What I like and don’t like about big hotels

Here I am at EclipseWorld, staying in the Hyatt Regency Reston, just outside Washington, D.C. It’s a giant 15-storey hotel, very posh, very nice. Last week I stayed at two smaller hotels, a Fairfield Inn by Marriott and a Homewood Suites by Hilton.

There are things that I like betters about big, modern hotels, and things like I like about little modern hotels. Overall, I like little hotels better.

Big hotels:

I like the size of the room. The furniture, linens and decorations are often much nicer. There’s often a better desk and office chair. There’s often a good local newspaper. I don’t like the expensive hotel breakfast. I don’t like paying for wireless. I don’t like that they put food in my room (like water bottles and chips) but make me pay for them. I don’t like paying to park my rental car (it’s free at this Hyatt). I don’t like turn-down service – staff shouldn’t come into my room in the evening, especially if I’m not there and might have left stuff lying around. At the Hyatt, every time the staff comes into the room, they turn the TV on. The first thing I have to do is turn off the TV.

Little hotels:

I like that I can get to my room faster, without traversing a huge lobby and slow elevator. I like that there’s free breakfast, usually continental, but often more. Sometimes there’s coffee in the lobby all day. I like that there’s free Internet and free parking. I don’t like that they give me USA Today instead of the Washington Post or Wall Street Journal. I don’t that like the rooms are often smaller, and the furniture is often cheaper (but not always). I like that staff don’t enter my room except to clean it, and they only come in once. The small hotels are often more friendly; even if you’re staying for just a few days, you start to feel that you know the desk clerks and other employees. It’s a nice feeling.