Hampton Inn and Suites
The Hampton Inn and Suites are part of the modern world that includes many hotel and motel chains, each offering a certain level of service and appealing to a specific budget. The varied, individual inns of old are largely gone in the United States and western Europe, save in the form of “bed and breakfast” establishments, and both national and global chains are the most common places where weary travelers can find a clean room and a warm bed for the night. Some of these chains operate mostly in America, while others have branched out to the whole planet and are steadily expanding to new countries.
The Hampton Inn and Suites hotel chain is one of the holdings of the Hilton Worldwide company, and is based around limited-service hotels that are affordable for all kinds of travelers. With the current motto of “we love having you here,” these hotels are mostly found in the United States. The brand is slowly expanding its holdings in other countries, however, and you will be able to spend the night at the occasional Hampton Inn in Mexico, Canada, Great Britain, Costa Rica, or Ecuador as well. Since the hotel’s management philosophy currently insists on a ‘consistent experience’ at all branches of the hotel, these international branches provide American travelers with an island of familiarity if that is what they want in preference to trying a local hotel.
Hampton Inn and Suites hotels differ from other types of Hampton hotels (such as Hampton Inns and Hampton Boutique Hotels) in that they include several suites as well as regular rooms. They are, however, limited-service hotels. This means, in the first place, that the hotel itself and the comfortable, clean, safe lodging it offers is the only service to be found on the premises – there are no shops, restaurants, cafés, or other services in the building itself. Of course, since fast food and other restaurants spring up like mushrooms near any hotel, there is likely to be somewhere to satisfy your hunger within a short walk or brief drive of the Hampton.
In the second place, being a limited-service hotel means that the Hampton Inn and Suites does not offer concierge services or bell services like a full-service hotel does. This is one of the factors keeping costs in an affordable range, however, and most thrifty travelers will be quite satisfied with an inexpensive, comfortable room and will never even notice the lack of ‘bells and whistles.’
The Hampton does include a few local flourishes, however, just to make staying at different locations slightly more interesting than a completely standardized experience, and to mesh with the local entertainment scene, in some cases. Special “packages” based on local attractions are the usual form that these local details take, and are intended more for those meaning to stay in the area for a while than for people who are looking for a place to sleep for a single night during their journey.
Hampton hotels have a wide range of different, extra features to make staying there a bit more pleasant and refreshing. All bookings include a free hot breakfast, or, in the event that you are hungry but do not have time to sit down for a meal, you can stop at the front desk and receive an “on the run breakfast bag” – a paper bag containing bottled spring water, packaged muffins, an apple, and other food items that will not make a mess in the bag before you can eat them. The food is not of astounding quality, but it is clean and will at least give you energy for the new day.
The hotel chain has recently replaced all of its beds with a new, extra-comfortable type dubbed the “Cloud Nine,” giving your travel-aching limbs a soft place to relax and feel the tension drain away. Perhaps even more important for many travelers, the entire hotel offers free high-speed Internet – from the lobby to the individual rooms – so you can make important communications, arrangements, and confirmations while you are still on the road: a detail that many seasoned travelers will know can save you many hassles when you finally arrive at your destination.