After finding that the Best Western Madrid does pretty well in the WiFi stakes, we weren't surprised to discover that the same chain is advertising good access in Dublin, too. The Best Western Academy Plaza Hotel in central Dublin boasts free WiFi throughout the hotel; they emphasize that this is throughout the property, including guest bedrooms.
We've been hunting for feedback, but haven't yet heard from anyone who's used the WiFi service. There is also an internet service in guest rooms if you don't have a laptop, and it seems to operate via the television set--one recent guest complained that their room didn't have a remote control for the TV and it had to be operated using the attached keyboard. Really?
Another guest complained this internet access was almost impossible to navigate and they went downstairs to use the computer provided in the lobby instead. Still, connectivity sounds good and if you're prepared with your own equipment, the Academy Plaza is keen to get you wirelessly online for free.
We had to wonder, after spotting a Best Western in the bohemian section of Seville, and writing about this stylish Best Western off the coast of Ipanema, is the budget-friendly hotel chain aiming to attract a hipper market? We checked in with the franchiser to find out and, as it turns out, we were kinda right.
Though the company says it is difficult to describe a typical client, given that both business and leisure travelers are "looking for value," our source noted that the chain is increasingly serving guests in their 20s and 30s, a likely result of the past year's online marketing campaign focused on Gen X and Gen Y travelers.
Quick looks at openings both recent (Tokyo) and forward-looking (Thailand, Philippines) also show a migration toward the younger and typically more adventurous traveler. Here in the U.S., Best Western is targeting expansion in markets like New York, San Francisco and San Antonio.
The younger-eschewing marketing efforts continue this month, as the company rolls out a contest aimed at those of us who rocked big hair and Members Only jackets in the 80s. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the chain's loyalty program, the Water Cooler Contest awards $50,000 and more than a million program points to one winner, according to our source.
Full details aren't yet available, but we found a sneak peek on YouTube. Watch the video above to find out more.
Good hotel WiFi isn't always found where you'd expect. In relaxed Spain, our expectations aren't too high, but at the Best Western Arosa in Madrid, they're very proud of offering free wireless internet access throughout the entire hotel.
Judging by some recent guest reviews, the Best Western Arosa has only one major drawback--it's quite noisy, and you can hear other guests, the street, and even some bathroom noises. But everything else is pretty much okay, with a good central location, good service and some recently-updated rooms, and the price is reasonable too, averaging under $200 a night. Curiously, they also have 16 Japanese-style rooms, which complement their well-regarded Japanese restaurant.
But beyond the normal hotel basics, quite a few people have been enthusiastic about the free WiFi service. The hotel itself advertises it multiple times on its website and previous guests suggest that alone is a good enough reason to pick the Arosa. And unlike the Japanese instructions in Hiroshima, this Japanese-themed Spanish hotel doesn't seem to make it too hard for guest to get online.
We're pretty sure the Best Western Playa Suites in Acapulco, Mexico won't be keen on hosting Spring Breakers again.
Several Spring Breakers from the University of New Hampshire and Penn State were staying at the hotel when it caught fire early Monday morning.
The students had booked the trip through StudentCity.com and several had just arrived only a few hours before the fire broke out.
One senior from Bedford said she and her friends ran down 12 flights of stairs after their suite began to fill with smoke.
They stood outside in their pajamas and watched the smoke climb, unable to collect their belongings until many hours later, said the student, Ashley Herrin, 22.
"I was stranded with no money, no shoes, no passport in Mexico, with nowhere to go. It was just miserable," she said.
The hotel had recently passed a fire inspection but several students said they never heard any smoke or fire alarms. Fortunately, no one was injured and some students were able to enter last night to retrieve their belongings. The hotel hasn't updated their website but we are sure they won't be taking any guests anytime soon.
We're all for finding hotels that are easily accessible by train. Heck, we even run a special feature on hotels that are near train stations in Europe. But there's an important remark that we should include in these criteria: near a train station is good, directly next to a noisy train track is bad.
Apparently that's what happens at the Best Western Executive Inn Midvale near Salt Lake City. Not only have we come across this anti-view from one of the guest rooms at this Best Western, we can also confirm from guest reviews that there are multiple rooms that have the train tracks running outside. As anti-view provider peterhoneyman puts it:
how convenient to have a train running right by the hotel -- no alarm clock necessary.
That's definitely looking at the bright side ... or should we say it's looking trackside?
Until recently we thought hotel loyalty programs were for Account Executives rolling their business travel points into a family vacation at a bland resort every year or two. However, funny thing happened when we started investigating these programs -- we found some of them are downright useful if you know how to cut through the red tape. This series is meant as a jumping off point to full fledged discussions on each loyalty program we feature. So comment, contribute, question, and cajole here.
We knew that there were a lot of Best Westerns found near airports and along popular road trip routes but we had no idea that there were 4,200 Best Westerns throughout North, Central & South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. That's a lot of Best Westerns so if you join the Best Western Gold Crown Club International rewards programs, you will have plenty of places to use your points...if you love BW that much.
Who rules the hotel world when it comes to the number of rooms? It's not some fancy place with bath butlers, that's for sure. The top brand worldwide is Best Western. (A roadside motel in America, a fancy schmancy place in China.) It's joined in the top 10 by other humble offerings such as Super 8, Comfort Inn, Day's Inn, and Holiday Inn Express. The bright side of this is, all of these just listed let you log on the Internet for no extra charge. Maybe bigger is better.
Here's the full list, from an industry article on room growth in eHotelier.
1) Best Western
2) Holiday Inn
3) Marriott
4) Comfort Inn
5) Hilton
6) Days Inn
7) Holiday Inn Express
8) Hampton Inn
9) Sheraton
10)Super 8
Best Western has 315,401 rooms in 4164 hotels worldwide, while Hilton has 172,605 rooms from only 498 hotels. Among the sea of motel and budget brands in top 20, Hyatt comes in at 15, Radisson comes in at 17, and Crowne Plaza at 19.
[Ed. Note: Welcome to our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature where we look at hotel prices in the same city and decide which one most deserves your hard-earned benjamins. Rates quotes here were valid for the dates of April 7 to 9, 2007 and are subject to change. Enjoy.]
When booking a hotel overseas, often you'll find a better selection with a company in that region. Other times, you might as well stay with the home team. Venere.com is based in Europe, but they've been coming up short over and over for us lately. They had zero rooms available anywhere in Dublin on St. Patrick's Day and the screen shot above is for Brugge, Belgium the nights of April 7 and 9--during the Choco-Laté Festival.
In our Bad Rate feature, we usually show you where you'll get a bad deal for your money, but there's no worse deal than not being able to get a room at all, at any price. So you may want to skip Venere if you're trying to book a European room during a festival, holiday, or...high season anywhere.
Thankfully other sites still have hotels to choose from for the Choco-Laté Festival running April 6 to 10, including the one you access from the Choco-Laté Festival page at What's On When.
None of the deals strike us as particularly terrible since beggars can't be choosers at festival time, but we wouldn't relish the thought of driving 14 kilometers from the center just to stay at the Best Western Richmond-Thonnon, for $191 a night. Yes, it's at the beach, but a northern European beach in April is not very enticing. Plus strutting around in a bathing suit after gorging on chocolate for days on end isn't a pretty picture either.
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by amandak
We're pretty sure the 
