The Perfect Accommodations for the Traveling Family: Extended Stay Hotels
The most convenient accommodations for a traveling family are in an apartment that includes a fully equipped kitchen and several rooms (at least a bedroom and a living room). There is no need to cook all meals in the apartment, but it is very convenient to be able to prepare light meals or even just a cup of coffee. Living in a single room in a hotel or motel is quite crowded, and after several days or weeks on the roads, it is very comfortable to stretch out in an apartment and not be squeezed together in one room.
If you stay a whole week in one destination, you can live in a spacious holiday apartment which is usually cheaper than the price of two motel rooms. The range of options is vast: from a villa with a private swimming pool, through a cabin in the mountains, or living in an apartment in an apartment building (condominium). Links to many sites where you can find holiday apartments for a week are provided later in the paragraph. Some apartment owners sometimes agree to rent the apartments for a shorter period (4-5 nights), however, for many travelers this solution is not good because they stay in many destinations for only two or three nights and sometimes only one night. The successful answer for such a family is the EXTENDED STAY chains spread throughout the US and Canada, which have developed at a very rapid pace in recent years.
For those interested in villas and vacation homes in the United States:
The successful Booking site has a selection filter by accommodation in villas and vacation homes. This is my preferred choice on vacation apartment sites. After entering this site, filter by the desired destination.
The name EXTENDED STAY is a bit misleading because you can stay in any of the apartment hotels called by this name for very short periods, even just one or two nights.
The central idea behind these chains is to give guests a warm and relaxed home atmosphere. The chains started as a convenient solution for business people arriving for an extended period for their work but became a hit among travel-loving families because of the living space they provide (the smallest studio apartments are about 25% larger than a standard hotel room), the equipped kitchen, and the pleasant homey atmosphere that prevails in them.
Most chains offer, in addition to the lobby, swimming pools, fitness rooms, and sometimes sports courts. Many chains offer free or low-cost high-speed internet in the apartment or the hotel library, as well as fax and document copying services. All chains have self-service laundries with coin-operated washing machines and dryers (COIN LAUNDRY).
Accommodation prices are very diverse and depend on the type and level of the apartment hotel chain, the hotel location, and the booking date. Generally, the earlier you book, the better the prices you can get. Additionally, some chains have a discounted advance booking rate called: ADVANCE PURCHASE RATE which is about 25% cheaper than the standard rate but its disadvantage is that the booking cannot be changed or canceled. Most chains offer discounts for AAA members (membership in MEMSI grants automatic membership in AAA).
The accommodation price also depends on the length of the stay. Staying for longer periods (above a certain number of days) usually grants a discount. Most chains also have a discounted weekly rate. The accommodation price (at a daily rate) includes daily cleaning of the apartment. You can book accommodation in all chains through their websites or make a phone booking through the chains' reservation centers and pay by credit card. When making the booking, verify the billing date and the cancellation policy.
Hotel? The simplest and most convenient way is to search on Booking:
IHG Hotels Chain
The IHG - InterContinental Hotels Group has 4,150 hotels of various types (including the Holiday Inn chain) in about 100 countries worldwide and also has apartment hotels, including the chains:
and Candlewood Suites which have suites.
Both chains offer apartments in a variety of sizes, with the largest (in the Staybridge Suites chain only) being two bedrooms, a living room (which also serves as a study), an equipped kitchen, and two bathrooms, suitable for comfortably accommodating six people. The room price includes a buffet breakfast and also on Tuesday-Thursday free light snacks and drinks between 17:30-19:30.
All chain hotels have a gym, swimming pool, sports courts, a library with computer games where you can also borrow board games and books, and other public rooms.
Extended Stay America Chain
A chain specializing exclusively in apartment hotels is:
The chain offers studio apartments that include a spacious bedroom which also serves as a workspace (usually there is some separation/partition between the workspace/living room area and the bedroom), an equipped kitchen, and a bathroom. All apartments are intended for a maximum of four people. The chain has over 650 branches almost everywhere in the US. The chain includes four sub-brands of EXTENDED STAY: the largest of them, with 380 branches in 43 states, is Extended Stay America; the three additional sub-brands are: Homestead Studio Suites Hotels, with 132 branches in 35 states, including 17 branches opened at the end of 2004; Crossland Economy Studios is a smaller chain with branches in only 17 states; and StudioPLUS with branches in 28 states. All four chains share one reservation center.
Choice Hotels Chain
The large motel chain Choice Hotels has many sub-brands, two of which specialize in apartments and studio apartments:
All sub-brands share a common information and reservation center.
Embassy Suites Chain
The luxury Embassy Suites Hotels (belonging to the Hilton hotel chain), which was the pioneer in the field, opened its first branch in 1984. Today the chain has 170 branches in the US and four more branches in Canada and South America (with 42,513 rooms), with the largest hotel located in Niagara Falls, Canada, near the falls, with 512 rooms. The largest apartments in the chain have one bedroom and a living room and are suitable for a maximum of five people.
Hilton has an additional apartment hotel chain called: Homewood Suites by Hilton, which has 140 branches (and many more under construction) with studio apartments, one-bedroom suites, and two-bedroom suites. All apartments have a spacious and equipped kitchen. The room rate includes breakfast and a light evening meal (snack and drink) served daily (midweek). The chain has repeatedly won satisfaction awards from consumer organizations and well-known magazines.
The well-known and respected hotel chain MARRIOTT, with hotel branches worldwide, was also one of the first large chains to build apartment hotels across the US. The great advantage of apartment hotels in the Marriott chain is the selection of apartments in various sizes suitable for accommodation for couples up to families of 5 and 6 people.
Radisson Chain
The Radisson chain has suite hotels named:
Country Inns and Suites:
which boast their homey and warm atmosphere. Breakfast is included in the room rate.
Marriott Chain
A high-level apartment hotel chain is RESIDENCE INN BY MARRIOTT. The chain has branches in 48 states in the US and also branches in Canada and Mexico.
The larger apartments include two bedrooms, a living room (with a sofa that opens into a double bed), a spacious equipped kitchen, and two pampering bathrooms. Another type of spacious apartment suitable for a family of 5 is the penthouse apartments which have a bedroom and bathroom on the top floor and a spacious living room that also serves as a bedroom for 3 (with a wall bed and sofa), equipped kitchen, and another bathroom on the bottom floor. The room rate in this chain includes a buffet breakfast and a light meal (snack and drink) served daily (midweek) in the afternoon. Every chain hotel has a gym, swimming pool, and mini-tennis court.
The chain also has more popular, yet certainly successful apartment hotels that provide:
TownePlace Suites which has branches in 35 states. All chain hotels have swimming pools. Breakfast is usually not included in the room rate.
Smaller studio apartments (and usually cheaper) can be found in the Marriott sub-chain: SpringHill Suites which has 242 branches in 37 states. In these apartments there is no full kitchen but only a small refrigerator and microwave. The room rate includes a continental breakfast. All chain hotels have swimming pools, a jacuzzi, and a gym. The bedroom is separated from the living room by a partition. In these apartments, there is sleeping space for up to six people (two double beds in the bedroom and a pull-out sofa in the living room).
Motel 6
Even the motel chain considered the cheapest in the US, Motel 6 (belonging to the global chain ACCORHOTELS), has a studio apartment chain called Studio 6:
It has branches in 19 states in the US and one in Canada. Each studio apartment includes an equipped kitchen, a bedroom, and a workspace and is intended for accommodation for up to 4 people.
Microtel Inns and Suites
Another chain from the Wyndham hotel group, which has won many praises in the cheap apartment hotel category, is: Microtel Inns and Suites
It has 242 branches in 41 states containing studio apartments intended for a maximum of four people.