I miss Barack Obama as President of the United States. I don’t even mean from a political point of view – seriously, with exceptions here and there, I’ve historically liked some things that each of our Presidents have done and disliked others. But all that set aside, Obama presented as being, well, normal. He was funny. He’d play with kids. Help little old ladies. Tease people. Sing Amazing Grace at South Carolina State Sen. Clementa Pinckney‘s funeral.
He seemed like he was relatable. As if he was “one of us.” A regular, everyday kind of guy.
Of course, his basic persona is still the same, even if he isn’t POTUS anymore. And that shone through the other day, when he was speaking at a conference in Atlanta. I don’t know the context of how it came up, but apparently, he really likes Hampton Inns.
It was during his speech for the U.S. Green Building Council. Obama explained that he’d sometimes rather stay at a Hampton Inn than at fancy-schmancy luxury suites.
As per a transcript obtained by the Washington Post, Obama said: “Before I go to bed, [I] go from room to room to turn off all the lights, and there are a bunch of different lamps, and sometimes they hide where the light switches are because they want to make them look really cool. And it might take me 15 minutes to shut down, where if I was just in the Hampton Inn, there’s like one light switch, one bathroom door, and the bed, and the TV remote; I’m good.”
I know EXACTLY what he’s talking about. Joe and I aren’t loyal to any particular hotel brand and, depending on our trip, we may be staying at a Park Hyatt or we may be at a Holiday Inn Express. And yeah sure, we’ve stayed at Dromoland Castle in Ireland and in a junior suite at the St. Pancras Renaissance, but we’ve also spent nights at small B&Bs and a cabin that was built near the edge of the Grand Canyon in 1935.
The cheaper places aren’t as luxurious as the more expensive places. But it’s a whole lot easier to figure out how the shower works when it’s not a fancy, state-of-the-art one. And you don’t have to take 14,000 decorative pillows off the bed before you can go to sleep if you’re staying in a cheaper place. And he’s right – there are MANY less light switches to figure out in an economy end hotel.
So yeah – Obama’s a fan of Hampton Inns. Good for him. So are we.
I just hope he knows that if he ever has any questions about the Hilton Honors reward program, we’re really easy to find online. 😉
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
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