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No Brainer: Low Room Rates Equals Happy Hotel Guests

We got this room at the Affinia Chicago for $159 a night. And we liked it!

A new report released by J.D. Power & Associates says hotel guests are more satisfied this year with their hotel stays and hoteliers have reasonable room rates to thank for that.

Because of the recession, hotels have had to drop room rates and as we've known here at HotelChatter for quite some time, when we get good deals on rooms, we're happier guests. Also thanks to the recession, hotels have had lower occupancy levels so more guests have gotten room upgrades at check-in. J.D. Powers' Mark Schwartz told the LA Times:

“If occupancy is lower, we find satisfaction with the speed of check-in is higher,” he said. “Guests are spending less time in line, are less likely to face overbooking and are more likely to be able to get an upgrade because more rooms are available.”

And guests are probably happier because hotels are rolling out all sorts of new amenities and services to keep them happy, from free WiFi to wine-tastings to cool in-room technology and upgraded lobby cafes.

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Anti-View / North Carolina Hotel Reviews / Drury Hotels / → All Tags

Room With an Anti-View: Dreary Drury Inn in Charlotte

Where: 415 WEST W T HARRIS BLVD [map], CHARLOTTE, NC, United States, 28262

You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.

Here's what you'd see if you checked into Room 234 at the Drury Inn and Suites in Charlotte, North Carolina. When leinsterman stayed there a couple of weeks ago, they took the liberty of renaming the Drury to be the "dreary", thanks to the very uninspiring nature of the view and of the room trimmings around it, too, we guess.

Interestingly, the Drury Inn of Charlotte scores 4th place out of 155 hotels ranked in TripAdvisor, so dreary views don't ruin a hotel. Average room rates are $118 and they're keen on advertising their free hot breakfast with eggs cooked however you want them, so we're keen to test them out for the perfect soft-boiled egg. If they get the egg right, we don't care so much about the view.

[Photo: leinsterman]

Drury Hotels / Business Hotels / St. Louis Hotels / WiFi / → All Tags

At Least One Drury Inn *Not* Hating on HotelChatter

[UPDATE 12.28.07: Drury Inn's Tech Services employee emailed us to say that Drury does not block HotelChatter.com or Jaunted.com. However, in the Drury Inn business centers there is a Net Nanny software installed on the computers which can be "overzealous" at times and may have blocked HotelChatter.com. If it did, it was not intentional.]

We recently heard a rumor that some Drury Inns were blocking access to HotelChatter. We certainly wouldn't appreciate that, particularly when we've praised the chain for offering no-nonsense, free WiFi.

Well our tipster had the chance to revisit one of the properties that's blocked her in the past, and as the screenshot above proves, something's changed. St. Louis Union Station Drury Inn, you're innocent of all web censoring charges for now. But we're keeping an eye on you!

Have a hotel WiFi horror story of your own? Let's hear it.

Drury Hotels / Columbus Hotel Reviews / Hotel WiFi / Business Travel / → All Tags

Drury Inn Columbus Lives Up To Lobby WiFi Hype

Where: 88 E NATIONWIDE BLVD [map], Columbus, OH, United States, 43215

HotelChatter East spent the day in Columbus Ohio yesterday. Long story that has something to do with that whole Skybus thing. Anyway, thanks to this Drury Inn story we immediately headed to the Drury Inn in downtown Columbus post landing.

Once there we were treated to fast, quick, no hassle hotel WiFi. As an added bonus some sort of autoplay invisible ghost played the lobby piano all day. Much better than a real life hotel pianist.

Since we didn't stay at the hotel we asked a fellow lobby dweller what he thought of the place:

Better than Marriott Residence Inn here, better than the Columbus Embassy Suites--this is my first time at Drury and I am staying here every time I come to Columbus on business.

High praise from business travelers can't hurt.

Drury Hotels / Business Hotels / St. Louis Hotel Reviews / → All Tags

Could Drury Inns be the 'New Favorite' Business Hotel for the Fly-Over Zone?

Where: 10490 Natural Bridge Rd. [map], St. Louis, MO, United States, 63134

We've got a pretty skeptical view of Drury Inns around here, despite the chain's best efforts to entice us with free hotel-wide WiFi and budget-minded prices. But truth be told, we've come to count on Drury more than once, especially in the Midwest. And we're not the only ones who've stopped in at the St. Louis Airport Drury Inn.

Basically across the road from STL, the hotel has a 24-hour shuttle to the terminals and parking deals that can't be beat. And it gets good marks from biz travelers:

What a pleasant surprise. My company's travel agent reserved me a room at the Drury and I grumbled quietly as the taxi passed by the Marriott next door which is my (former) favorite. But the Drury is my new favorite nowadays: friendly staff, super clean, complimentary happy hour.

Nothing like some free booze to win over the road warrior set traveling through the Midwest. Now if only they could do something about those pesky children we spied in the candid pictures on the hotel's TripAdvisor page.

[Photo: Theoriginalbman]

Related Stories:
· St. Louis Airport Drury Inn reviews [Tripadvisor]
· Drury Inn coverage [HotelChatter]

Hotel Hype / Hotel Indigo / Drury Hotels / San Antonio Hotel Reviews / → All Tags

Hotel Indigo Plans San Antonio Expansion

Looks like Yotel isn't the only "modern" brand that can go on an expansion binge. InterContinental has announced plans to open its third Texan Hotel Indigo in San Antonio. The new property has an ambitious opening date of "early 2008."

The Hotel Indigo at the Alamo will take up residence in the Gibbs Building downtown, but it won't be the first hotel to repurpose a downtown building. The Drury Plaza Hotel San Antonio River Walk opened in a renovated Art Deco bank this past February. If the PR spin is to be believed, though, the Indigo might be a touch more classy:

Hotel Indigo at the Alamo will feature renewable elements such as vivid murals, area rugs, plush duvets and slip covers that will change periodically. Public spaces will be transformed seasonally through changing artwork, music, flora, murals and directional signage.

Sounds nice, but will it offer that signature Indigo smell?

[Photo: Venegas]

Related Stories:
· Narrow Drawers and Cold Wooden Floors are Modern at Hotel Indigo [HotelChatter]

Drury Hotels / Hotel Websites / → All Tags

How Do You Say 'Drury Inn' in Japanese?

Drury Inns are typically located in the "fly-over" zones of America, but Jaunted editor Davie discovered after her recent stay that, "OMG! Drury Hotels annexed Japan!"

Naturally, this got Davie very excited since she's been looking to go back to Japan. Then we noticed that she discovered this on April 1, and thought to ourselves maybe Drury is not so dreary afterall. They might even have sense of humor. But we noticed that they also annexed Guam, Manitoba and Mexico, so most likely they just need to switch their database back to the "Fly-Over" version.

Related Stories:
· We go inside a Drury Inn so you don't have to [HotelChatter]

Hotel Video Tours / Drury Hotels / Cincinnati Hotel Reviews / → All Tags

We Go Inside a Drury Inn So You Don't Have To

Where: 2265 East Sharon Road [map], Sharonville, OH, United States, 45241

Once again Jaunted editor Davie has gone out into the wilds to capture another hotel video tour for us here at HotelChatter.

This one was taken at the Dreary...er...Drury Inn in Sharonville outside Cincinnati. Geez, could this get any more exciting?

Nevetheless, a hotel video tour is a hotel video tour and here Davie writes:

Room #320. This is the first Drury Inn I've stayed at. I actually had not heard of them until I read about the chain on HotelChatter. Really nice for a typical roadside-type hotel. The WiFi is free and works great. The only thing I don't like is the name. Why'd they have to go with DRURY? It makes the place sound depressing. P.S. There is even a flat panel TV in the fitness room.

Free wifi is always a plus and the presence of flat screen TVs is encouraging. And since this is a new hotel, it hasn't started to show wear and tear. So maybe Drury Inns aren't that bad afterall. However, the Drury Inn folks might want to consider a name change. Especially when (if and when) Starwood's aloft hotels start opening. Annoying, all-lowercae monikers always win!

Related Stories:
· Drury Inn Suites Sharonville reviews [TripAdvisor]

Drury Hotels / WiFi Heaven / → All Tags

Drury Hotels Won't Let You Forget About Their Free Internet

Just so you know, Drury Hotels have free internet access and lest you forget, they print it on the hotel's key cards: "Paying for internet access? That's like paying to use the iron."

We couldn't have said it better ourselves. Unless that iron is really crusty and doesn't work too well.

Related Stories:
· The original bman's photostream [Flickr]
· The Current Status of Hotel Irons [HotelChatter]