I travel a lot. A whole lot. In 2009, I actually spent more nights in a hotel than I did at my own house. So while I won't claim to have seen everything there is to see (I've never been to Thailand, for instance) I do consider myself to be somewhat experienced on the subject of picking a hotel.

Now, I expect to find certain basic amenities when I'm going to be in one place for more than a week or so. Free high-speed internet access is standard these days, an in-room fridge and a self-serve laundry facility somewhere in the building are must-haves, and a microwave, a sofa, and an icemaker in said fridge are on the "nice to have" list.

This month, I'm at the Comfort Suites hotel in downtown Chicago. Corner of Wacker & Michigan. Now, I knew that you got a decently sized living room and a full kitchen (complete w/ dishwasher and oven) but I didn't know that they also had a washer and dryer in the bedroom.

Yup:



That's one I have definitely never seen before. Gotta say, it's very convenient.

Has anybody ever seen this before? I must admit, it surprised the hell outta me.

 

Sweet. There are plenty of aprtments that get owned by that.

 

i have seen a few!

a couple of hotels i have been to had them ( nice hotels ) and they is an apartment complex around me that has them..

 

I travel for work maybe around 5 or 10% of the time. What's your favorite chain Joe P? I generally like real Hiltons. Couryards are kinda shitty but if you get a suite you can get a stove. Yay.

I've never seen a washer/drier in a room

If you ever can expense it, stay in a "W" hotel. The one in DC is the nicest hotel I've ever been to. I know there are nicer ones but work only pays for so much.

 

Can say I've never seen that...

 

Out of all the places I stayed at for my last job traveling like 50-75% I always loved Holiday Inn Expresses the most. The Expresses have all been rennovated so they are typically very clean and in good form. Also, they by far have the best breakfast of all of them. Bacon, eggs, make your own waffle stations, and some of the best iced buns evar.

A close second is Hampton Inn for me. Breakfast isn't as good, typical bagels and cereal. The rooms however are always excellent.

On Corp rates I was always able to get rooms for around $130ish/night or less depending on area.

 

I have the exact unit on the first floor of my apartment. It's actually a surprisingly good product however I usually use a wash & fold service anyway.

 

+1 on the Holiday Inn Express breakfast bar...that's the whole reason we now have a quality waffle maker.

 

And the most expensive hotel I've stayed in cost $300+ per night in Seoul. I wanted to ask, "what time is the ******* service"? Same hotel where I saw my first Audi R8.

 

Here I was expecting a dead hooker stuffed into the mattress. I'm a little disappointed Joe, maybe she's in the dryer?

 

+2 on Holday Inn Express's

 

A resort I visit had laundry in the suite. It was awesome.

 

That would be nice. Neat.

 

Had that at a Hyatt I stayed at in Houston. Best hotel ever. Let me outline the niceness:

-Free breakfast. Not just any breakfast, free good breakfast.
-Free happy hour food and DRINK! When you get home from work, they have 3 beers on tap and 4 or 5 different bottles of wine to choose from. On nice days they'd do BBQ, worst was pizza.

In the room:
-Granite Counter tops
-Dishwasher
-Washer and Dryer like what you see there
-36" (I think) LCD Tv with all the hookups to watch whatever you pirated on your laptop
-Comfiest couch ever
-Comfiest bed ever
-$110 dollars a night kept it under my maximum by a pretty good margin

 

I've made the switch to staying at the comfort / quality inn line. I used to pay for higher end hotels. I started to see that the more I paid for an "upscale" place, the more I had to pay for the extras (parking, internet, breakfast) The trade off is generally the loss of a stylish room and sope/shampoo quality.

 

Perhaps they have a lot of business folks that stay a week+ since it's in downtown. Cool find though... never seen that before.

 

around 1:00 in...

 

Best hotel ever - Grove Park Inn in Ashville, NC. My first daughter was concieved there.

The 12 in Atlanta is also nice.