Who Remembers HoJo Restaurants

[Stephane Dumas]

I think it might be worth to post some vintage HoJo ads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoB7xxrUkPs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KPlKIUBz-Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgmbQ6tN_K0

[Flint1979]

The GSV of the old Howard Johnson's in Saginaw. Howard Johnson's sat where Burger King currently is and a little more to the right, there used to be a bakery next to it called Sebald's Bakery.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4367933,-84.013472,3a,49.2y,3.29h,95.06t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1slDbfeIEhkk7MzmTadC_Zxg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DlDbfeIEhkk7MzmTadC_Zxg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D254.41327%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

This GSV shows the old Sebald's Bakery. Howard Johnson's parking lot used to go right into there's where the grass is.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4369215,-84.0134581,3a,48y,37.23h,90.67t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s_sQ3UHF0YX725BK75Pzydw!2e0!5s20110701T000000!7i13312!8i6656

This is the property of the old Howard Johnson's in Bay City. Howard Johnson's sat about where the Miller sign is at.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.5575091,-83.9504387,3a,15y,117.75h,88.45t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sR3jVlERQ6-oC1u1ri2pnGQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DR3jVlERQ6-oC1u1ri2pnGQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D63.639996%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

And the building which was in a rather sad state at the end of it's life is in this GSV
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.5575576,-83.9505934,3a,15.9y,113.99h,89.58t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sdezrdfltUDrmTaNht5dSAg!2e0!5s20170901T000000!7i13312!8i6656

[abefroman329]

As a young child, my family would dine at the Howard Johnson's restaurant that was located on West Genesee Street in Fairmount, NY (located approximately where the McDonald is in front of Wegmans) at least once a month.  After moving to Chesapeake, VA, the Howard Johnson's on Richmond Road on the west end of Williamsburg was the place we would dine if we visited the Colonial section or the Pottery Factory.

There were others we dined at on family vacations, however, I cannot remember where they were located.

The last time I ate at an honest-to-God Howard Johnson's (as opposed to the shell that was the HoJo's on Times Square when I dined there in 2002 or so) was at Disney World and that was in the mid-80s.

[DandyDan]

One of my earliest memories was stopping at the Belvidere Oasis on the Northwest Tollway on the way to my Grandpa's house. It must have been 1979.

[OCGuy81]

Are there any Howard Johnson hotels left? I know the restaurants are long gone, is the whole business gone?

[GaryV]

Are there any Howard Johnson hotels left?

They are a Wyndham brand.

[OCGuy81]

Are there any Howard Johnson hotels left?

They are a Wyndham brand.

Oh wow! I had to look it up. I thought they'd been long gone!

[hbelkins]

Are there any Howard Johnson hotels left?

They are a Wyndham brand.

Oh wow! I had to look it up. I thought they'd been long gone!

I know of two that I have looked at in the past, but didn't stay at. One in Staunton, Va., and one in Beckley, WV.

They're traditional hotels with interior corridors, and I prefer exterior corridors, so I have not stayed in either place.

[abefroman329]

Are there any Howard Johnson hotels left?

They are a Wyndham brand.

Oh wow! I had to look it up. I thought they'd been long gone!

I know of two that I have looked at in the past, but didn't stay at. One in Staunton, Va., and one in Beckley, WV.

They're traditional hotels with interior corridors, and I prefer exterior corridors, so I have not stayed in either place.

We stayed at the one in (wait for it) Breezewood, PA in 2012 or 2013.  It had interior corridors, and I would not recommend it.

[D-Dey65]

I think everybody here knows the story of my local Howard Johnson's franchise. The place was built just after the Long Island Expressway came though my hometown, but eventually was replaced by an IHOP, which itself was replaced by a small strip mall in the 2000's.

[1995hoo]

Are there any Howard Johnson hotels left?

They are a Wyndham brand.

Oh wow! I had to look it up. I thought they'd been long gone!

I know of two that I have looked at in the past, but didn't stay at. One in Staunton, Va., and one in Beckley, WV.

They're traditional hotels with interior corridors, and I prefer exterior corridors, so I have not stayed in either place.

If you don't mind my asking, why?

[Flint1979]

Are there any Howard Johnson hotels left?

They are a Wyndham brand.

Oh wow! I had to look it up. I thought they'd been long gone!

I know of two that I have looked at in the past, but didn't stay at. One in Staunton, Va., and one in Beckley, WV.

They're traditional hotels with interior corridors, and I prefer exterior corridors, so I have not stayed in either place.

Honestly I like hotels with exterior corridors too. You can park your car right outside your door, you don't have to walk down a hallway to get to your room those are two things I like about having exterior corridors.

[Flint1979]

Are there any Howard Johnson hotels left?

They are a Wyndham brand.

Oh wow! I had to look it up. I thought they'd been long gone!

I know of two that I have looked at in the past, but didn't stay at. One in Staunton, Va., and one in Beckley, WV.

They're traditional hotels with interior corridors, and I prefer exterior corridors, so I have not stayed in either place.

When I was in the Staunton, Virginia area about a year ago I stayed at the Quality Inn in Verona it had exterior rooms and was pretty nice. It's at exit 227 off I-81.

[hbelkins]

Are there any Howard Johnson hotels left?

They are a Wyndham brand.

Oh wow! I had to look it up. I thought they'd been long gone!

I know of two that I have looked at in the past, but didn't stay at. One in Staunton, Va., and one in Beckley, WV.

They're traditional hotels with interior corridors, and I prefer exterior corridors, so I have not stayed in either place.

If you don't mind my asking, why?

Honestly I like hotels with exterior corridors too. You can park your car right outside your door, you don't have to walk down a hallway to get to your room those are two things I like about having exterior corridors.

This. Parking right outside the door is very handy. Plus,  you're less likely to get smoke wafting in to your room when there are smoking rooms on the same floor as your non-smoking room.

[zachary_amaryllis]

i vaguely remember (this was a long time and many bong rips ago) when i was like 9-10 years old...

... wasn't there one (or more than one) in illinois/iowa that area, that was actually built 'over' the highway? i have a dim memory of watching cars and trucks going under the restaurant.

think it was i-80 or 90...

[abefroman329]

i vaguely remember (this was a long time and many bong rips ago) when i was like 9-10 years old...

... wasn't there one (or more than one) in illinois/iowa that area, that was actually built 'over' the highway? i have a dim memory of watching cars and trucks going under the restaurant.

think it was i-80 or 90...

Yes, the Illinois Tollway Oases were Howard Johnson's back then, so it's entirely possible.

[abefroman329]

Plus,  you're less likely to get smoke wafting in to your room when there are smoking rooms on the same floor as your non-smoking room.

Where in the US can you still stay in a smoking hotel room?

[roadman65]

Plus,  you're less likely to get smoke wafting in to your room when there are smoking rooms on the same floor as your non-smoking room.

Where in the US can you still stay in a smoking hotel room?

How in the world do they enforce that. I worked in a hotel with an elevator and couldn't understand how people would get on an elevator with a lit cigarette and ignore the age old law.  Plus do people discard their food and drink in department stores? I worked in Macys and was surprised at not only the people who would leave cups behind all around the store, but that management didn't  enforce that ruling set in place by the Health Department.  Heck maybe now with Covid they might, but haven't been back since.


Plus do people follow simple rules of the road?  Do people wear masks or maintain 6 feet?  Rhetorical question there.

[abefroman329]

How in the world do they enforce that.

By threatening heavy fines for non-compliance.  Though that certainly doesn't work with rental cars.

Plus do people discard their food and drink in department stores? I worked in Macys and was surprised at not only the people who would leave cups behind all around the store, but that management didn't enforce that ruling set in place by the Health Department.

I went to what used to be Marshall Field's flagship store on Black Friday 2019 and there was trash all over the floor.  That reflects badly on the customers, the salespeople, and management, in very different ways.

Plus do people follow simple rules of the road?  Do people wear masks or maintain 6 feet?  Rhetorical question there.

I don't think anyone at any point on the political spectrum would want to live in a totalitarian regime where every law or rule was enforced rigidly.  Sometimes you have to trust people not to be selfish, inconsiderate jerks.

[hbelkins]

Plus,  you're less likely to get smoke wafting in to your room when there are smoking rooms on the same floor as your non-smoking room.

Where in the US can you still stay in a smoking hotel room?

I encounter it more often than not. A few municipalities ban smoking in hotel rooms, but many don't. The last night of my trip out west with my brother, we stayed in a Super 8 in Illinois in suburban St. Louis that allowed smoking in designated rooms, including our floor that had a non-smoking room. The first night of the trip, we were in a Red Roof in Michigan that allowed smoking in certain rooms.

[GaryV]

The first night of the trip, we were in a Red Roof in Michigan that allowed smoking in certain rooms.

Michigan has outlawed smoking in hotel rooms since 2010.

[jeffandnicole]

Plus,  you're less likely to get smoke wafting in to your room when there are smoking rooms on the same floor as your non-smoking room.

Where in the US can you still stay in a smoking hotel room?

NJ allows it. One is most likely to see the option in casino hotels. The main hotels elsewhere have often banned it on their own.

[abefroman329]

Plus,  you're less likely to get smoke wafting in to your room when there are smoking rooms on the same floor as your non-smoking room.

Where in the US can you still stay in a smoking hotel room?

NJ allows it. One is most likely to see the option in casino hotels. The main hotels elsewhere have often banned it on their own.

Casinos make sense (the owners don't want to ban smoking since a player who goes outside to smoke is a player who isn't gambling), but other than that, I don't understand why you can't smoke in bars or restaurants or pretty much anywhere else that's indoors, but you can still smoke in a hotel room.

[1995hoo]

Plus,  you're less likely to get smoke wafting in to your room when there are smoking rooms on the same floor as your non-smoking room.

Where in the US can you still stay in a smoking hotel room?

NJ allows it. One is most likely to see the option in casino hotels. The main hotels elsewhere have often banned it on their own.

Casinos make sense (the owners don't want to ban smoking since a player who goes outside to smoke is a player who isn't gambling), but other than that, I don't understand why you can't smoke in bars or restaurants or pretty much anywhere else that's indoors, but you can still smoke in a hotel room.

One reason is likely that smoking in a hotel room has less of an–if any–immediate effect on other people, mainly via secondhand smoke. It stinks up the room and makes that room unpleasant for anyone who doesn't smoke, but since most hotels designate the rooms in which smoking is permitted (and impose a steep charge if you smoke in a non-smoking room), in most cases the residual smoke stench is less likely to be a problem for future guests because non-smokers are more likely to request non-smoking rooms.

[abefroman329]

One reason is likely that smoking in a hotel room has less of an–if any–immediate effect on other people, mainly via secondhand smoke. It stinks up the room and makes that room unpleasant for anyone who doesn't smoke, but since most hotels designate the rooms in which smoking is permitted (and impose a steep charge if you smoke in a non-smoking room), in most cases the residual smoke stench is less likely to be a problem for future guests because non-smokers are more likely to request non-smoking rooms.

Heaven help the non-smoker who has to choose between "sleeping in a smoking room" and "sleeping in their car."

And I don't know nearly enough about HVAC systems at hotels to say this for sure, but I would think the smell would drift to other rooms through the ventilation ducts.