Days Inn

Your choices in San Francisco hotels are overwhelming. The prices can be too. So during our staff visit to the City by the Bay, we looked for reasonably priced hotels that had charm, location or both. We came back with 14 ideas on places to bed down. It's not a complete list, but it is eclectic, like the city itself. Mystic Hotel. This property, which opened in April, stands on a tunnel-adjacent block of Stockton Street that you'll never see on a picture postcard, yet it has style, as do the Burritt Tavern bar and restaurant downstairs.

U.S. Travel Assn.'s Daily Giveaways features a new discount -- or two, or three, or more -- on hotels, car rentals, entertainment and other travel services each day until May 11. Today's deal (Monday) offers savings on hotel packages in the form of loyalty points at Ramada, Super 8, Days Inn, Wyndham and Wingate by Wyndham properties. The deal: Here's how this offer works: Start by signing up for free at Wyndham Rewards loyalty program . On the Daily Getaways website, click on "today" and you'll see the price for loyalty points and the redemption value for a future stay.

Hospitality Franchise Systems, the parent company of the Ramada and Howard Johnson group, is buying Days Inns of America Inc. for $250 million to create the world's largest hotel franchise company, both companies said Monday. The deal leaves Hospitality Franchise, owned by New York investment group Blackstone Capital Partners L.P., with more than 2,300 hotels and 285,000 rooms.

Hotel brands generally received low scores in a large survey of customer service experiences. Hampton Inn and Marriott were the only two out of 12 major hotel brands to receive "good" ratings in a study by Temkin Group, a customer service research firm. "Many of the hotel brands in our study aren't delivering the level of hospitality that consumers want," said Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group. The research is based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers in January 2012.

A Days Inn hotel that overcharged stranded travelers for rooms after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has agreed to pay a $9,500 penalty, state Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday. The hotel raised rates for some rooms from a posted rate of $139 to $399 a night. At the time, air traffic was shut down nationwide and many travelers were stranded in the New York metro area in need of accommodation.

Days Inn, the world's largest hotel chain, agreed Thursday under pressure of pending lawsuits and a Justice Department investigation to make hundreds of its newer hotels across the country more accessible to people with disabilities. Under a settlement filed in federal court, Days Inn of America Inc. will seek to ensure that all hotels built since early 1993 or still in development will have walkways, doorways and bathrooms wide enough to accommodate guests using wheelchairs.

Hotel brands generally received low scores in a large survey of customer service experiences. Hampton Inn and Marriott were the only two out of 12 major hotel brands to receive "good" ratings in a study by Temkin Group, a customer service research firm. "Many of the hotel brands in our study aren't delivering the level of hospitality that consumers want," said Bruce Temkin, managing partner of Temkin Group. The research is based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers in January 2012.

Days Inn Gets License for Hotels in China: Under the master license agreement, Days Inns of America Inc. said it will establish Days Inn China to sell franchises for the hotels and to develop marketing and training support for the franchisees. Financial details were not disclosed. Days Inn China will be sponsored by a consortium of Chinese commercial enterprises. The company expects to have 6,000 rooms open or being built within 48 months of the effective date.

$80-Million Hotel Project OKd:The City Council has approved plans that will give the city its first hotel. Council members Tuesday approved the proposal of the Days Inn hotel chain, part of an $80-million project off the Artesia Freeway at Valley View Street and Orangethorpe Avenue. The hotel will not have a restaurant of its own, but the 40-acre complex where it will be built is to include three restaurants.

LOW-PRICE guarantees on travel websites are about as common as warts on a toad -- and sometimes about as attractive. The guarantees typically say that if a traveler finds a better deal on another website for the same hotel rate or airfare, the website will match it. Some sites throw in incentives. Hilton, for instance, offers a $50 American Express gift card. Other sites offer a free night's stay. Sounds reasonable enough.

On Feb. 6 California will celebrate the first Ronald Reagan Day, courtesy of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who signed it into law last year. That date that marks the former president's birth date and what this year would have been his 100th birthday. The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside is offering two packages during February that will honor the former president, California governor and actor who in 1952 spent the first night of his honeymoon with his wife Nancy at the historic hotel.

LOW-PRICE guarantees on travel websites are about as common as warts on a toad -- and sometimes about as attractive. The guarantees typically say that if a traveler finds a better deal on another website for the same hotel rate or airfare, the website will match it. Some sites throw in incentives. Hilton, for instance, offers a $50 American Express gift card. Other sites offer a free night's stay. Sounds reasonable enough.

A Days Inn hotel that overcharged stranded travelers for rooms after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has agreed to pay a $9,500 penalty, state Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday. The hotel raised rates for some rooms from a posted rate of $139 to $399 a night. At the time, air traffic was shut down nationwide and many travelers were stranded in the New York metro area in need of accommodation.

Sheriff's deputies shot and wounded a robbery suspect at a Rosemead motel early Sunday after he pointed a gun at them, authorities said. The suspect was hit once in the lower torso and was in stable condition Sunday afternoon at a local hospital, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Sonia Parra said. Deputies responded to a report of an attempted robbery at the Nice Days Inn around 4 a.m.

Days Inn, the world's largest hotel chain, agreed Thursday under pressure of pending lawsuits and a Justice Department investigation to make hundreds of its newer hotels across the country more accessible to people with disabilities. Under a settlement filed in federal court, Days Inn of America Inc. will seek to ensure that all hotels built since early 1993 or still in development will have walkways, doorways and bathrooms wide enough to accommodate guests using wheelchairs.

It threatened to be a thoughtful weekend--a pause to picnic and commemorate our late Aunt Kay among creeks and peaks she once prowled with the passion of John Muir, their original explorer and protector. But through all the tales of her times, it became a celebration of a grand woman and of one great reach of Sierra Nevada wildlands. Aunt Kay bred pedigree dogs, lived comfortably as a spinster, and was survived by D'Arcy, her beloved Corgi.

The March 26 "Deal of the Week" featured Avis' fly-drive packages to shuttle cars from Phoenix, Ariz., to California. Avis offered transportation to Phoenix, a rental car and seven nights' accommodation at Ramada, Howard Johnson or Days Inn for $299. It sounded like a bargain. When I phoned to inquire, I found out that it would cost $399 if I traveled by myself. I found a friend who wanted to go, so I phoned again. This time I learned that if we wanted to fly on a Friday or Saturday, there would be an extra charge.

Maria Troy, penniless and far from home, found both a motel room and a job through a national motel chain's program to help the homeless. "Roughly about 35% of the hotel rooms in the United States go empty every night on an average," said Mike Leven, president and chief operating officer of Atlanta-based Days Inn of America. "And certainly other businesses could do the same kind of housing, training and rehabilitation that we've done." Troy and her 9-year-old son, John, were among the first 10 to 15 people helped by the program.

Holiday-poor? You're not alone. And on the chance you're suddenly more receptive than usual to the idea of using a budget hotel or motel on an upcoming journey, here's an update on what's out there and how much it costs. The surprising news, for someone who hasn't looked closely in a while, is that those familiar names of old--Motel 6 and Travelodge, for instance--are still there, but they're outnumbered by Days Inns, Comfort Inns and Super 8s.

Days Inn Gets License for Hotels in China: Under the master license agreement, Days Inns of America Inc. said it will establish Days Inn China to sell franchises for the hotels and to develop marketing and training support for the franchisees. Financial details were not disclosed. Days Inn China will be sponsored by a consortium of Chinese commercial enterprises. The company expects to have 6,000 rooms open or being built within 48 months of the effective date.