Making hotel reservations for a team of youth athletes and their families is a daunting task. Very possibly, you are now in charge of that duty because you missed a team meeting, and someone nominated you for this job. Just kidding – maybe! And if you volunteered for this job, then even better!

The bottom-line is that you are undertaking one of the most challenging jobs a parent can take on. That is, trying to please 10 or 15 different families’ needs with the right hotel amenities and location, while sticking to a budget. But fear not – help is on the way. Below are some guidelines that may help you make everyone on your team happy with your choices, and let everyone sleep better at night! 

 

Hotel Location to Your Venue

In real estate, they say it’s all about Location, Location, Location. But is the distance from the hotel to where your team is playing all that important? That’s your first decision. If your venue is a downtown arena or convention center, then booking a downtown hotel to be close could cost 50% more than selecting a suburban hotel and driving in. The same is true for hotels next to a suburban soccer or baseball/softball complex; the hotels closest will charge a premium for their location. If you have the ability and time to drive an extra 15-20 minutes to your sports venue, then you can likely find a hotel with a lower rate and possibly better amenities. Also, don’t forget to check out public transportation in the form of light rail services. They are most helpful if you are staying in the suburbs and want to travel to city center, and cities like Atlanta, Denver, Houston, San Francisco, Dallas, Boston and many others provide you that option.

 

Picking a Hotel Brand by Rating

There are several national services that rate hotels. Forbes Travel Guide, formerly Mobil Travel Guide, launched its star rating system in 1958. The most well-known and, in my opinion, the best is AAA, with their Diamond Rating system. Here is a shortened-version of their rating descriptions:

1 Diamond – Essential, no-frills accommodations for the budget-minded traveler. They meet basic requirements in comfort, cleanliness and hospitality.

2 Diamonds – Offering modest enhancements from a 1 Diamond-rated to the overall physical attributes, design elements and amenities at a modest price.

3 Diamonds – Properties have marked upgrades in quality of physical attributes, amenities and level of comfort.

4 Diamonds – Upscale in all areas. The hallmarks at this level include an extensive array of amenities combined with a high degree of hospitality, service and attention to detail.

5 Diamonds – Accommodations are first class. The physical attributes are extraordinary, many personalized services and amenities enhance an unmatched level of comfort.

I recommend that you translate these ratings as follows:

• Teams should stay away from 1 Diamond hotels, as the team will most likely not have a good experience.
• Teams should pick a 2 Diamond hotel (often more of a motel than a hotel) if they are more rate conscious than they are picky with the accommodations. However, a newer built 2 Diamond hotel (built in last 10 years) can be very nice. Of course, in some smaller markets, a 2 Diamond hotel may be the best or only option to be anywhere close to the venue.
• Teams should pick a 3 Diamond hotel if they are willing to pay more for a nice full-service or all-suite hotel.
• It is difficult sometimes to see any real difference in a 4 Diamond Hotel from a nice 3 Diamond property. Good if you can book it, but I would not pay any more for the 4^th Diamond
• Teams likely cannot afford 5 Diamond hotels (which, by the way, are often limited in the number of Double/Doubles they have). But parents booking a King in a sold out area during a tournament might find a deal here, if there is little demand for Kings over your dates.
• fyi (or no Diamond) is a designation by AAA for its members. It indicates that a hotel has not been rated for a number of reasons, the two biggest being: 1) It’s a new hotel and has not been rated yet; or 2) It does not meet AAA requirements. The first is likely good. The second is definitely not.
• Change in National Affiliation – be wary of hotels that change their national chain flag. The owners of a Holiday Inn that changes to a Quality Inn most likely did not want to spend the capital improvement funds to keep their property up to IHG standards. That hotel may still advertise a 3 Diamond rating, when in fact it has deteriorated to a 2 Diamond and just has not been re-rated yet. Of course, a hotel that renovates to be able to upgrade its chain affiliation, probably will be better than its AAA rating.

 

Picking a Hotel Brand by Hotel Company

To put it bluntly, not all hotel/lodging companies are created equal. Some put cleanliness, guest satisfaction and keeping their hotels in top condition at a higher priority than others. Those companies generally own and operate a fair percentage of their hotels (the rest being franchised). Other hotel companies are more of a franchise company, and they generate their revenue from franchise fees, not from operating hotels. Not surprisingly, to a great extent they consider their franchisees to be their “customer,” not the travelers that stay in their hotels.

After spending the last 20 years contracting rooms and putting customers at all of the hotel/lodging companies and brands out there, here is my view of the various companies that teams most often use:

The Best Choices for a Team

All of the brands operated by these hotel/lodging companies can be considered as great choices for a team to stay at. Each company has a stringent quality assurance program that monitors among other things a hotel’s cleanliness, condition and guest satisfaction in all areas.

• All Marriott brands
• All Starwood Hotels & Resorts brands (now owned by Marriott), except for Four Points by Sheraton
• All IHG (InterContinental Hotel Group) brands, except for Candlewood Suites
• All Hyatt brands
• All Hilton Hotels & Resorts brands
• All luxury AAA 4 & 5-Diamond rated hotel company brands

The “Bubble” Properties – Do your Due Diligence

The brands operated by these hotel/lodging companies are a mixed bag. Because the vast majority of their hotels are run by franchisees, I call them “Bubble” Properties – their quality can run good or bad, all depending on how good an individual owner or operator is at running their hotel(s). That being said, if you are considering booking any of these brands should, you should spend extra time checking online reviews and actual traveler pictures showing the condition the hotel is in.

1. Wyndham Worldwide brands
1. Their best brands are Wyndham Hotels, Wyndham Garden Inns, Wingate Inns and Hawthorn suites.
2. Do your due diligence on these: Ramada, Days Inn, Baymont Inn and Microtel.
3. Pass on their other economy brands, unless you visually see that it is acceptable to you.
2. Choice Hotels brands
   1. Their best brands are Cambria Hotel & Suites, Mainstay Suites and their Ascend Collection.
   2. Do your due diligence on these: Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Clarion and Quality Inn.
   3. Pass on their other economy brands unless you visually see that it is acceptable to you.
3. Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group brands
   1. Their best brands are Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, and in particular, their new Radisson Blu.
   2. Do your due diligence on Park Inn and Park Plaza.
4. Best Western Hotels & Resorts brands
   1. Their best and newest hotels are Best Western Plus and Best Western Premier (though only 24 are open in the U.S. at this writing) and Best Western Premier Collection (only 16 of these).
   2. Do your due diligence on hotels with just the Best Western name.
5. La Quinta Inn & Suites brands
   1. Their La Quinta Inn & Suites brand is generally a newer and nicer hotel than their much older built La Quinta’s.
   2. Do your due diligence on hotels with just the La Quinta name.
6. Starwood
   1. As mentioned above, all of their brands are consistently good, except for Four Points by Sheraton. Marriott’s purchase of the company will likely change that. But in the meantime, do your due diligence
7. IHG
   1. As mentioned above, all of their brands are consistently good, except for Candlewood Suites. Candlewood is a cheaper designed all-suite brand that a budget minded team might focus on if the rate offered is lower than any of the nicer all-suite hotels.
8. Independent Hotels/Motels (not affiliated to a national chain)
   1. A chain affiliation is not necessary for a hotel/motel to be quality. In fact, you will find more independent properties in destination locations (particular beach cities) than you’ll find chains. To protect yourself you should either tour it or trust the AAA rating, not accepting anything below 3 Diamonds.

 

All Suites are not Created Equal

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word Suite as “a group of rooms occupied as a unit.”

That’s interesting, because the vast majority of suites offered at all-suite and partial suite hotels are only one room. My definition is of a suite is slightly different. To me a real suite is a suite with a door that closes between the bedroom and the living room/sitting area.

Generally speaking, if you book a suite at hotels like Comfort Inn & Suites, Holiday Inn & Suites, Hampton Inn & Suites, and so on, what you get is a slightly larger room, generally with a foldout couch, microwave, mini-fridge. Now to be fair, while these are not true suites, they can be more comfortable that a standard room. An improvement to these types of suites is what could be called the mid-market suite hotels, which offer a more pronounced sitting area but still no door to close off the bedroom area. Brands like Springhill Suites, Hyatt Place, Home2Suites and Comfort Suites make up this group.

A bigger upgrade to that are all-suite brands like Residence Inn, Homewood Suites, Staybridge Suites, Hawthorn Suites and Element which also offer single-room suites that they have  coined “Studio Suites.” Townplace Suites, Candlewood Suites, Hyatt House and Mainstay Suites are more economy versions of those. These fall into the category of “extended stay” hotels, designed with full kitchens to better accommodate longer length of stays. Most of these brands also offer 1, 2 and sometimes 3 bedroom suites that do have the bedroom door. The only hotel chain where 100% of their inventory is a 2-room suite is Embassy Suites, and in much smaller numbers, Doubletree Guest Suites.

In terms of Free Breakfast, they can differ wildly as well. Here is a quick guide as to who offers what:

Free Hot Breakfast*	Free Continental Breakfast	No Free Breakfast
Comfort Suites Embassy Suites Hawthorn Suites Homewood Suites Residence Inn Staybridge Suites	Element Home2Suites Hyatt House Hyatt Place Mainstay Suites Springhill Suites	Candlewood Suites Doubletree Suites TownPlace Suites

 

• There is some overlap with the Hot Breakfasts that have only a limited number of hot items, and the Continental Breakfasts that have one or two hot items.

One final suggestion – you should figure out what kind of accommodations the parents on your team usually stay at, and consider that in your selection. If the parents on your team generally stay in a full service Marriott, Hyatt or Hilton hotel for their business or personal travel, they likely will not be happy with a Comfort Inn or Days Inn just to be closer to the sports venue. So be sure to take a poll with your team as to what is everyone’s #1 priority: Location, Comfort, Price, or Other, just in case you have to book a hotel that has only one of those.