The Cost of Free?

The "Drury".  The what?  The "Drury".  We were on the way to the hotel to meet up with family, and were laughing with our daughter Madison as we were trying to pronounce it without it sounding like the "dreary hotel"!  Drury - which in addition to being mildly hard to say can be funny if someone instead hears "dreary".  Some hotel marketer somewhere is going to have to overcome that.  But then again, who cares!  What's in a name?

I hadn't ever been in one - A Drury Hotel that is.  Frankly I had never heard of them before now. 

So what's in a name?  If the name is Drury - free hot breakfast, free 5:30 kickback, free wireless Internet,  free long distance calls, etc..  In addition to all the "freebies", The Drury in North Phoenix is nice!  We had the good fortune of managing one of the nicest Hampton Inns in the country in St. Pete, Florida.  It was a nice hotel.  None the less, hard to compare to the Drury, as there was a lot more marble in this hotel than I have ever seen in a Hampton Inn - including the one in St. Pete.  The Drury reminded me of the Crescent Hotel - Charlie Keating's infamous brass and glass palace built back in the 80's.  Coincidentally about nine miles due South of the Drury. 

In addition to the published "freebies", this one happens to have had free fresh popcorn in the lobby, and an apparently all you can drink soda fountain.  I'm not sure why they bothered with soda machines on the guest floors however.  Maybe to capture the guy who's too tired or too lazy to make the long trek down to the first floor for the free soda!  For our family of six, the free breakfast and "5:30 Kickback" alone (which essentially can replace dinner) is a huge savings to the budget when traveling.

Where will it all end?  While lounging poolside, I couldn't help but to digress, put on my hotel finance hat, and wonder how they were making any money.  What's the room really costing, is this model sustainable, and wondering at the same time just how bad are they hurting other brands? 

But then again, who cares?  I'm not the guy holding the mortage!  I soon came to my senses, stopped thinking, and instead went and got a free refill on my iced tea and a refresh on my popcorn.  Thank goodness for the Drury!  When is breakfast?!