns from doing it to their so-called guests. It is...appalling.

It was Pet Peeve #4 on our list, way back when we bought our first hotel, and as a result we never over-book or "walk" our guests. IMHO, the practice should be (and probably is) illegal.
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I hit Diamond at Hilton a month or so ago, so I was reading up on some of my new 'perks'. I was looking into the "Guaranteed Reservation" gig and apparently they have limitations on when that perk can be used. It can't be used on high demand events, and it can't be used when the hotel is overbooked by a certain %. As I understand it, they normally overbook by a certain percentage, but in the event that they exceed that percentage, they won't let people use the "Guaranteed Reservation".

It's all a numbers game. If, on any given weekend, X% of your reservations no-show, it makes sense to overbook by that % so that you end up with filled rooms even after the no-shows. If you exceed your normal X% of overbooks, then you really are expecting to have to 'boot' someone for a "Guaranteed Reservation" which is bad juju for all involved.

I haven't used the 'Guaranteed Reservation' perk yet, but I might put it to the test if we get a last-minute free weekend to head to the beach.
 
If it can't be used at high demand events, that limits its usefulness greatly....


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dans2992 said:
If it can't be used at high demand events, that limits its usefulness greatly....


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There are many times hotels I stay at are sold out (business travelers). I usually am able to book a couple of weeks in advance, so it isn't an issue. Sometimes, though I have last minute trips, and often Cupertino and San Jose are sold out, but the guarantee requires 48 hours in advance (for Marriott anyway), so it doesn't help. I would think twice about my options before I bumped someone though. So far, I haven't needed to.
 
denverpilot said:
I did years on the road in Appeasement, er... cough Field Engineering. Didn't hate it.

Now I work in one place and don't travel much if ever. Don't hate it.

Absolutely hate what American companies laughably offer for vacation time. I'd take it unpaid if I had to even.

Friend in Australia has over ten weeks of paid time off per year. He sends me pretty pictures from exotic places.

He's paid by our government.

Sometimes I want to kick him in the nuts. ;) But he's a nice guy as is his wife and they deserve it. They really do. They both bust some butt at their careers.

I'd happily take a significant pay cut to be out of the office ten weeks a year. As in, I'd take most of it without pay and budget accordingly.

Time is valuable. Very valuable.
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Although traveling (on vacation) Americans are generally slobs, I think a lot of the reputation for the "I want it now" attitude with the help on airlines and hotels is that people only have a couple weeks of a year and don't want to waste a second of it.
 
On average 130 - 150. Last year however I spent 7 months in and out of hotels straight before making it home again.
 
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