When I'm on a leisure vaction kind of trip, it's little things that mean a lot to me. I do remember a time when Econolodge had really high standards, a time long gone as obvious by our stay. The first thing I ran into was the owner/manager's vehicle and motorcycle parked in the middle of the check in porch/covered area and it never moved from that point for the rest of our stay. This makes it easy to unload your luggage at checkin, out of the weather and is kind of a welcoming feature of nice motels. The lobby really smelled of some heavy cleaning stuff, there were no casual relaxing chairs or lamps, and not a piece of art work or color. First impressions. The checkin was quick, the manager very brief. The halls were dimly lit, the room was clean and fine. The refrigerator was very noisey, there was no alarm clock, and once again no art or color on the walls. This is a really simple touch! The ice machine, which we really needed had an old sign taped to it "out of order". The wet area was open, operating and clean. The breakfast was corn flakes, coffee, and a banana, very minimal and dissaponting even for a continental breakfast.
I guess I expect all of these little things to be done right as a really basic standard, in any chain hotel line and may never stay at an Econolodge again.