Motel 6 vs. Super 8
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- Опубліковано 18 лип 2023
- This video profiles the rivalry between America's biggest budget motel chains by comparing them in five distinct categories.
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I ended up homeless in the fall of 2013, and while I worked my way off the street, I would occasionally stay at the Motel 6 by the airport and burn 40 bucks because sometimes I'd get sick from the food at the shelter and need a place where I had a safe bed and a toilet of my own.
To this day, my unofficial slogan for Motel 6 is "at least it's better than a homeless shelter."
Hope you’re doing much better my friend! As someone who’s stay at motel 6, it’s not bad.
Oh it’s MUCH better than a homeless shelter I’m sorry you ever had to stay at one of those.
@@skyeshwin Those three months of my life are a lot funnier with 10 years of hindsight and a lot of personal growth since the Great Recession. They weren't so funny at the time. Thanks for the kind words!
(as for when I travel, I tend to save up so I can splurge a little on vacation and travel in a bit more luxury. Some bad associations just never quite wash away.)
@@SimuLord nice to hear from you 👍👍
Damn dude glad to see you’re doing better. I can’t say I’ll relate to that but I imagine it sucked royally.
My friend was a front desk worker at a super 8 in our town. They had a bed bug problem that she kept reporting to the owners they wouldn't do anything about it so she reported them to the health department. The owners fired her she ended up sueing them for a wrongful fire and one let's just say she didn't have to work for a while lol
Mattress covers and regular fumigation is a must for a hotel. Lazy owners destroy these places. Although fault of the brand because they should be regularly auditing their locations.
she should have kept working and invested her $90,000 settlement check instead of doing nothing for 3-4 years and burning thru the 90k.
Wasn’t it in crystal lake il
@@gotacallfromvishalbro she worked at a motel 6, you think she has that kind of business acumen
Sounds on par for Super 8. The day I became truly homeless I went to a Super 8 to stay the night. I tore threw all my bags looking for my ID but I figured out I lost it somehow on the way there. After like 30 minutes of that the lady finally just let me have a room. I'm not sure if I specifically was put in the worst room because of no ID or if all the rooms were just like that. The bed felt like it was cracking when I would lay on it, the TV had a permanent static line and muffled audio, and the coffee pot was molded with some kinda bugs running around inside it. It was super Icky but hey, I was a homeless heroin addict with no ID, I was just lucky to get a room. I was so tired too that I was only even awake like 20 minutes in that room before I fell asleep and woke up at checkout time to the staff knocking on the door lol, they were super chill about it tho
That's actually pretty interesting that Super 8 found major success in China. 8 is a very lucky number in East Asia, and they make a much bigger deal out of their numerology than the west does. A lot of customers would prefer the motel over its competition just based on the number 8 being in the name.
Motel 4 for China have exactly the opposite effect, since 4 in Chinese numerology, is culturally taboo, like 13 and 666 for the USA.
@@carultchdamn you beat me to it lol
Chinese are superstitious about car colors too
"We'll leave the light on for you" being completely spontaneous is another example of how being genuine and spontaneous is SO MUCH BETTER than trying to force stuff 99% of the time. So good!
Interesting how some of the cost-saving changes pioneered by Motel 6 worked their way up into higher-end hotel segments - like disposable cups and rounded bathtubs, for example.
What higher-end hotels do you visit?!?
Rounded bathtubs are just better because no matter how much you scrub the corners, they'll never be as clean as the sides. So rounded bathtubs mean cleaner bathtubs.
There are non-rounded bathtubs?
@@mccalejk2lmao roasted
@@mccalejk2 apples to apples. Can't really compare interstate exit hotels to something like the Marriot.
"We'll leave the light on for you" is one of those lightning in a bottle advertising slogans that just leaves you in awe at it's simplicity and effectiveness.
It’s just a slogan and branding… real experience is where you stay there 😅
@@skyeshwin IME in comparison to the other interstate motels, it's been pretty good.
@@krozareq I didn’t say motel 6 is not good… in fact I agree with your point… what I was trying to make was slogans are just slogans…
We used to joke that the slogan was "We'll leave the light on for you [so the roaches don't come out]."
like: "five. five. five dollar fooooot longs..." that was genius.
I have visited both and I have realized that the brand is just a front in both cases. Due to the fact that they are so heavily franchised the quality between locations varies drastically, the only consistency is that they are often the cheapest options in the area and tend to be conveniently located. I don’t see any reason to hold any brand loyalty toward either one because thinking any experience will consistently translate to another location has proven to be foolish. They do as advertised and you get what you pay for
They're all Patel lol.
I love this! Do more hotel chains like La Quinta or Hilton and Wyndham. I remember as a kid when my parents "upgraded" from a la quinta to a double tree it felt like we ditched our trusty Ford and bought a BMW. Would love to see more comparisons on hotel chains!!
la quinta means : next to denny's.
@@DonLicualathe La Quinta in ocean city Maryland is nice, new and dog friendly. Every room has a balcony. we enjoy it. I’ve searched other Wyndham’s around but I noticed they aren’t created equally
bruh it's the same for me, i used to stay in motel 6s with my family, then i upgraded to comfort inn and then double tree. nowadays we just stay in marriott hotels basically for free every time because my dad has a bunch points from his job
Wyndham owns la quinta, super 8, and days.
I landed in a LaQuinta in Millbrae last year and I thought, it was a hotel, my grandparents would sleep in....
They probably don't have any kind of motels named 7 because last time, 7 ate 9.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 idk why I'm laughing at how sily this is, but great work, bravo
corny joke but your phrasing doesn’t make it work lol
@@MartyDthat's a old joke.
*inserts "Boo this man or woman" meme*
Yeah, man motel 6 was afraid of 7 because 7 ate 9
My husband and I tried to stay at a Motel 6 last summer... we paid for a non smoking room and when we walked into the room it not only reeked of cigarettes but it was in HORRIFIC conditions. The lamp shades were half torn off, the floors were so dirty you could hear them, the bathroom was disgusting and there were red stains on the wall above the headboard of the bed ( we of course don't know for sure but uh yeah you can assume what we assumed those were). We asked for a different room and while the second room didn't smell like cigarettes or have suspicious red stains on the wall it did of reek weed, had burn holes in the sheets, the bathroom appliances hanging from the walls and was just as dirty. We asked for our money back as we decided we just couldn't handle staying there but the Motel refused. We left anyway and drove down the street to the Days Inn where we had a clean room and very friendly receptionist. I will admit the outside of the Days Inn wasn't very clean but we didn't care because the hospitality and cleanliness of the facilities were far better for only 7 dollars more than that Motel 6.
I think we stayed at the same location. That was the last time I went anywhere near one.
First world problems....
So did you end up getting your refund from motel 6 or not?
@zojirushi1 nope. They said that we had rented a room so it was paid for regardless if someone stayed in it or not. Lesson learned. We should of fought for the money before pulling away
You may not have got your money back but you could have reported them to the local health department. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
I stay at Motel 6 on long road trips. The ones I stayed at in Tucson and El Paso wore both great. They were clean, good AC, bed was adequate, TV worked fine. For $50, I was pretty happy and honestly pretty surprised by how clean it was.
The new Studio 6 is a nice concept. Stayed at one in Dallas area, it was pleasant!
I think a video comparing the hotel mega chains would be interesting.
Marriott, Choice hotels (comfort/quality inn), Wyndham (noted here), etc.
The industry has come to be dominated by half a dozen mega chains with dozens of famous sub brands.
I second this!
The biggest takeaway here is that Blackstone really owns everything, damn.
Low-key Masters of Money. _Usually_ low-key: see the ESG 'woke" controversy, which has died down some.
Don't confuse Blackstone with Blackrock.
@@243wayne1 An easy mistake for a newbie (like me!) to make!
I thought that too but it's not the same as blackrock lol. However i did look them up and their not much better
@@243wayne1
Oops I was about to confuse it with Blackwater, thanks
Oh so dreary and dark; can we get something white to lighten things up for a change? Whiteroot Industrial, FTW!
You know when we’re on road trips we never go to a motel 6 or a super 8 and still they feel iconic to me
That depends 😂 both are a hit or miss
Yeah my parents were consistent Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn people because everything else felt like a gamble. Nowadays we take more risks, but use google reviews to make decisions.
Fond memories of the family going on vacation, staying at a Super 8 while on the road, and getting KFC to bring back to the room. It was practically tradition.
Some of the best times! Fast food taste so much better in a hotel/motel. Our go to is always pizza and wings
Both of these chains are much better in smaller cities where tourists dont flock to. Cleaner, friendlier staff, safer areas etc.
I agree. Motel 6 is the pits in so cal area, but in NM it was a great place to stay.
In big touristy places the big groups like Hilton or Wyndham will downbrand rather than remodel, so a Hilton Garden Inn might become a Motel 6.
Oddly enough the Motel 6 in Lancaster gets good reviews.
I've stayed at both many times. While Motel 6's can look rough and often have "colorful" characters on the premises, the rooms are always spotless. Super 8's can be much more variable. I've stayed in some that were lovely and others that were incredibly run down. Both chains have become increasingly expensive in recent years, to the point that mid-range brands (things like Holiday Inn Express, Comfort inn, and Hyatt Place) that provide full breakfasts are often better value.
it definitely depends who manages it. Stayed at a motel 6 and it was super dirty
I so agree with you on this. for just a couple of bucks more you get a much better room at mid range hotels. Some hotel 6 locations are full oh hookers and druggies and rooms smell bad sometimes.
I agree, Motel 6 is more consistent in terms of cleanliness and quality
Last road trip I went on, I didn't find it significantly more expensive to stay at the Best Western in town and I found the Best Western quite nice.
Yep we stayed at Sleep Inn & Suites last year and had delicious hot breakfast served every morning :D Definitely a much better deal than a place that only has coffee and donuts for breakfast. Also, there was a lovely unchlorinated pool at Sleep Inn, also a hot tub! We loved it.
One time I left my cell phone at a super 8 in 2009 and they mailed it back to me
Damn.
That's dope of them to do that
When my 13 year old was about 8 or so, he once told me that one should not stay at any of the "number hotels" (e.g. these two!) because "they have bed bugs." I have no idea where he got that idea! I have had good and bad stays at both. Once, I made a reservation at a Motel 6 through Expedia or something, and when I got the hotel, they said there was a "do not rent" notice on my reservation/name....never found the reason why. I will never even try to stay in one again.
Maybe he got it from a TV show?
So you blame the Motel when you booked the room through a service that you can not recall?
Maybe he heard about it from a friend or overheard teachers talking at school. When I was eight I randomly knew that a certain restaurant owner was racist because I overheard teachers talking in the teacher's break room
With them both being franchised, everyone is going to have varying opinions on which chain is better based on they're experience with a specific location(s). Franchise operators tend to be very inconsistent from one to another when compared to corporate run locations.
I’ve stayed at both many times on trips; especially when driving multiple days to get to a destination. They’re usually easy to find and conveniently located. And generally inexpensive. They’ve always had everything I needed in a place to sleep overnight them quickly get on the road again. Super 8 has usually been the slightly better of the two;similar to their sister brand, Days Inn (Or a step between Motel 6 and Days Inn)
I agree… during road trips it makes sense to stay at a cheaper place (and decent too) so that you can spend that extra money for something else like a souvenir
I lived in Little Italy in San Diego in the early 2000’s and this house I lived in had a rooftop deck that overlooked the Super 8 motel across the street. We would sometimes sit up on the roof and play “Hotel guest or Hooker?” 😂 It was a fun game and not at all difficult to play.
Dude you left out the BEST part. The magic fingers for a quarter ❤
Never stayed at a motel 6. My wife and I are going on a road trip vacation and we mostly book Best Western and Comfort Suites but we have one Super 8 booked. We have stayed at this location before and for 122 with a hot tub it's a really good deal!!
I would also add red roof inn to the economy hotel list…
Motel 6's were very comfortable and when you went into the office you could get the locations book that had all of them listed by locations. It also had contact info and where they were with a small location map. You planned a long trip by going from Motel 6 to Motel 6.
I feel like that was a long time ago.
yes, the location book was great for that
@@marcpeterson1092Agreed. People are way more price driven and utilize apps far more often. Usually people just look up hotels nearby using a hotel search aggregator app like Booking and book whatever is cheaper but still comfortable/clean.
You just unlocked a memory deep in my mind watching my dad and granpa plan trips with those
I'm always happy to stay at a very minimalistic, economical hotel/motel, but I do have two complaints about these two chains: (1) There are exceptions, but far too many of them are located in very sketchy areas, and as a woman who travels alone a LOT, I'm simply not comfortable even stopping there a lot of the time. And (2) when I HAVE stayed at them, all too often -- I'd say maybe two thirds of the time or more -- they're not only bare bones (which I don't mind at all), but also very dirty (which I very much do mind).
For years my chain of choice was La Quinta and they were great but they've degenerated badly in recent years and are often too run down and dirty to feel safe. Today I almost always choose Quality Inn/Suites and so far, so good. Not fancy at all, but I generally pay $50-60/night and it's always clean, they have a good breakfast, and the staff is almost invariably friendly and helpful. Locations vary, of course, but I highly recommend it overall.
The times and communities have changed since some of the hotels were first constructed in those areas. Times have changed, areas have changed. The clientele have become sketchy and the employees have become sketchy
Ah, yes, the Non-Quality Inn. I've stayed at a Quality Inn twice and both times the experience was... interesting. First one was in New Mexico. I registered with two women who thought it was a MAJOR effort to sign me in. Then I had to go thru the enclosed pool area to climb the stairs to my room. The pool may or may not have had water in it, the rest was chlorine. There was a screaming kid and his dad in the pool. When I got in my room, at least the chlorine smell was gone, but the kid was still screaming- for TWO hours more. I could hear him screaming while I was in the shower! Finally they quieted down, and I then had the best sleep in ages in a sinfully comfy bed. More recently, I stayed at another in Missouri only because everyone else was full. This time, the room door was falling off the hinges, so I had to lift the door about an inch to get it to close. The bed was as comfy as the first. Would I stay at another? Not unless there was nothing else around. I've also stayed at a Motel 6, and it was ok for the price.
I managed a corporate owned Motel 6 for a year (I previously was a part time Night Auditor/Maintenance). The biggest reason that Motel 6 is nearly always located in "bad" areas is that the location changed, sometimes drastically.
The one I worked at in Nashville was built in the late 70s in an area very near an interstate exit just outside the downtown core. By the early 2000s the area had been built up and transformed into a drug/crime riddled ghetto.
Great video once again, Company Man!
Honestly, motel 6 hasn't been that bad from the times i have stayed there. It's definitely not the best place to stay at all, but for being a place to stay on a budget, it's not the worst. Super 8 on the other hand. I remember my family and I booked a night to stay there over a long weekend in san diego near hotel circle. First off, it's full of shady characters hanging out outside of the hotel. Our room was on the top floor and we had to walk up the stairs to get to it. It was probably midnight or so and nearly half of the motel occupants were hanging out outside. We got side eyed by everyone we passed by. Then, we got to our room and it was digusting. Flys flying around, bathroom was full of gnats, some kind of small insects crawling around the sink. Absolutely disgusting. The beds smelled weird, I can almost guarantee there were bed bugs on the bed. But, what made us decide to leave was the fact that the fridge was leaking. My nephew pointed it out by saying his socks were wet. We immediately left. When we told the service desk the situation, they were giving us a hard time and saying that "well, thats the room that you booked!" After some back and forth the manager reluctantly gave us a refund. After that we looked everywhere for a room elsewhere, but since it was a long weekend literally everywhere was completely booked. Not sure if other super 8 motels are better, but i definitely wouldn't even bother to give it another shot after my past experience.
Actually I agree with your point.. I too find motel 6 overall experience to be better than super 8…. Even in bad areas where motel 6 is located, you know they’re bad, but super 8 is kind of unknown…. I had a similar experience when me and my missus stayed at the one at belle fourche SD…
Super 8 just sucks and it also looks like they're struggling business wise to stay afloat.
Bill Elliott was Nascar's most popular driver at the time. It was a huge deal for them.
Yes it was along with McDonald's, and Amoco too, he was the original Amoco driver in NASCAR when he had them also with Junior Johnson's team in the 90's too before his own team, and I think John Andretti had them as an associate sponsor in the mid 90;s I think, I know he had Little Caesar's, and K-Mart during that time frame. Of course Amoco sponsored Dave Blaney as well when he was in NASCAR from 1998-2001.
Elliott was sooo popular that he had to withdrew his name from the ballot so “others” (aka DE Jr.) could win
Mickey mouse elliott
I did a nationwide roadtrip and I stayed in a Super 8 in Metairie, Louisiana, Dodge City, Kansas, and Decorah, Iowa. All of them were exactly what I needed, a cheap place to rest and take a good hot shower in between camping.
Motel 6 is absolutely my go-to! It has a bed, a shower and (often) a monitored parking lot. Those latter two are all I really need (otherwise, I'd be sleeping in my car at a rest stop). The friendly pet policy at Motel 6 has been an added bonus many times.
Motel 6 has renovated so many of its rooms that I never thought twice about a booking -- but that peace of mind ended when I stayed over in Albuquerque. That room was very rugged, even by my minimal standards.
Was that the Motel 6 at the east end of Albuquerque off of Central Ave. and next to the Waffle House?
@@WAL_DC-6B No, mine was Coors on the west side next to BWW. After my visit, I emailed Motel 6 and suggested branding the 'legacy' buildings differently so it would not devalue the good will they have built from their renovated locations
@@edwardkay288 Thanks for your response!
If you're traveling out west and looking to save money, you should bring some camping gear or sleep in your vehicle on federal land for free. New Mexico has tonnnnsss of public land. There's a National Forest (Cibola I think) about a 20-30 min drive outside of Albuquerque.
I’m glad I decided to keep going to Tucumcari instead of stopping in Albuquerque
I stayed at motel 6 when I went to Chicago last year. It was near the Schaumburg location. That was pretty good and neat even though the beds were smaller and cost only like 180 dollars for 3 nights including taxes. I’ve also stayed at a motel 6 in Des Moines and it was okay. This year, I stayed at super 8 both in bell fourche SD and riverton WY during my road trip to South Dakota and Yellowstone. While the riverton location was very good for its price ($73/per night), the belle fourche was insanely bad ($100/night)…. Having said that, I would say that both are a hit or miss. If I can afford to spend >$100 for one night, I would skip both and go with a better option like a doubletree or a holiday inn. However, it all depends on the location whether they are good or not. I would suggest reading the google reviews throughly before booking them in case you’re staying as a family or a couple… but economically both are pretty cheap.. 😅
@@whatwasisaying1338exactly! I didn’t read the google reviews for super 8 at belle fourche properly and boy I suffered for that! 😂
I stayed at the Joliet location by the mall in 2006
Hit & miss for sure. Do be sur to watch out for an individual location that was sold just to get rid of the building. A lot of fleet/construction vehicles in the parking lot is a red flag.
I stayed in Motel 6 last month on a road trip! I went from Texas to CA. I like Motel 6 for being quick and easy to get a room at night, since mostly we don’t stay in hotel rooms during the day that much, since we’re only in hotel rooms at night!
Yes perfect place to stay for a road trip 😅 do check the Google reviews though before booking
@@skyeshwin we planned ahead, we stayed at multiple hotels, we went to theme parks like Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor!
@@Markimark151 me and my friend and both of our wife’s did the same thing last year… went on a 9 day road trip between SFO-Yosemite-LAX-LV-Phoenix and stayed mostly at these 1 star motels… overall it was a decent experience!
@@skyeshwin I don’t like taking planes with big families anymore. There’s too much delays and the heat especially in the southwest! I went to Arizona to meet my relatives!
I drove from CA to texas last month in 26 hrs. Gps said 19hrs but I had to stop to charge tesla. when It was time to come back a couple days later I was traumatized lol, felt like I was stuck across the country because all the excitement of getting there I didn't have on the way back lol.
I'm a very blue collar, no-frills guy who's stayed at both and never had any problems with either. Rooms have been a bit shabby and outdated at times but I've never had any problems with legitimate filth or bugs or safety concerns. When I visit a new town I just want a place that's relatively clean and quiet where I can safely store my belongings during the day while I explore and crash for the night, and both of these chains have served me just fine in that regard over the years. I'll always try to save myself a few hundred bucks at one of these if I'm on vacation for a week or so and have the option.
I was waiting for the part mentioning the radio commercials. 😆 My parents listened to a lot of talk radio, and the Tom Bodett Motel 6 commercials used to play between segments all the time. It was one of my favorites - Tom’s soothing yet deadpan delivery and that fiddle and bass guitar jingle will forever be embedded in my memories. Just thinking about it makes me nostalgic. 🤣🤣
I had to rely on the company but rather than staying at Motel 6, I stayed at a Studio 6 for about 6 months. We had neighbors that stayed there roughly the same amount of time. It was a family of like 2 adults and 4-5 kids. It was rough for a while, but fortunately I had family helping me, because I only had two part time jobs and would’ve had to stay at a shelter had it not been for him. Honestly, my neighbors made it an awesome experience as well and I remember them fondly. I am grateful for the experience and the life lesson.
I stayed at over 200 Super 8 motels when I worked for the parent company, and have seen the entire spectrum from them...
At 5:18 you show a Motel 6 I've actually stayed at, that was pretty surreal.
I do a lot of budget traveling and have almost always gone with Motel 6 when I need to be as frugal as possible. There's been a few gross rooms and unpleasant experiences, but 80% of the time Motel 6 delivers in the "being perfectly adequate" way. I've never stayed at a Super 8 because they're never as cheap.
The absolute worst hotel stays in my life were at Super8 and DaysInn
Great video. I have never stayed in either, and do not want to, but I have always been curious. I am a non-US lawyer and have been represented three well-known hotel companies, one each of US, French, and British. The idea of a 1,000 hotel non-franchised enterprise is breathtaking, in particular with a company that is carefully about expenses. What a great way to monitor and control your business practices. For me, we had franchisees, but they were elite businessmen often with deep experience with newly-formed business. I loved comparing my experience with Motel 6 and Super 8. Thanks.
Definitely try Motel 6 and with Super 8 you will automatically be disappointed you will probably wish to stay at another place.
With my job I’ve had to do a lot of traveling around the Midwest, not as much anymore, but when I’d have to stay somewhere out of town, often times the most convenient, cheapest, and most plentiful lodging I’ve discovered was Super 8. Wasn’t on purpose, but whenever I needed a place to stay around the work area, Super 8 was just always conveniently located and priced. I rarely saw Motel 6’s and when I did, they were in rougher shape and using older decor than the nearby Super 8 which at the time (recently) had been remodeling all their locations. So of course I’d much rather stay at a remodeled and beautiful but still cheaper motel. So eventually it just became my actual go-to motel to search for without even looking elsewhere. So much so that I’ve started looking for them for personal trips. The breakfast is often lackluster, especially since the pandemic, but it’s a good place to stay if the lodging isn’t any more part of the trip than a place to lay your head at night and all the action and adventure awaits outside the motel lobby doors.
I don't stay at either of them any more, but I did stay at the Super 8 in Blue Earth, MN, back in the early 2000s, and it was awesome - lit fireplace, snacks on the table, and beautifully decorated for Christmas. I also stayed at the Super 8 in Tomah, WI, and it was awful - musty, breakfast was a packaged muffin, etc. You just never know. I don't think i ever stayed at a Motel 6.
@OmarRodriguez-vl2tq Not for me. The hotel needs to be nice in the lobby, or I figure the rooms are crap. We did sit in the lobby and pay a card game in front of the fireplace. If we're traveling with friends, we do the same - play a game or two in the lobby. I expect the lobby to be clean and comfortable. And no pay-TV or pay-A/C. That's just stupid. I don't mind paying for good. I'll pay $200 for a Holiday Inn before I'll pay $125 for a bad Super 8.
I haven't tried Motel 6 or Super 8. I did stay at a Days Inn once but something in the room, mold maybe, triggered an asthma attack and I was wheezing all the next day so I don't stay at these for that reason.
I have to say the motel 6 in Anahiem is a great option for going to Disneyland and not paying over 2k. Hotel is a walkable distance to the park and the staff actually work hard to maintain the grounds well. I've stayed twice and have it enjoyed it both times. Also you can't beat free parking in Anahiem lol.
If I ran hotel chains, I’d go for mid-price ranged places. Like around $100-$150 per night or so. I would do free purified water and complementary chilled fruit, free hot breakfasts (bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, eggs, hash browns, oatmeal, cold cereal/milk, orange juice, water, hot cocoa, coffee, tea, creamed beef on toast, English muffins, bagels, etc.), and a low cost buffet for lunch/dinner, emphasizing hot buttered toast and baked potatoes, beans, chicken, pork and beef dishes-stews and soups, etc., veggie and fruit salads, healthy cooked veggies, fish like cod, herring, sardines, salmon, etc., pudding, chocolate chip cookies, fruit pies and pastries. 👍. Two mini fridges per room-one for the free stuff (water and fresh fruit), the other for the stuff that costs money for the guest (poppi and Olipop prebiotic sodas, Sanpellegrino fruit juices, Izzy’s, cream puffs and chocolate eclairs, dark chocolate, beer/wine, shrimp salads maybe, etc.).
I’d definitely have free cable, big screen tv’s, roomy, clean bathrooms and rooms/beds, etc., modern outlets for computers, cell phones, free wifi, etc., plus hot jacuzzi/hot tubs (multiple hot tubs), a bakery, a restaurant serving family favorites + meaty entrees, a fitness room, a candy/sweets shop and a gift shop. 👍👍.
Maybe all that would run closer to $200 per night, but I think when you go under $100 a night, that’s definitely roughing it somewhat…. 😩😩😩
Professional traveler here…Motel 6 is an absolute last ditch option while some Super 8 locations are actually pretty decent. (My usual preference being Hampton or Holiday Inn Express)
I'm just sticking with Average 7.
A story of 2 motel chains. This is going to be interesting.
I've stayed at a Motel6 a few times in my life, probably as a kid with my parents on vacation. But Super8 gets a shout-out from me. I moved to Indiana in 2021 for a new job, and the weekend I moved here, my sister (whom I was going to be staying with) caught COVID. So I was forced to stay at a motel, and the Super8 in town is where myself and my parents had stayed when visiting her, so that was the obvious choice. A week there was splendid. Super clean building quiet, comfortable A/C in the room, friendly front office staff, and of course free breakfast every morning.
Congrats on the growth of your channel Company Mang!
Where I live we had a Super 8 right off the interstate. When it shuttered it's doors, a local owner came in and took over.... But they put a 9 over the 8. It was our own special Super 9 motel. It went out of business too.
wow, that had to have confused customers and would be patrons!
I don't recall ever staying at a Motel 6. I have stayed at a few Super 8s in Iowa while I was there for funerals. I'd say they're comfortable but basic. I wasn't looking for anything fancy though as I was just going to be in town for one night and just needed a bed and bathroom.
I look forward to your videos. The videos are very informative and. educational. You have a perfect voice for the videos. Thank you.
"I'd like to hear what you have to say" - another equally great tag line. Awesome video as always!
I've been to Motel 6 quite a few times while cruising up/down the Sierra Nevadas on either HW395 or Interstate 5. I always found their rooms to be decent and clean and I highly prefer them if I need to take a break. $40-$50 a room is a sweet deal when compared to rinky dink tourists traps econo-motels who charge double or more. I hear less flattering things about motel 6 in bigger towns and cities though, dirty and car break-ins/thefts, but I tend to avoid going to those places altogether.
The one in Mammoth Lakes is totally ok and just a mile from the hill.
I’ve stayed at a few Motel 6’s and honestly I’ve never had any major problems. The rooms were always pretty clean and one in Anaheim even brought in an extra cot for us when we needed it. There was one that kinda smelled like smoke when we requested non smoking but it went away when we left the door open for a few minutes so it wasn’t terrible
I grew up staying in those. But as my parents got older and more financially stable, they were more than happy to start staying at Holiday Inn and Best Western. AARP gets them discounts, too, lol. I like to sleep in the car. I'm more of a camper-road tripper. Anything to avoid the fuss of a hotel. I like keeping everything in arm's reach and not have to rearrange anything.
Wow. How do u sleep in a car? What do u do for air? Just curious to know
When I was younger (late teens to mid 20's), I was willing to stay in either...but as I grew older, I noticed that single story old timey motels were started to be renovated, so I stayed in those instead. These days I prefer Spring Hill Suites and Holiday Inn Express, however I am willing to stay in an "old timey motel" instead of the Motel 6/Super 8.
I know what you mean I like the old timey motels and they are usually the same price as motel 6.
We stayed at a crummy motel (Sandhills motel at Mullen Nebraska) recently with my wife during a road trip just for the same experience… wife got mad at me as soon as we landed there and saw the room 😂😅… no way will we do that in the future 😅
@@skyeshwin Lol that’s happened to me many a time I’m super excited about how shitty it is because it gives it character but my girlfriend is always mad.
@@willissudweeks1050😂 🙌🙌
I’ve stayed at the Motel 6 in Downtown San Diego and I was quite surprised how great the experience was so I guess it depends on the area
I went out of town years back and was going to stay at a Holiday Inn, but when they asked for a huge deposit, I went to a Motel 6 that just happened to be nest door. Saved alot of money!
Cheapest vacation I can think of was when my parents pitched a tent out in the south pasture and called it “camping”.
I stayed at both multiple times. I prefer Super8s. They have shampoo, alarm clocks & often times the breakfast areas have waffle irons. That said, Motel 6s, in my experience anyway, are usually a little cheaper. If they're close on price, I'll stay at a Super8, even if it's a little more expensive. But I often stay at Motel 6s because, well, because I'm cheap is why.
Motel 6s always seemed like downmarket Super8s to me.
There is a lot of variability in both hotel chains, with pretty good ones and pretty bad ones in both organizations.
1:38 i literally said out loud "no that makes perfect sense" 😂
When my family first moved to Texas 20 years ago. We were waiting for our house to be built and we actually "lived" at a super 8 for a couple weeks/months. Some of the best times 😅😅
Any urge I had to check out a Super 8 ended when my parents stayed in one and got bed bug bites. :/ Even so, I can see how motels like this work for people who really want to budget and aren't concerned about amenities. It's not for me, but more power to anyone who enjoys these motel chains.
@@JN-onlythe super 8 in belle fourche SD is nasty and filthy too 😂
I'd be willing to bet the Benton Harbor, MI location would beat out any other in America. If you know, you know.
I've stayed at a lot of Super 8s and they were always clean and quiet. I never got bed bugs.
Bedbugs can affect any hotel chain, even the nice ones, and once they’re established they’re hard to get rid of. It’s always a good idea to check around the mattress and headboard for signs of them and don’t put your suitcase on the bed. If you think there might be bedbugs then before going home you might want to spray down your suitcase with rubbing alcohol and run your clothes through a hot dryer lest you bring any hitchhikers back with you.
@@juliadagnall5816 They can, but a motel operating on thin margins and asking only $100/night is going to get hit way more often than higher end chains. I only stay at mid-tier hotels and above for that reason. Courtyard, Doubletree, etc. You're asking for it otherwise.
I used to stay at a lot of motels and if I had a choice I would choose Motel 6 over Super 8. Super 8 just felt far more budget with worse looking rooms in much worse neighborhoods.
I used to stay at a nearby Super8 when attending a semi-local Sci Fi convention. (FYI, they were a designated Overflow Hotel by the Con.)
1 - Better rates than the Con hotel.
2 - Quieter than the Con hotel.
3 - At a Con, you're not spending THAT much time in your room, anyway, so the motel only has to be acceptable, not white-glove.
4 - The staff was sufficiently pleasant and helpful for a budget hotel.
5 - At a Con, you're probably going to eat with friends at the Con hotel or some off-premises eatery.
The only downsides are:
1 - If you have to constantly go back to your room to pick up or drop off stuff (say, as a vendor or a cosplayer).
2 - You really need the facilities of a better hotel (office services, gym, pool, etc.)
3 - The weather is typically bad, or the Super8 is far from the Con hotel.
Otherwise, we were quite happy at the Super8.
Great broadcast
Motel 6 and super 8 when hotel 7 walks in
A couple of road trips this past year had me staying at Motel 6 a few times. Bismarck, ND - awful; Fort Nelson, BC - very nice; Palm Springs, CA - OK but location is perfect; Blythe, CA very nice. I just wish there was more consistency in their properties.
Motel 6 looks good it literally just looks like a small apartment building but at least it doesn't look old like Super 8 does.
One of the funnier comedy bits I ever heard on a local radio station was a spoof of Motel 6 ads; "I'm Tom Beelzebub for Motel 666, and we'll leave the flaming goat out for ya."
My mom made the mistake of getting one of these motels on a trip to Maryland. It was a Motel 6 and it was very run down. It stunk like smoke, it was in a dangerous part of town, spit on the walls and was cramped. Worst experience of my life!
I've stayed at Super 8 and La Quinta. never been to motel 6. super 8 was alright. Highly recomend you doing a video about la Quinta as they were amazing and still not too terribly expensive. they also offered a 10% discount for next time we stayed there for a vacation.
The last time I stayed at a motel 6 was after college while job hunting. It was cheap and clean, exactly what I needed. There were smaller mom and pop places that I’ve been to after that that were nowhere near as nice. Next month I’ll be staying at an ocean-front resort where the daily parking fees costs half as much as that original Motel 6 stay. But this time I am going for business+pleasure, and I will be staying multiple days so now the amenities matter.
Great video! Very interesting.
Great idea for a video, Company Man!
I've worked cross country bicycle rides as a mechanic. 1 year I took a triathlete that was 17 from Seattle to Cleveland. 52 hotels over 75 days. Never stayed in either found the comfort inns and Holiday Inns to be slightly more but well worth it 👌 😀
Super Motel 68
I've stayed at locaqtions of both chains, and in my, albeit limited experience, I've generally found Super 8 to be the more pleasant to stay in -- more "homey," vs. the almost sterile feel of the Motel 6 locations I've visited.
And given the opportunity, I find Red Roof Inn to be only slightly more expensive, and a far superior experience...but their coverage is limited in many parts of the country, such as the Southwest.
I like how his thumbnail showing the motel 6 bring back memories of me in one when my family was poor and great video man :]
Great video as always! Would love to see one on the current Christmas Tree Shop bankruptcy situation soon!
Let's face it--we know Tom Bodett more from Motel 6 ads than we do from NPR. What a great voice.
He is a very nice guy!
I have stayed at both (Days Inn too) and like (not love) all of them. My favorite Hotel BY FAR is Drury (you know why if you ever stayed at a Drury).
Best western is also underrated
A couple years ago I flew to Kansas to buy a Cadillac wagon and road tripped home down Route 66 (highly recommend the car and that road trip), anyways, I rolled into Flagstaff, AZ on day three and started calling around to different hotels. Turns out there was some huge event that weekend and everywhere was booked. My last call was to Motel 6, who did have ONE room available.. they wanted $450 for the night. Long story short, it’s a good thing I bought a wagon cause it made a damn good RV for the night.
One of the bad winter storms here in North Texas that knocked out our power because the grid could not handle it. My wife and I stayed at a motel 6 and it turns out that the room was a suite. I’m like great, we don’t have to eat out. We can just go and get food from the grocery store which saved us some serious money while we weathered the bad winter storm.
With my limited US travel.....I have been to a few that had national bug names....but I was so disappointed in the quality. Seems like quality varies depending on which city you stayed at....it's true, you get what you pay for.
Yes and Google reviews help a lot these days
I spent a lot of time in either motels. With motel 6, you get some very well run motels, and some are horrible. Super 8 in general has better standards and is more expensive. However, when on the road the motel 6 has a much better app for booking and more availabilities.
Growing up my family exclusively stayed at Motel 6, so I didn’t know any different! I have since stayed there twice in my adulthood and while it’s no-frills, I’ve found them to be very clean and well maintained.
Love watching your videos, it's very cool that you gather so much information about the companies from beginning to end or present.
I would love to know what happened to Brach's Marshmallow Easter Hunt Eggs. They were so popular they would sell out every year and now you can"t find them anywhere. Thanks in advance!
Super 8 is really popular in china because 8 is seen as an extremely lucky number bc it sounds like the word for wealth.
Maybe that’s an important reason why it’s successful there 😅
I've stayed at a Days Inn before, but not in the last ten or so years, thought it was very basic at the time and still an upgrade over what I perceived Motel 6 or Super 8 to be. I don't think I've stayed at Motel 6 or Super 8. As a kid, the go to hotel was Best Western, which seemed to be very popular in Michigan at the time and the furthest outside of Michigan we ever went was Cedar Point, which is just into Ohio. I remember staying at a Holiday Inn once when I was young, and didn't like it at all. Don't remember why. But the Best Western in Traverse City(or was it Mackinaw City?) we had a room with a narrow spiral metal staircase that lead up to a bed, which I thought was so cool! Still do actually and no clue if it still exists. Mom and Gary slept on the downstairs bed. Had a TV to myself too, think it had 8 over the air channels! Now that I fly for a living, I don't see Best Westerns anywhere other than up north while on road trips, and some of our hotels are just as basic as that Days Inn I remember, while the few Holiday Inns we have are not only horrible to us, but awful places to stay at. And we can't stay at anything like a Motel 6, Super 8, or a Days Inn due to our contract requiring specific amenities and locations to food that are open during specific hours, that none of those hotels can accommodate.
Good timing for super 8 video I'm currently living in one for work
Great video.
Super8 here in the Philippines is a grocery store.
There’s a huge variation in quality with super 8. I always look on TripAdvisor or a similar review site. The nicer well-reviewed ones are a really good deal and can be as good as a low-mid tier hotel like a holiday inn for less money.
Motel 6 was my first husband’s go-to when we were young, broke newlyweds in the mid 80s. We moved from Atlanta to Chicago in 1985 and back in 1986. You would buy a key for the tv for a few bucks, and you had to leave a refundable $5 deposit on your room key. In the intervening years, I traveled showing dogs, and sometimes Motel 6, Red Roof Inn, and Ramada Inn were my only options! In 2017, my husband and I (with our dog) took a long road trip (TN to AZ) to visit family. The upgraded rooms at most Motel 6 locations were a godsend, since we were only stopping for the night. There aren’t enough places that are pet friendly in any class of motels/hotels, and over the years, I’ve managed to stay at least once in each one.
Company man's tagline "id like to hear what you have to say" has the same personal feel to "we'll leave the light on for ya".
The first time I ever stayed at "the six" (as I've called it since 1996) was when my parents and I were traveling in Texas in the spring of 1992 and decided to give them a try in Laredo. If any of us went by first impressions, we (or at least I) would never have returned.
1. The TV only had 4 channels; Laredo's CBS and NBC affiliates, WABC in New York (Laredo didn't have an ABC affiliate at the time), and a "movie" channel (cheesiest movie channel on the planet)
2. The phone in our room didn't work (mic part was broken), forcing my mother to use a payphone to call my grandmother (her mom).
3. Phone in adjacent room kept ringing and ringing and ringing, because that's how the room patron was informed he had a message (unlike the red light on other hotel phones, you know).
4. Or the most absurd one. They weren't even listed in directory assistance! And there were TWO of them next door to one another off I-35. I found this out when my family tried to reach us when my other grandmother (my dad's mom) was sick and took a turn for the worst, and they tried to get a hold of us while we were there! They weren't able to reach us until we got to Corpus Cristi three days later, and my brother miraculously found us at the Best Western we had JUST checked into to inform us she died. (Mind you this was 1992, when cell phones were still rare, and those that existed were paperweights outside of their area.)
That was the tail-end of them being how they started out. They've clearly gotten much better since.
Nice review! It's been a few years since my hotel budget was Motel 6 and Super 8. Back when I'd stay in them regularly, I found Super 8 to be a little bit better of a place to stay on average. On that thought, Motel 6 is usually $5-10 cheaper per night than the average Super 8.