I THINK, AS FAR AS DONNIE AND LINDA ARE CONCERNED, HAMPTON INNS ARE HAMPTON OUT
Donnie reports, "After nine days on the road Linda was half sick as we arrived at Ft. Stockton last night. We had been staying at adequate Holiday Inns, but I thought we should go up a notch and give Linda a bit more comfort our last night out, so we pulled into Hampton Suites, about 20% more costly than Holiday Inn.
 
I asked for a room on the third floor. The clerk was confused and slow, but finally gave me a key, to a room on the second floor. Before I could I ask again for the third floor, the man recently ahead of me was back, saying over my shoulder that the room he had been assigned was already occupied. That threw the clerk into even greater confusion, and I could see I was not going to get to the third floor any time soon, so I accepted the 2nd floor key and fetched Linda from the car.

Although the lobby appeared marginally more "luxurious" than those at Holiday Inn, the elevator surrounded us with an annoying loud fan drone, and the room--again, only superficially luxurious--smelled of something.  I gave Linda a last-minute chance to cancel and move to Holiday Inn, but she was exhausted, and we settled in, best we could. 

The room heater-cooler fan was comically loud for a sleeping place, an airport noise, really; and the toilet, upon being flushed, exploded with a sucking sound that made us leap up in fear of being pulled into the Ft. Stockton sewer system.

We made it through the night.  This morning I attempted a shower, to try and get some part of my money's worth out of Hampton Inn.  No hot water!  So I took an old-fashioned sponge bath and set to packing as quickly as possible.  As I carried bags to the car I could see and hear the same frazzled desk clerk taking calls from other guests angry about the water."