Plaid Summer Tour: Brand consistency

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Brand consistency—on the road.

One of the things about the tour is staying at places you might not normally stay if budget wasn’t an issue. Places you probably wouldn’t take your family on vacation, but for a business trip by yourself, they’re fine. Take the motels we’ve used so far: Travelodge, Econo Lodge, Super 8 and Motel 6. So far, Motel 6 has been the most consistent. Sure it’s not the Hyatt or W, but we’ve found they pretty much are about the same: clean, inexpensive and dependable. The others? Not so much.

Could it be that people don’t expect much in this category at that price? Possibly. Thing is, traveling the way we have been, we don’t need a lot of frills. But what we do need - wireless, decent size room and minimal freakage outside at 2:00 am, they’ve delivered for the most part. However, Travelodge and Super 8 have varied greatly. Having also used Super 8 exclusively on the first tour, the same held true over the three weeks we stayed there as well: From merely okay rooms to downright nasty.

It’s a small thing, but consistency at all levels and across multiple channels makes all the difference.

Labels: lifeontheroad, super 8, tour route, travel lodge