At some point, I will need to try out www.hotelguide.com.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts owns/runs Sheraton, Westin, Four Points, and a bunch of other hotels, combining all of their affinity plans under one umbrella and allowing you to collect benefits that can be used at any of the associated hotels. 1-800-325-3535

Hilton Hotels

Holiday Inn

1-800-HOLIDAY. I wish these guys were more consistent from one property to the next. I've been in some four-star Holiday Inns and some one-star Holiday Inns.

Best Western Hotels

1-800-528-1234
Gold Crown Club members: 1-800-STAY-GCC

Marriott Courtyard

Travel Tips:

• When travelling to Silicon Valley, don't wait until the last minute to make your hotel reservations. For some reason there are not enough hotel rooms and there seems to be alot of travellers to the area. In some places where a new hotel could easily be put in a place where some business has shut down, the local residents have voted down permits. For example, there's a huge closed department store with plenty of parking available at the intersection of 85 and 101 in Mountain View, CA. That could be a nice location for visitors in that area and ease up the housing crunch nearby; the residents wouldn't allow it. The same goes for Chicago.
• If you stay in a place, like the Sheraton Inn in Bloomington, MN, that offers rooms with glass doors around a pool, always check to make sure that the glass doors can be locked. Change rooms if they don't. For that matter, always check all the locks when you first get to your room.
• Please consider leaving a tip for the cleaning staff; they're working stiffs trying to make money to survive, too. Also, while they're required to clean your rooms, sometimes a tip makes them go that extra mile for you. Leave a dollar each morning when you go out; apparently, there's no need to leave a tip on the morning you check out, but I do it anyways. Here are a couple of stories to consider:
  • Once on a business trip, I was required to share a room with a co-worker. In the morning before leaving the room, I would leave a dollar on the bed. I noticed the other guy didn't and he said that he never left a tip. When we got back that day, I noticed that both beds were made up, but my bed was turned over for the evening and I had a chocolate sitting on my pillow; the other guy didn't.
  • I normally carry two travel containers for soap (one with facial soap). Over time, they get pretty messy inside because of all the water. One day, I came back to the room and noticed that the dish that was normally around the tub (bath soap) was swapped with the one on the sink (face soap). Why? It turns out that the soap bars were in the correct place, but the maid had cleaned out my soap boxes and dried them and put the bars back in the other soapboxes. I only noticed because the colors of the soapboxes were switched. Anyways, I was surprised that the maid went through the trouble to clean the soap dishes.
• It's disappointing that hotels play the same stupid rates game that the airlines play. I once stayed at a particular hotel five different times and got five different rates. Call ahead or use some web searches to see what the current rates are. The rates may reflect how empty the hotel is (lower rates during less occupancy) so calling earlier might help.
• Staying at the same hotel has its advantages. I left something in my room during one stay and was able to retrieve it easily the next because I stayed there again.

Ottawa, Ontario:

• In Kanata, I suggest the Luxor Hotel in Nepean (or Bells Corner) at Moodie Road. It should be the closest decent hotel to the Corel Center (hockey arena). Acceptable Restaurant. **+

Toronto, Ontario:

• Best Western Carlton Place, near the airport. Pool, jacuzzi, sauna ***

Burlington, Vermont:

• I suggest, no, I recommend, The Inn at Essex, 70 Essex Way, Essex Junction. 802-878-1100. The rooms are fabulous! I feel like I'm like sleeping in someone's bedroom instead of a hotel room. The hotel hosts a teaching cooking school so the food is pretty awesome. Outside pool.
• Also in the area is the Radisson Hotel.

San Jose, California:

• The Best Western in Sunnyvale is terrible; I had ants.
• Four Points Hotel, Sunnyvale.
  outdoor pool & jacuzzi, bar and restaurant next door.

Saratoga:

• The Inn at Saratoga (1-800-338-5020) $150
  Nearby restaurants. Cable. All rooms have balconies overlooking the park next door. All the rooms feel like a bedroom instead of a hotel room. The end rooms (*01) are suites (can be connected for double rooms) and have jacuzzi tubs. Continental breakfast and munchies/wine in the evening. This is really where I like to stay.
• Saratoga Oaks Lodge, 408-867-3307 $95
  This is a motel or motor lodge. Rooms are very well done considering this is a motel. Recessed lights, carpets, conforters, lots of outlets. Refrigerators. Some showers are also a mini steamroom. TV's with cable & VCR's. Closets are small; doors need deadbolts and weatherstripping; no clock/radio in room. Climate controls are excellent.

Los Gatos, California:

• La Hacienda Inn, 408-354-7590
• The Toll House, 408-395-7070 **+

San Francisco, California:

• The Holiday Inn in San Mateo, off 101 near 3rd avenue or Dore, is pretty decent. Exercise room, restarants/bar, but no pool. The weird thing is that it's right next door to a Holiday Inn Express (same owner!). Decent rates. Cable. Close to downtown.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

• Hilton in Cherry Hill, NJ: restaurant, outdoor pool (closes at 8 pm), exercise machines, gift shop, no cable.
• Holiday Inn, Cherry Hill, NJ: restaurant, indoor & outdoor pools
• Marriott Courtyard & Residence Inn in Willow Grove.

Baltimore, Maryland:

• The Columbia Inn *** or ****, depending on the room, downtown Columbia. This is a very nice hotel, but I recommend getting a room in the main tower (rooms with numbers x01-x18. Everything else is a long walk away from the lobby. Pool closes at 9 and is a walk from the main tower. Bennigan's a short walk away with a reasonably-sized mall across the main street.

Chicago. Illinois:

• In Schaumburg, I usually stay at the Rolling Meadows Holiday Inn. It has several pools, exercise machines, several jacuzzis, sauna, a decent restaurant. **+ Nearby is the Hilton. If in in Arlington Heights, try the Courtyard by Marriott; indoor pool, jacuzzi, restaurant). In Deerfield or Northbrook, use the Courtyard by Marriott (indoor pool, jacuzzi, restaurant). The Hampton Inn is near Midway Airport, though I don't recommend the location/area.

Naperville, Illinois

• Hotels: Holiday Inn; pool, fitness center, sauna, restaurant. Hilton; pool, restaurants, executive suites. ***+

Fort Lauderdale, Florida: I can't believe I actually saw a Palmetto Bug...they really are that big!

• Ramada Inn, Ft. Lauderdale. Call yourself for the lowest rates. Pool, restaurant, bar, right on the beach! ***
• Holiday Inn in Plantation if you're visiting Motorola (do NOT get a room by the pool!). Pool, restaurant. **+

Tampa Bay, Florida:

• Sandpiper in St. Petersburg. On the beach, two hottubs, game room, restaurant. Rooms are suites with a large living room. **+
• The Alden. Needs remodelling but not too bad. Two heated pools, two jacuzzi's, right on the beach. ** IHOP just down the street.

The Dallas, Texas area:

• The Harvey Hotels are pretty nice places with a bar, restaurant, pool and jacuzzi. ***
• The Holiday Inn in Richardson on the Central Expressway is a very nice hotel. ***
• I've stayed at the Ramada Inn in Dallas and it was pretty good. **
• I had ants in the Red Roof Inn on Gardner Road. The Comfort Inn at the airport is not recommended.

Rochester, New York:

• Ramada Inn near the airport; restaurant and outdoor pool. **
• The Holiday Inn at the airport is better with a restaurant, bar, and pool. **+
• Stay away from the Comfort Inn.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa:

• The best hotel is the Collins Plaza hotel; pool, restaurant, jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, exercise room, awesome breakfast (!).

Minneapolis, Minnesota:

• Sheraton Inn, Bloomington
  Close to the airport and the Mall of America at exit 2a and 24th Street off I-494. There is no room service at night and the restaurant closes by 10 pm. Free local calls. Jacuzzi, exercise room, bar. The best rooms are the junior suites (two full beds, extra large room) in the tower or the ones around the pool. 612-854-1771.
• Park Inn & Suites, Shakopee.
  About 30 minutes from the airport in good traffic. The room rates are about half of the hotels closer to the airport. Jacuzzi, pool, exercise room, restaurant, bar. Free local calls. Right next door to the Seagate Technologies (Shakopee) facility. (Formerly the Canterbury Inn & Suites. At the exit to Route 83 off Route 169.
• Holiday Inn Airport II, Bloomington
  This hotel has a restaurant, indoor pool, jacuzzi. The hotel is fairly dated and needs some serious renovations if it wants to compete with all the nearby hotels; it feels like a cheap hotel. The AAA rate is the best. With my priority club card, I got the paper, breakfast buffet and a drink at the bar each day. The rooms seem smaller than at the Sheraton Inn, though the prices are compareable. The room quality is lower than at the Sheraton. Free local calls. From the airport, take I-494 west to the Normandale Road exit (about 3 exits west of I-35W.

Phoenix, Arizona:

• Hotels: Any of the Pointe hotels
• La Quinta Inns ***

Martha's Vineyard:

Don't even bother in the summer. The rates are sky-high and it's crowded. I think the population jumps 1000 percent during the summer. May is a good time, just before the tourist season. I heard September is a good time to visit. It's worth bringing a car if you go there outside of the tourist season.

I stayed at the Duck Inn in Gayhead. This is a bed & breakfast in Gayhead. This is not the Ritz-Carlton; it is, however, a great place to crash for the night. The rooms all have nice flannel bedsheets and down comforters. Breakfast is very filling and delicious. The hottub is CO; if you get the basement "suite", you have a door about 15 feet from the tub. The upstairs rooms are cheaper, but the suite has two rooms, a fireplace, and a separate bathroom. The house is about a three minute walk to Gayhead Beach (and another half mile to the clay cliffs). They have a pet pig and two cats; the cats are outside in the summer. Very relaxing; time seems to slow down over there. The proprietor is a masseuse AND she works in a chiropractor's office; she does bodywork. This place comes recommended. Most of their guests are repeat customers. The rates are seasonal. For more information, call 508-645-9018 or write to Box 160, Gay Head, Martha's Vinayard, MA 02535.