Kind of Slumming it - Best Western
Years ago Hawk challenged me, "All your business travel has given you really expensive tastes." I objected; the reality of business travel is seldom luxurious. The main thing that drove my choices across hundreds, and then thousands, of nights on the road was paying enough to avoid unpleasant surprises. That what you get as you start climbing to higher rungs on the ladder from the cheapest, most basic accommodations. You do get a few extra creature comforts, but mostly you get reliability. ...And not reliable luxury, but reliable comfort.
The past few weeks with our Friday Night Halfway trips I've experimented with stepping back down a lower rung on the ladder. A few weeks ago in Yreka, last week in Auburn, last night in Jackson; we've stayed at Best Western hotels. Heck, we're still here at the Best Western in Jackson.
You might not think of Best Western as a cheap hotel chain. It's definitely not the cheapest. It's also not the worst. Trust, me I've stayed cheaper and gotten worse (with eyes open) several times But BW is down in the part of the hotel chain spectrum where comfort and quality start to get dodgy. It's unreliable. And again, the point of paying more is reliable comfort.
What drove us to stay cheaper on these trips? Prices, largely. Everything's gotten more expensive, and especially this summer a variety of hotels we've stayed at in the past at, say, $140/night, are asking $180, $200, or more. And since we're really only interested in "8 hours and a shower"- and we're just going hiking the next day anyway we could skip the shower if it's not working-we're willing to trade down and take our chances.
These three BWs we've stayed at haven't been bad, on the whole. We've gotten a clean and comfortable room 3 times out of 3. Oh, and safe, too. One of the things about dodgy hotels is the doors may not lock well. And there may sketchy looking people in the parking lot- or in the room two doors down. In the past we've stayed at dodgy places were people were clearly using/selling illegal drugs down the hallway.
Sure, a few of our neighbors here at the BW in Jackson look a bit sketchy, but I try applying the logic that Will Smith's character used in an early scene of the movie Men in Black. That young guy sitting outside furtively smoking a cigarette and looking guilty? I'd look guilty, too, if I were smoking in 2024. I mean, the packs have only been labeled "This shit's gonna kill you" for 60 years now. He's probably looking over his shoulder because he's afraid his wife/girlfriend is going to catch him and slap him for wasting their tight budget on cancer sticks.
And as far as my "8 hours and shower"? Well, I only got about 7 hours last night, but that was as much my fault as the hotel's. And the shower this morning was surprisingly good. This otherwise worn down, not quite 2 star hotel room has a shower with a rain shower head and high quality tile walls that wouldn't be out of place in a 4 star hotel. Though after a relaxing shower I dried off with a towel almost thin enough to see through. 😂
Update: The guilty looking smoker I saw Friday night I saw again Saturday morning... in a Best Western uniform. He was probably looking guilty because he was concerned he'd be recognized.
Update 2: Also Saturday morning we noticed that a neighboring room that smelled like pot smoke Friday night was filled with employees and employee gear Saturday morning.
The past few weeks with our Friday Night Halfway trips I've experimented with stepping back down a lower rung on the ladder. A few weeks ago in Yreka, last week in Auburn, last night in Jackson; we've stayed at Best Western hotels. Heck, we're still here at the Best Western in Jackson.
You might not think of Best Western as a cheap hotel chain. It's definitely not the cheapest. It's also not the worst. Trust, me I've stayed cheaper and gotten worse (with eyes open) several times But BW is down in the part of the hotel chain spectrum where comfort and quality start to get dodgy. It's unreliable. And again, the point of paying more is reliable comfort.
What drove us to stay cheaper on these trips? Prices, largely. Everything's gotten more expensive, and especially this summer a variety of hotels we've stayed at in the past at, say, $140/night, are asking $180, $200, or more. And since we're really only interested in "8 hours and a shower"- and we're just going hiking the next day anyway we could skip the shower if it's not working-we're willing to trade down and take our chances.
These three BWs we've stayed at haven't been bad, on the whole. We've gotten a clean and comfortable room 3 times out of 3. Oh, and safe, too. One of the things about dodgy hotels is the doors may not lock well. And there may sketchy looking people in the parking lot- or in the room two doors down. In the past we've stayed at dodgy places were people were clearly using/selling illegal drugs down the hallway.
Sure, a few of our neighbors here at the BW in Jackson look a bit sketchy, but I try applying the logic that Will Smith's character used in an early scene of the movie Men in Black. That young guy sitting outside furtively smoking a cigarette and looking guilty? I'd look guilty, too, if I were smoking in 2024. I mean, the packs have only been labeled "This shit's gonna kill you" for 60 years now. He's probably looking over his shoulder because he's afraid his wife/girlfriend is going to catch him and slap him for wasting their tight budget on cancer sticks.
And as far as my "8 hours and shower"? Well, I only got about 7 hours last night, but that was as much my fault as the hotel's. And the shower this morning was surprisingly good. This otherwise worn down, not quite 2 star hotel room has a shower with a rain shower head and high quality tile walls that wouldn't be out of place in a 4 star hotel. Though after a relaxing shower I dried off with a towel almost thin enough to see through. 😂
Update: The guilty looking smoker I saw Friday night I saw again Saturday morning... in a Best Western uniform. He was probably looking guilty because he was concerned he'd be recognized.
Update 2: Also Saturday morning we noticed that a neighboring room that smelled like pot smoke Friday night was filled with employees and employee gear Saturday morning.