On chain vs. non-chain hotels, while I agree that scripted, obsequious, quasi-feudal deference (whether due to top-tier elite status or otherwise) is off-putting, I don’t think it’s fair to suggest that all chain-hotel employees are incapable of going beyond the manual to show genuine, personal concern for their guests and that the mere existence of corporate policy necessarily makes interaction with them inauthentic. Nor are the supposed saint-like staff of independent hotels always beyond reproach in customer service (although, adminttedly, “bad” could still be considered “authentic”). I just don’t see it being that black and white. In taking such an absolutist stance, you risk demonstrating the haughty, better-traveller-than-thou attitude you purport to denounce…