Budget Motels Save Family Cents

The voice of Tom Bodett, Motel 6’s folksy ad spokesman, wafts over the airwaves, imploring us to check into a clean, comfortable room at a rate so low that it seems straight from the ‘60s. The suggestion is that we put the savings toward a good restaurant meal or some other luxury. “We’ll leave the light on for you,” he pledges.

Bodett’s promise also holds for thousands of other economy motels around the country. From 20,000 rooms in chain-affiliated motels 20 years ago, this segment of the lodging business has mushroomed to over 700,000 rooms plus uncounted thousands of independent, mom-and-pop motels across the country. The hospitality industry’s criterion for “budget” is a single-room rate of under $50 per night.

Though some have added a few frills, budget motels are synonymous with functional decor, unprepossessing lobbies, simple (or no) food service, limited (or no) meeting facilities and minimal (or no) recreational facilities that pare family vacation costs.

We get the most pillows for the fewest dollars in rooms known as double-doubles (two double beds), which easily accommodate a family of four. Cribs and rollaways are normally available, too. A color television (usually cable, often with free in-room movies), a telephone (often with free local calls), a coffee shop on-site or a family restaurant nearby, and perhaps a swimming pool, mean the stay won’t be totally Spartan.

A call to the reservations number of a major chain saves time and trouble when you travel, and you can even request a directory of locations to help plot your itinerary and forecast your expenses. A chain may include franchises--company-owned-and-operated motels or a combination of the two. The motels may be of custom construction or “conversions” from Holiday Inns, Ramada Inns or other mid-priced chains (usually older locations).

In any case, a chain guarantees minimum standards and periodic visits by corporate inspectors to check facilities, housekeeping and maintenance.

Here are some chains to be found in the United States:

Best Western, the world’s largest association of independently owned hotels and motels with more than 3,200 properties in 35 countries, including 1,759 in the United States, has established minimum standards for room, bathroom and lobby size and furnishings. Design criteria were set in 1986 for all new construction and renovations. Each must have a coffee shop or provide continental breakfast, and most have swimming pools. The average double-room rate is $54 (this includes numerous pricey resort locations), and children 12 and under are usually free.

The Gold Crown Club provides special services and awards for frequent guests. Best Western’s comprehensive directory features a good road atlas plus a color photograph of each property and often Mobil and AAA ratings, extremely useful due to the wide differences from place to place.

Choice Hotels International operates seven budget and economy hotel and suite chains (Comfort Inns and Suites, Sleep Inns, Econo Lodge, Friendship Inns, Rodeway Inns, Quality Inns, Quality Suites), as well as the pricier Clarion Hotels. All 2,500 properties offer a minimum of 15% no-smoking rooms, and allow children 18 and under to stay free in their parents’ room. All also have a fixed weekend rate of $29 to $59 per night, and a 30% across-the-board discount for seniors 60 and over with advance reservations.

Comfort Inns, which calls itself a “luxury budget” chain, has nearly 800 properties in the United States and abroad. The rate is $35-$45 for double-double, king or queen-bedded rooms. All inns have swimming pools and some kind of fitness facility, and serve a complimentary continental breakfast. Some have restaurants, coffee shops or lounges. There are also about 80 Comfort Suites with nightly rates of $40-$65 for a unit consisting of a sleeping area partitioned from the living area furnished with a sofa bed.

Fifty Sleep Inns are now open or in some stage of development, with 200 projected by the end of 1992. All Sleep Inns are alike with rooms, usually about $35 double, featuring queen-size bed, desk and remote-control color TV with built-in VCR. A high-tech security system uses personal credit cards for room entry.

Econo Lodge’s 652 motor hotels in 47 states and Canada are most prevalent in the Southeast and Middle Atlantic, with an additional 140 under development. Rooms are about $35 single or double.

The 104 Friendship Inns offer rooms in the $20-$30 range. Many Econo Lodges offer restaurants, lounges, swimming pools, meeting facilities, in-room coffee and cable television, while Friendship Inns do not have meeting rooms or restaurants.

Rodeway Inns consist of 140 limited-service hotels in 33 states and Canada, and 100 more are anticipated by the end of 1991, with rooms in the $40 range, single or double. Some offer complimentary breakfast, meeting rooms or recreational facilities.

There are 490 Quality Inns, with $45-$50 rooms, and 45 Quality Suites, with $55-$85 two-room suites, are open or under development worldwide. Sixty percent of the Quality Inns, mostly with swimming pool, restaurant, lounge, business center and meeting space, are rated Three Diamonds by AAA.

Quality Suites feature microwaves, mini-bar, refrigerator, two telephones, two televisions, VCR and stereo in each unit. A cooked-to-order breakfast is served to each guest, even children, and a two-hour happy hour with complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres is offered daily. All chains participate in the SOS program, which offers 10%-15% discounts for employees of participating small companies (100 or fewer employees), whether they are on business or vacation.

Days Inn is a headline-making company that has won kudos for hiring the homeless as well as older workers and for supporting the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation with 10% of the room rate when a special reservations number is used. This fast-growing franchise chain has 1,150 locations (with more than 300 under development) in all 50 states, Canada and several European countries. Expansion to Mexico and India is proceeding.

Most Days Inns, with rooms averaging $45-$60 double, have swimming pools and restaurants. Those without restaurants serve continental breakfast (usually complimentary). With a 29-day airline-style super-saver advance reservation and seven-day prepayment, the rate drops to $19-$49, depending on location.

At many Days Inns, children 12 and under stay and eat free when accompanying an adult who is a registered guest. Rollaways are extra. About 15% of the motels offer optional suite or efficiency accommodations, and 10% of the rooms are nonsmoking. Some offer free in-room movies, coin laundries and on-premises cocktail lounges.

Days has expanded upward to the more expensive Days Hotels (room service, exercise facilities, pool, complimentary newspaper, business center and free local calls) and Days Suites (separate living and sleeping areas, two TVs and kitchenettes), as well as into the budget market with about three dozen Daystops.

Hampton Inns has 264 locations in 41 states and plans some 30 more by the end of 1991, all with standardized design. The average room rate is $45. Every inn offers free continental breakfast in the lobby, free local phone calls and free in-room movie channel. Youngsters 18 and under (in fact, even a third and fourth adult) stay free in their parents’ room.

Indoor or outdoor swimming pools are found in most locations, and workout rooms in many. None has an on-premises restaurant or lounge, but all are near full-service establishments. Those near airports have complimentary van service.

This chain, now operated by the D. Promus Companies, which also runs Embassy and Homewood suites and Harrah’s Hotels, is the first to offer a satisfaction guarantee. A guest who is not completely satisfied that a problem with accommodations or service has not been corrected signs a voucher when checking out and does not have to pay for the overnight.

Motel 6 is the lowest-priced national chain, with doubles ranging from $22.95 to $39.95 ($6 less for single occupancy). Children 18 and under stay free in their parents’ room, and cribs are free, too. Uniform rooms have either two double beds or one double plus table and chairs.

Motel 6s are defined as much by what they don’t offer as by what they do. There are no coffee shops, no meeting rooms, no pictures on the walls and no bathtubs. There are walk-in showers, decent towels, color TV with free in-room movies, free local phone calls (and free long-distance access) and, in most locations, a swimming pool. The rooms are on the small side but the sound insulation is generous. You will find a vending area and a coin laundry, plus a family restaurant next door.

Unlike most chains, Motel 6’s reservations number is not toll-free, but a call can net invaluable routing advice. Tell the reservationist where you’re going and how many miles you want to cover each day, and the computer will produce an itinerary with logical stopping places along the way. There are now more than 618 Motel 6s, all company-owned, scattered fairly evenly in 45 states (abundant in California, less so in the Northeast).

La Quinta Inns’ 212 attractive, mostly Southwest-style properties in 29 states are concentrated across the Sun Belt. Services and facilities include freshly brewed morning coffee in the lobby, cable TV with free in-room movies, same-day laundry and dry cleaning, outdoor swimming pools, free local phone calls, fax machine and family restaurant next door. Some offer free continental breakfast and/or van service. Nonsmoking and family suites are found at selected properties. The median rate is $43, and children 18 and under stay free in their parents’ room. Cribs are also free; rollaways are $5.

In most properties, La Quinta’s new king deluxe rooms (about $5 higher) have two phones, desk, recliner, clock radio, full-length mirror and remote-control TV. If you call La Quinta, request their nifty pocket road atlas. La Quinta’s frequent-guest program, being retailored at this writing, offers one free night after 10 room nights.

Red Roof Inns debuted in 1974 with $8.50 rooms carpeted in orange shag and the slogan “Sleep Cheap.” Now tasteful rooms in the $32-$48 range for a double-double (a few slightly higher during peak seasons or special events) prevail in 209 motels in 30 states, mostly in the Eastern part of the country.

Features are extra-long double beds (or kings), free morning coffee and weekday newspaper available in the lobby, vending centers and free local calls. Children 18 and under sharing their parents’ room stay free; cribs are free and rollaways are $2. Nonsmoking rooms are available. There are now Business King Rooms in most locations with large work areas, table seating areas and modem jacks for a computer hookup on telephones, and some properties have boardrooms for small meetings, as well as photocopy and fax services.

Scottish Inns (153 limited-service motels), Red Carpet Inns (128 full-service motels) and Master Hosts Inns (21 full-service resort properties), a trio of Hospitality International franchise chains, all appeal to budget watchers in their categories. Many are conversions, hence their design, layout and size vary greatly. Although a few selected locations spike to higher prices (sometimes seasonally), the vast majority offer double-doubles in the $35-$60 range. Swimming pools, free in-room movies and free coffee (or continental breakfasts) may be offered.

Family-plan policies also vary by property. Some charge for children over 6; others allow youngsters as old as 18 to stay free in their parents’ room. Cribs range from free to $6; rollaways are $3-$7.

Super 8 Motels, at this writing 816 properties strong and growing at the rate of one every three days, is the behemoth of the all-economy chains. More than 95% of the properties are new construction, and all but 52 are franchises. Architecture supposedly reflects local styles, but “local” often seems to run to timbered stucco exteriors.

Minimum room size is a relatively generous 12 by 22 feet, but since motels are franchised, facilities vary. For instance, 99% have nonsmoking rooms, 17% have swimming pools, 43% have water beds, half have meeting rooms and 39% serve continental breakfast. Room types range from standard doubles to assorted suite options, and some properties have kitchenette units. The double room rate hovers around $38. Children 12 and under stay free in their parents’ room in 80% of the properties, and cribs are often free, too.

Susse Chalet, in New England and elsewhere in the Northeast, provides quiet rooms (some for nonsmokers), complimentary continental breakfast in the lobby, coin laundry, fax service, use of hair dryer or iron, free local calls and information on area attractions. A few offer free in-room movies on HBO. All but three of the 35 inns have outdoor swimming pools, and family restaurants are always nearby.

Susse Chalet’s regular rooms have one or two double beds ($34.70-$55.70 for two, plus $3 for each additional person). In some locations, kings are available at just $2 more. A few have Super Rooms with double bed, desk and recliner or overstuffed chair and ottoman.

The VIP program offers frequent guests such privileges as priority room preference, accompanying spouse stays free, express check-in delivery of the continental breakfast to the room and check cashing.

With Susse Chalet’s service guarantee, a guest who is dissatisfied with the accommodation or service gets a free stay if the situation cannot be corrected.

Travelodge, founded in 1946, was America’s first motel chain. After slipping into the doldrums, the more than 510 current franchised and company-owned motels in the United States and Canada are undergoing an aggressive revamping. In three years, more than 60 properties were dropped, 70 new ones built and 185 older ones refurbished. Travelodge is the economy member of the prestigious Trusthouse Forte hotel company.

Upgraded Travelodges with a sleek blue-and-white sign feature contemporary furnishings, and all offer nonsmoking rooms. Most provide complimentary coffee, a family restaurant is always on-site or nearby, and many have their own full-service restaurants and/or cocktail lounges. Many also have swimming pools, some also with kiddie pools, playgrounds, game rooms, water slides, workout rooms, saunas and coin laundries. The average rate is $37-$42, and children 17 and under stay free in their parents’ room.

The company name has been extended to the full-service end of the market, and a new budget branch has been launched. At the top, there are now 20 Travelodge Suites, 10 Travelodge Hotels and 10 Travelodge Suite Hotels. About half a dozen new Thriftlodges feature drive-through check-in and check-out, free local calls, complimentary coffee in the lobby, AM/FM clock radio, hair dryers and irons, restaurants within walking distance and rollaways at a nominal additional charge over the double $25-$35 room rate.

GUIDEBOOK

Finding Budget Hotels

Best Western International, Inc., P.O. Box 10203, Phoenix, Ariz. 85064-0203, (800) 528-1234.

Choice Hotels International (Comfort Inns and Suites, Sleep Inns, Econo Lodge, Friendship Inns, Rodeway Inns, Quality Inns, Quality Suites), 10750 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Md. 20901, (800) 4-CHOICE.

Days Inns of America, Inc., 2751 Buford Highway N.E., Atlanta, Ga. 30324, reservations, (800) 325-2525, and Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, reservations, (800) JDF-DAYS.

Hampton Inns, 6800 Poplar Ave., Suite 200, Memphis, Tenn. 38138, reservations, (800) HAMPTON.

Motel 6, 14651 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, Tex. 75240, (505) 891-6161.

La Quinta Inns, P.O. Box 790064, San Antonio, Tex. 78279-0064, (800) 531-5900.

Red Roof Inns, Inc., 4355 Davidson Rd., Hilliard, Ohio 43026-2491, (800) THE-ROOF.

Hospitality International (Scottish Inns, Red Carpet Inns and Master Hosts Inns), 1152 Spring St., Atlanta, Ga. 30309, (800) 251-1962.

Super 8 Motels, Inc., 1910 Eighth Ave. N.E., Aberdeen, S.D. 57401-3207, (800) 800-8000.

Chalet Susse International, Inc., Chalet Drive, Wilton, N.H. 03086, (800) 258-1980.

Trusthouse Forte, Inc. (Travelodge Suites, Travelodge Hotels, Travelodge Suite Hotels, Thriftlodges), 1973 Friendship Drive, El Cajon, Calif. 92020, (800) 255-3050.