> and there's likely more of them than hotels in any given place.
Not in America. You might find a few in & near major cities, but hotels and motels are everywhere, bed & breakfasts are fairly common, and AirBnBs are plentiful.
Not in America. You might find a few in & near major cities, but hotels and motels are everywhere, bed & breakfasts are fairly common, and AirBnBs are plentiful.
I haven't personally stayed in one, because I have enough money that I'd never have to, but the impression I have is that one would contain a bed, a desk, a chair, a not-entirely-spotless bathroom, and not much else.
The quality varies from pretty tired and not so clean, as you say, to--if not upscale exactly--to comfortable, modern, and clean.
However, I can quite assure you that here in rural Upstate New York (and, indeed, even in some of the less-well-off sections of the cities), there are still a great many motels that date to the era I mentioned—very visibly so. (This is why I qualified my statement with "at least around here".)
I have actually stayed in Travelodges a couple of times, and while they were modern, I wouldn't really describe them as "comfortable" (the beds were like tandem canoes) or "clean", at least not universally so.
But, yes, there are also still quite a few non-chains or small chains that aren't... great.