I like Hampton Inns. They are a good, mid-range hotel chain with consistent amenities and friendly people. They have a decent breakfast, free wireless, and comfy beds with duvets rather than icky never-washed polyester blankets. When I stay at a Hampton Inn I know exactly what I'm going to get. But that's also a problem. Hampton Inns (and most Hiltons) won't shell out for full basic cable in the rooms and limit the choices to almost all sports and news channels. It makes me wonder if Hampton Inn really thinks about their female visitors. It drives me batty. To the point that everything else being equal, I'll choose another chain over Hampton Inn just so I can watch popcorn television as I'm trying to fall asleep.
Case in point. J and I are staying in a Hampton Inn in Chicago. We wanted to stay in the Loop because of the proximity to the apartments we're looking at. The Hampton Inn offered unbelievably cheap $110/night rates. And we haven't been dissatisfied with the location or the hotel. Except when I turn the TV on at night and am faced with this channel lineup (Note: the room has a large flat-screen HD TV):
NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, CW, HBO (and HBO HD), Weather, MeTV (all pretty standard)
ESPN (HD), ESPN2 (HD), ESPN News, ESPN Classic, ESPN, ESPN2, ComCast Sportsnet, The Golf Channel
CNN, CNN Headline News, FOX News, CNBC, MSNBC
Discovery, TNT, TBS, USA, A&E, History Channel, Cartoon Network, Animal Planet, ABC Family
I have no idea why they have to have both the HD and non-HD versions of HBO and some of the ESPN channels. Couldn't they use those channel slots for, I don't know, HGTV or TLC? And the Golf Channel? Really? The other 7 million sports channels don't carry golf?
Then when they do get to picking basic cable channels, I'm stuck with male oriented (Discovery and History) or family and kids (Cartoon, Animal Planet, and ABC Family). That leaves TNT, TBS, USA, and A&E, which have become the repeat channels (or, in the case of TNT, repeats, bad movies, and basketball).
So, Hampton Inn, what you're trying to tell me is that you'll cater to men and you'll cater to men with kids, but you won't cater to women/moms?
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