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ChoiceHotels.com

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3.9

Overall Score

Author: Kalicia Bateman

LAST UPDATED: April 14th, 2022
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The Good

  • Great website
  • Brands
  • Pet friendly
  • Customer service

Great Website

ChoiceHotels.com operates a high quality website which is easy to navigate and filter unwanted options from search results. Their hotels are part of a large network, giving convenience, quality and many choices from longer-term suites to a place to sleep while passing through a city on a road trip.

Choice Privileges Program

The Choice Privileges program gives frequent travelers rewards points back for staying in a Choice Property. Additionally, ChoiceHotels.com offers several rate and discount options such as AARP, AAA, business, senior and government/military rates.

Brands

Choice hotels consists of twelve different brands. Each brand offers its own franchising rights so amenities and other services are not necessarily standard simply because a hotel is part of the Choice umbrella. Choice Hotels are found internationally and the number of properties and locations are disclosed on each of the brands company profiles. The twelve brands that make up Choice Hotels are:
  1. Ascend Hotel Collection
  2. Cambria Hotels and Suites
  3. Clarion Hotels
  4. Clarion Suites
  5. Comfort Inn/Comfort Inn and Suites
  6. Comfort Suites
  7. Econo Lodge
  8. Mainstay Suites
  9. Quality Inn/Hotel/Quality Inn and Suites
  10. Rodeway Inn
  11. Sleep Inn/Sleep Inn and Suites
  12. Suburban Extended Stay Hotel

Pet Friendly

Many Choice Hotels are pet friendly, making traveling easier when family pets are along. (There may be additional fees for traveling with an animal and service animals are always welcome.) For pet owners, the ability to search for properties which are pet friendly is very helpful.

Customer Service

Customer service representatives for ChoiceHotels.com have been rated as very good/excellent in comparison to the competitors. They are available 24/7, professional and able to answer questions with ease. Booking for a Choice Hotel property can be done online or over the phone. ChoiceHotels.com is able to help travelers find lodging at any one of their properties as well as offering vacation packages in many cities. Being a member of Choice Privileges allows frequent travelers to earn points on hotels stays as well as receive discounted pre-paid rates. (These rates are better than the standard rates but come without the options to change or cancel rooms after the reservation is made and the room is paid for). 
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The Bad

  • Terms and conditions
  • Limits of cancellation policy
  • Pet policies

Terms and Conditions

One of the biggest lacks for this website is that of not having a page with terms and conditions for changing or canceling reservations. Many of their competitors have this information explicitly documented on their websites, yet ChoiceHotels.com does not. Their policies are stated on their pricing pages, and for the non-refundable/non-changeable rates, there is a statement in red at the top of the page giving this information. We would like to see this spelled out more plainly on the site itself.

Limits of Cancellation Policy

If a guest books a hotel room in advance for a discounted rate, they are 100 percent stuck with that reservation. The cancellation policy does not apply. Additionally, the rate is non-changeable and non-refundable. A guest's credit card will be charged for the total reservation amount within 24-48 hours of booking the reservation. That means if guests are not entirely sure about their plans, they should probably avoid using the discounted option. Other limitations regarding Choice Hotels policies include:
  • Choice Privileges Expirations: all points will expire on December 31, two years after the year in which they were deposited to the guest's account unless forfeited or canceled earlier due to membership inactivity or other outlined reasons
  • Advanced cancellation: guests will need to cancel their reservations 48 hours prior to their check-in time

Pet Policies

While Choice Hotels claims to be "pet friendly," guests should be aware that the policy actually varies depending on the location. Some hotels allow pets for free, others charge a service fee, and then there are those that prohibit pets from staying in their hotel rooms. Guests will need to contact the actual hotel they will be staying at to confirm the pet policy.
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The Bottom Line

We recommend using ChoiceHotels.com for your travel needs because of the superior customer service, the extent of the choices in searching for a room, and their superior rewards program. The website could use more informational articles about different destinations, but even with this missing, the site does what it is intended to do - find a room at the best rate in the chain. Those that decide to book a room with any of the Choice Hotel chains can expect the following from their stay:
  1. Best internet rate guarantee: guests do not need to worry about getting charged outrageous fees for high quality internet
  2. Thousands of locations: guests can choose from over 6,300 locations globally
  3. Discounts: those who book their stay in advance can save on their trip
  4. Cancellation policy: there are some restrictions associated with canceling that guests should be aware of
  5. Standard amenities: while it varies at each location, guests can typically enjoy the traditional amenities and services
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Star Rating

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2.2

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83 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

20%

4 grade

7%

3 grade

1%

2 grade

7%

1 grade

64%

Sentiment Criteria

Value

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Quality

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Service

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Trustworthiness

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ant

In general I like using the choice hotels web site for booking rooms. The hotel brands give you a variety of quality and amenities and within a brand the reviews available online give you a good idea how a particular hotel ranks with other hotels in the chain. I use booking.com to get unbiased reviews. We have got free rooms with their loyalty program as well as amenities and upgrades because of our status. I do have a complaint about detail hidden in their Rules and Regulations that should be made clear during the booking process. We recently returned from a trip to Norway. A our last stay in a Comfort Hotel in Oslo the hotel clerk gave us our final invoice and told us that our points would not be automatically deposited in our account because Norway uses a different point system but told us if we sent the invoice to customer service they would add the points. We put the work into sending the information to customer service and was told that they do not award point in Norway and to read the fine print in Rules and Regulations. I could book rooms in Norway on the American website and even use my Choice privileges points to book in Norway and there was no indication during the booking process that I would not earn points but sure enough in the fine print it said points were not awarded in Norway and most of the Baltic countries. I think they should make this clear during the booking process. I have corresponded twice with customer support about this. Foe this reason I am taking 1 star off what should be a 5 star review.

7 years ago

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Betty Yerger Heber Springs, AR

My sister and I stayed at the Lewiston, ID Comfort Inn August 22 - 24, 2018. They were very nice and the staff was very helpful...even when we locked ourselves out of our room. I appreciated the cleanliness of the facilitie, the location and the breakfast. It was very quiet and we slept well. We have family in the area and if we return we will stay there.

8 years ago

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marilyn perna Toledo, OH

We were at the Comfort Suites(OH)311 and it was great, clean, large, very comfortable beds but when the wind hit the back of the building, it caused a metal flap to clang all night, fan speed did not help, turning off did not help, if I had a screw driver I would have taken the inside cover off and fixed it, very difficult to sleep hardly any sleep due to the metal noise, desk people said they did not know what the problem was and other units also have the same problem.

8 years ago

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Penny Scottsburg, IN

We arrived in Tulsa on state hwy 66 expecting to book a free stay. had a difficult doing that and was on the phone for 30 minutes in the lobby. Kristal the clerk here at Comfort Inn and Suites was just super. She went above and beyond once we got our room to make sure we had exactly what we wanted and were comfortable and happy

7 years ago

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Gene Hofmann

We are on day 38 of a cross country vacation. We are four choice members in one car. We are retired, and veterans. We have mostly stayed with your chain because we expect a higher standard. I want to tell you about one employee that went above and beyond normal to make our trip better. Her name is: Janissa S. Gen’l Mgr. 5100 7th st. Bay City.

8 years ago

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Katelyn Petersen Eagle Mountain, UT

Most of the choice hotels that I have been to are very clean and the customer service is always fantastic! Not to mention they have hot breakfast!

8 years ago