The vast Choice Hotels chains list two Quality Inns in Springdale, Utah, in Zion Canyon near the entrance to Zion National Park. Of our many overnight trips to Zion National Park, we spent 25 nights at Choice hotels, mostly at the two Quality Inns in Springdale, but with maybe five nights at the Comfort Inn in nearby Hurricane. Over the years, the Quality Inns in Springdale have regularly changed their names, so I'm going to refer to them by location rather than by name as one is much closer to the entrance of Zion National Park than is the other.
Starting with the Choice hotel Quality Inn closest to Zion National Park, the last time we stayed there, it was in need of updating.
Pros: great location, not only because it is almost right at the Zion National Park entrance but also because rooms are well back from the highway, have comfortable beds, little interior noise, and great views from the rooms. Spacious well shaded grounds (Zion temperatures are over 100 degrees F for many weeks in midsummer)
Cons: Over time, rooms were starting to look more than a little tacky, but worst of all, the room HVAC was incredibly noisy. To get the best price, we had to first go inside and ask at the desk. Then go outside and call Choice hotel's reservation 800 number. Never got the same price. Usually, but not always, the phone call got a better price.
Moving to the far more recent-- and it showed-- Quality Inn that is farther away from the entrance to Zion National Park.
Pros: Great views: a pool; pleasant modern rooms; no interior (HVAC, hall, or adjacent room) or exterior noise. Well back from the highway. Both quality Inns offered essentially equivalent breakfast buffets.
Cons: To get the best price, we had to first go inside and ask at the desk. Then go outside and call Choice hotel's reservation 800 number. Never got the same price. Usually, but not always, the phone call got a better price.
Cons for both: We joined Choice Hotel's Loyalty Rewards program when it first started. That's why we stayed so many times at these two motels in the years immediately after we moved to northern Utah. Originally reward points never expired, so we got a couple free nights. Then Choice Hotels changed the loyalty program. Points now experie in a ridiculously shot period of time for tourists. Businessmen might travel enough to benefit, but we lost over 800 points because we were in a phase of EU travel rather than USA travel. So we don't stay at any Choice hotels anymore.
