Are Phals good beginner orchids?

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I didn't want to hijack another thread full of beautiful photos, so I started this one. Are Phalaenopsis good beginner orchids?

Phals are very inexpensive at mass markets. They don't need much light. They live for years when chronically underwatered, though they may not flower. Most hybrids will survive even if the medium goes dry for many weeks. It takes a long time for chronic underwaterers to kill them. I think those are some reasons they're often people's first orchids.

But typical home temperatures are lower than ideal for Phals. Many people I know keep their homes in the 70-72 F / 21-22C range (or lower) in summer and 60-64 F / 15.5-18C range in winter. That is not ideal for Phals. Watering a Phal properly in those conditions is tricky.

Many people here have learned to grow and flower Phals in their homes, but you have forgotten you are experts, very attuned to your plants, and beginners are not. Overwaterers kill Phals quickly in cool temperatures. I have seen multiple threads here from people who struggled with Phals until they got a heat mat to use under their plants, at least in winter. A lot of beginners aren't going to be willing to get that involved.

Somebody (like me) who goes from growing on a windowsill, to a greenhouse or other warm, humid enclosure, notices immediately how much better Phals grow when warm. They grow luxuriantly, often producing a leaf per month. In homes many produce one leaf per year. Phals really prefer being 85 F / 30C with relative humidity 60% during daytime for most of the year.

We get far more beginner posts about Phal trouble than any other kind of orchid. They is partly because there are more sold than other kinds of orchids, but I think it's also because they're not as easy to keep alive at lower home temperatures as other leafy house plants.

When people ask me about first orchids, I ask whether they overwater or underwater their other house plants. If they say neither, or they overwater, I recommend Oncidium intergenerics. If they underwater, I tell them to try a Phal.