It depends. Visiting family? The Hilton Garden Inn or similar is fine. Going to NYC? Whatever is under $350, isn't in Times Square, and doesn't have bedbugs.

When we are on a real vacation, we look for boutique hotels, B&Bs, etc. But generally I like to spend under $300 a night in those instances.

Food is a different story. We are big into food and wine and will happily drop big $$ on dinner. But are just as happy at the local diner, as long as it's good.

Anonymous wrote:I had heavy business travel for many years, and learned that the most consistent are Marriott and Westin. So that's where I like to stay. HHI isn't really relevant. Had bad experiences with Hilton, for example. Holiday Inns vary widely, too.

Same here. Lifetime platinum status at Marriott and HHI $230.
When it is for 2+ days we stay at a Marriott, Renaissance, W or Westin. When it is for 1-2 nights we stay at a Courtyard, Fairfield, etc.
When we have kids, we'll probably opt for Springhill and Residence Inn b/c I imagine the kitchen, free breakfast and pool will be nice amenities the way super soft sheets and Aveda/ Bliss toileties are the appreciated amenities now.

For a romantic weekend, I would stay at a nicer place, but just visiting another city for a wedding or birthday party or family event? No fancy hotel needed. It's just a bed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is under 200k, so it's usually mid level chains for us (e.g., Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree, Marriott Courtyard, Marriot, Westin, Hilton).

This on 60K a year. Have booked the Hyatt for $60/night using Priceline. I always use Priceline/Hotwire, etc and go for 3/4 star.

me too on 90k. We don't pay more than $150 a night and usually stay at Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Hotel Monaco but prefer boutique hotels. We also rent condos or cottages.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I prefer villas to hotels. We are at $200k. I'll spend $300 a night comfortably, $500 a night if its worth it, an the most I've ever spent was $1200 a night (worth every penny).

Generally I like private more than "24 room service", so often the splurge is a beachfront villa with chef. It's basically the same cost as a high end hotel, but so much more pampered.

Where was the $1200 a night??

http://taveuniislandresort.com/

Looking now, looks to be $925 a night. I seem to recall it being a bit more, but perhaps memory fails me. In any case, it was worth every dime. We had a private villa overlooking a cliff with an outdoor shower looking over the straight. Every morning we would wake up to pod of dolphin and other big game swimming across the channel. Our breakfast was always freshly made from the hotel staff, including the most absurdly delicious homemade marmaldes and scones infused with the freshest papaya I've ever had. Lunch and dinner was equally innovative and with a discussion with the chef every day of what we wanted, it was truly heaven on earth. Not cheap, not by a long shot, but I don't regret the splurge in the least.

$125K--that's a military salary including housing allowance.

We camp at least half the time. The other half, we typically stay in a Springhill suites or other Marriott brand hotel (Fairfield Inn, Residence Inn, etc.). We are often able to get a military discount to make the rate fairly cheap.

We are a family with 4 kids, so that also limits which hotels we can all stay in one room.

Anonymous wrote:230k - we tend to stay at suite hotels or hotels with free breakfast/pool because of our kids. But even pre-kids, we stayed at middle of the road places (Hampton Inn, residence Inns, Holiday Inn Express.) spending a lot on hotels just isn't important to us. I did get to stay at a few nice hotels for work recently (fairmont, westin), and while lovely, I don't think I slept/showered better than I do at the other places.

This is me, almost exactly. Now that we have kids, if they don't have a free breakfast buffet, forget it.

HHI $325K with 3 kids and we stay at whatever middle to upper middle place is ranked top 5 (for that city) on Trip Advisor for being clean, etc. Last place we stayed was a brand new Holiday Inn Express. Nothing fancy but it was clean and new.

230k - we tend to stay at suite hotels or hotels with free breakfast/pool because of our kids. But even pre-kids, we stayed at middle of the road places (Hampton Inn, residence Inns, Holiday Inn Express.) spending a lot on hotels just isn't important to us. I did get to stay at a few nice hotels for work recently (fairmont, westin), and while lovely, I don't think I slept/showered better than I do at the other places.

Anonymous wrote:I prefer villas to hotels. We are at $200k. I'll spend $300 a night comfortably, $500 a night if its worth it, an the most I've ever spent was $1200 a night (worth every penny).

Generally I like private more than "24 room service", so often the splurge is a beachfront villa with chef. It's basically the same cost as a high end hotel, but so much more pampered.

Where was the $1200 a night??

It depends on the kind of trip I am on. Most of the time I am not on a trip to spend it at the hotel for much more than sleeping. Barely even have time or the energy to use the pool after sightseeing all day.

I had heavy business travel for many years, and learned that the most consistent are Marriott and Westin. So that's where I like to stay. HHI isn't really relevant. Had bad experiences with Hilton, for example. Holiday Inns vary widely, too.

I prefer villas to hotels. We are at $200k. I'll spend $300 a night comfortably, $500 a night if its worth it, an the most I've ever spent was $1200 a night (worth every penny).

Generally I like private more than "24 room service", so often the splurge is a beachfront villa with chef. It's basically the same cost as a high end hotel, but so much more pampered.

My dates pay for the hotels.

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is under 200k, so it's usually mid level chains for us (e.g., Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree, Marriott Courtyard, Marriot, Westin, Hilton).

This on 60K a year. Have booked the Hyatt for $60/night using Priceline. I always use Priceline/Hotwire, etc and go for 3/4 star.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:300K HHI. We splurge on hotels. I love nice hotels. It really enhances my experience of a vacation. We don't have a fancy house or new cars but travel, including accommodations, is one thing we don't skimp on. We can afford it. I don't poll my fellow guests about their income or education level. Usually I am busy spending time with my family, eating well, and being pampered.

Neither do we but we like to be acutely aware of our surroundings when we are in an unfamiliar place.

Huh?