Courtyard Is Better Than Marriott

... because it gives you the same things a Marriott does, but without all the pretension.

I'm up in LA for Blogworld Expo and the first night, I stayed at the LAX Marriott (LAXM). I always stay within the Marriott chain in order to save rewards points and the LAX hotel was the closest to the LA Convention Center that still had vacancies. Big mistake.

I drove up, missed the self parking turnoff and got jumped by the valets. $37 later, my car was parked. Self-parking was something like $29 so I was paying either way. Gahhhh!

The hotel itself was gorgeous, but I don't care about gorgeous. Here's all I want:

• Internet


• In-room coffee


• Two beds - one to sleep in and one to throw my stuff on

I checked out the next day and went down to the Long Beach Courtyard (LBC). I was going out to dinner with my son who is at CSULB, so the place was convenient enough for me. Here's how the two compared.

LBC had a carafe for the in-room coffee meaning it brewed two cups. LAXM brewed a single serving into a paper cup. Advantage: LBC.

LBC had free Internet. LAXM charged $11. Advantage: LBC.

Both had two beds. Advantage: Even.

The LAXM had high ceilings, but while sleeping, surfing the web and blogging, that means nothing to me. The LAXM was in better shape, but while doing the aforementioned activities, I don't really notice the ratty carpet in the elevators or the aging paint on the hallway walls. Since I'm not interested in bringing some chick back to my hotel room, I don't care if it's a little shabby. I just want the hotel to be in a safe part of town with basic amenities.

I don't need my hotel to be near my meetings, either. I have this crazy box on wheels called a "car" that makes distances seem like nothing. If I listen to 10 minutes more of Mark Steyn's After America while driving to the conference, that's fine with me. I'm not coming home to kids or cat or dogs or wife, so getting in a little late at the end of the day means nothing. As far as locations go, what I really want are photo opportunities after working hours so I can post interesting shots on the blog.

Resolved: From now on, I'm staying at Courtyards in interesting locations.