Real Experiences. Public Information. Consumer Voices.
HorribleChoiceHotels.com is an independent, non-commercial consumer review, commentary, and criticism website focused on Choice Hotels, Quality Inn, and other properties and brands associated with Choice Hotels.
Our purpose is simple: give people a place to share their experiences, learn from the experiences of others, examine relevant public information, and make more informed decisions about where they spend their money.
This website is independent and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, endorsed by, authorized by, or operated by Choice Hotels International, Quality Inn, or their franchisees.
Share Your Experience
Had a good experience? A bad one? Were you charged for something you didn’t understand? Did you encounter a horrible policy you weren’t told about? Did management resolve your complaint, or did you struggle to get anyone to listen?
We want to hear what happened.
Horrible Choice Hotels provides a place for guests to submit firsthand experiences involving Choice Hotels properties.
Reviews should be truthful, based on personal experience, and as specific as possible. When documentation is available, we encourage reviewers to provide information that helps substantiate what occurred.
Our goal isn’t to tell readers what to think. It’s to give consumers more information so they can reach their own conclusions.
Giving a Voice to Customers Who May Feel Ignored
One reason I believe a website like this is important is that not every hotel customer has the resources, time, knowledge, or ability to fight a company when something goes wrong.
In my personal observation and opinion, many budget and moderately priced hotels serve people who may be living on limited incomes, traveling because they have to rather than because they are on vacation, temporarily staying somewhere while dealing with difficult circumstances, or simply trying to find an affordable place to sleep for the night.
For someone with limited financial resources, an unexpected charge of $100, $200, or several hundred dollars can be significant.
And when that happens, not everyone has the ability to spend weeks or months making telephone calls, writing letters, disputing charges, researching corporate contacts, or considering legal action.
Some people simply give up.
Some may feel that nobody is listening.
Others may not know where to tell their story.
Horrible Choice Hotels gives those consumers another place to document what happened.
Their experiences deserve to be heard too.
We Are More Than Hotel Reviews
Consumer reviews and firsthand experiences are the primary focus of Horrible Choice Hotels, but they aren’t the only information we cover.
The website may also publish news, commentary, analysis, and other information concerning Choice Hotels, Quality Inn, individual properties, franchisees, and matters relevant to consumers.
We may examine publicly available information including lawsuits and other legal proceedings, court records, government records, regulatory actions, corporate filings, property ownership records, news reports, and other information available in the public domain.
When discussing litigation, allegations will be identified as allegations. The filing of a lawsuit does not establish that the allegations contained in it are true, and court cases may subsequently be dismissed, settled, decided, appealed, or otherwise resolved.
Whenever practical, we want readers to be able to examine the underlying information and reach their own conclusions.
About Choice Hotels and Quality Inn
Choice Hotels International, Inc. is a publicly traded hotel franchising company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CHH.
The company’s history dates to 1939, when seven motel owners formed what became Quality Courts. The organization eventually became Quality Inns International and, in 1990, changed its name to Choice Hotels International.
Today, Choice Hotels describes itself as one of the world’s largest lodging franchisors. According to the company, its system includes more than 7,500 hotels representing more than 650,000 rooms across 46 countries and territories and a portfolio of 22 brands. Choice Hotels also states that hotels listed within its system are independently owned and operated.
Quality is particularly significant to the company’s history because it is the brand upon which Choice Hotels was founded.
Choice describes Quality as an affordable lodging option and one of the largest brands in its system. The company currently reports more than 1,800 Quality-branded hotels worldwide, including more than 1,600 in the United States.
Understanding the franchise relationship can also be important when reading experiences on this website. A hotel carrying a Choice Hotels brand may be independently owned and operated rather than owned directly by Choice Hotels International.
Choice Hotels Corporate Information
Choice Hotels International, Inc.
Corporate Headquarters
915 Meeting Street
North Bethesda, Maryland 20852
Corporate Office: (301) 592-5000
Customer Relations: (800) 300-8800
Hotel Reservations: (877) 424-6423
These contact details are provided as publicly available reference information for consumers. Corporate information may change, and readers should verify current information directly with Choice Hotels.
Employees and Whistleblowers
Guests aren’t necessarily the only people with experiences or information worth hearing.
Horrible Choice Hotels may also accept information from current or former employees, contractors, franchise participants, vendors, or other individuals with firsthand knowledge of matters involving Choice Hotels properties.
We recognize that employees may sometimes see problems that customers never see.
At the same time, significant allegations require care. Submissions should be truthful and based on information the contributor genuinely knows or possesses.
Submitting information does not guarantee publication. Serious factual allegations may require documentation, corroboration, or additional verification before they are published.
Personal and sensitive information may also be removed when appropriate.
Why Horrible Choice Hotels Exists
This project began after a family member’s experience with a Quality Inn property in Fife, Washington. The exact address is: 5805 Pacific Hwy E, Fife, WA 98424.
During and after that stay, we experienced a dispute involving charges that I did not believe we had knowingly authorized.
We attempted to resolve the matter directly and subsequently escalated my concerns to people I understood to be associated with the property and Choice Hotels.
In my experience, those efforts did not produce a satisfactory resolution. It really was a horrible experience at this Quality Inn.
We eventually disputed the transactions through the bank. After several months, the disputed funds were returned to us through the banking dispute process.
What stayed with me wasn’t simply the financial dispute.
It was how difficult I felt it was to get someone to seriously address the problem.
My experience made me wonder what happens to someone who doesn’t have the time, resources, persistence, or knowledge to keep pursuing an issue.
How many people simply give up?
How many never tell anyone what happened?
That experience ultimately became the inspiration for HorribleChoiceHotels.com.
My experience is only one person’s experience. Other customers may have completely different experiences with Choice Hotels and its properties, including positive ones.
This website gives people an opportunity to tell those stories as well.
A Resource, Not a Verdict
Horrible Choice Hotels does not exist to make decisions for consumers.
We publish firsthand experiences, consumer reviews, commentary, opinions, and relevant public information.
Readers should consider the available information and decide for themselves what significance to give it.
Hotels, franchisees, Choice Hotels, employees, and other parties discussed on this website may have different accounts or explanations concerning events described by contributors. When appropriate, substantive responses may be included so readers can consider additional perspectives.
Accuracy matters.
We encourage contributors to distinguish between what they personally witnessed, what they can document, what someone else told them, and what represents their own opinion.
If materially incorrect information is identified, we want to know about it so it can be reviewed and, when appropriate, corrected.
Your Experience Matters
If you’ve stayed at a Choice Hotels property and have an experience you believe other consumers should know about, you can share it here.
Tell us what happened.
Tell us where it happened.
Tell us how the property responded.
And, when possible, provide documentation that helps establish the facts.
Positive, negative, or somewhere in between, firsthand experiences can help other consumers understand what they might encounter.
My own experience led me to one very simple personal conclusion:
Choice Hotels was a Horrible Choice for me.
Share Your Experience → Info@HorribleChoiceHotels.com