DISchurners Hotel Reviews Thread (extension of I love credit cards so much! thread)

Sheraton Times Square is a 35k per night cat 5 property and therefore available with a free night certificate. Breakfast is not included. The property is located about an 8 minute walk to the Richard Rodgers theatre for any Hamilton fans. I am told the gym was really well appointed. I’m not “workout girl” so I didn’t visit.

Our room was clean but had a musty humid odor. It wasn’t bad enough to make us change rooms since we were traveling with friends and their room was next door. Their room did not have any musty odor. I’d stay here again on a free night certificate considering the challenge of finding free night cert options in NYC. I wouldn’t pay for a room here though. I’d sooner go back to the Hilton Times Square if paying OOP.

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Walt Disney Dolphin Resort
August 16-17
King bed-No view

We paid for this room out of pocket because we had no other way to pay for it. We got the room on Orbitz and Dh had some Orbitz bucks to use. The rate was $122 but we then paid $30 for the resort fee and $25 for parking at the hotel. Here’s my pros and cons list for the hotel:

Pros:
-Walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood studios
-Lots of dining options
-Lots of bottled water in the room
-Staff was all very friendly and helpful
-Front desk gave us a swan and dolphin pin for free after I asked

Cons:
-Shower wouldn’t get warm
-Bathroom was dirty
-The room with the shower and toilet was tiny
-Room had musty smell
-No Disney charm or theming
-Heard loud groups of people in the halls

Honestly, even with the pros list I don’t see us staying here again unless it’s a really good rate. I was really missing the Disney feel to the resort and cast members. The staff was friendly but it’s a different vibe for sure. We will probably try the swan to compare sometime. We were only there for one night because of our AP preview at Galaxy’s Edge so it was fine for that one night.
 

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Walt Disney Dolphin Resort
August 16-17
King bed-No view

We paid for this room out of pocket because we had no other way to pay for it. We got the room on Orbitz and Dh had some Orbitz bucks to use. The rate was $122 but we then paid $30 for the resort fee and $25 for parking at the hotel. Here’s my pros and cons list for the hotel:

Pros:
-Walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood studios
-Lots of dining options
-Lots of bottled water in the room
-Staff was all very friendly and helpful
-Front desk gave us a swan and dolphin pin for free after I asked

Cons:
-Shower wouldn’t get warm
-Bathroom was dirty
-The room with the shower and toilet was tiny
-Room had musty smell
-No Disney charm or theming
-Heard loud groups of people in the halls

Honestly, even with the pros list I don’t see us staying here again unless it’s a really good rate. I was really missing the Disney feel to the resort and cast members. The staff was friendly but it’s a different vibe for sure. We will probably try the swan to compare sometime. We were only there for one night because of our AP preview at Galaxy’s Edge so it was fine for that one night.
I feel the same way about the vibe at Swan/Dolphin versus Disney. I would stay there again but only if I couldn’t get a moderate or deluxe Disney property at a reasonable price.
I always think that the uniforms the Disney folks have to wear are hokey. But then when I see the tee shirts and “any black shorts you have” uniforms at Swolphin, I kind of get the Disney uniforms. It’s just a different overall feel.
But the location is great for sure!
 
I feel the same way about the vibe at Swan/Dolphin versus Disney. I would stay there again but only if I couldn’t get a moderate or deluxe Disney property at a reasonable price.
I always think that the uniforms the Disney folks have to wear are hokey. But then when I see the tee shirts and “any black shorts you have” uniforms at Swolphin, I kind of get the Disney uniforms. It’s just a different overall feel.
But the location is great for sure!
The location is great! The Epcot area is my favorite. One other thing I didn’t like at the dolphin was not getting to charge to our room with our magic bands
 


Sheraton Eatontown Hotel
Eatontown, NJ
August 29-30, 2019
17,500 points a night but our night would’ve cost us $489 cash

This is a hotel that is about 10 minutes from some New Jersey beaches, including Asbury Park, Long Branch, and Belmar. I had a 25,000 point per night free night certificate that was going to expire soon and I had to use it up. Admittedly I’m more of a Marriott 35,000 point a night and up kind of person, but this is the only Marriott close to any of the NJ beaches, and we live in PA so those are the beaches we frequent the most.

The hotel itself is absolutely beautiful! It was completely redesigned and redone within the past year. Everything is absolutely gorgeous. It is, however, very poorly managed. I read tons of TripAdvisor reviews who have reiterated the same thing, and they were spot on.

We checked in and our room was only half cleaned. Housekeeping assured us they were going to finish it. We waited a while, they said they were finished. Bed linens were covered in hair. Requested new ones. There were no towels. We were told that the hotel ran out but they were “doing a load of laundry” and they’d be done in 15 minutes. I’ve never ever had that happen at a hotel in my life.

We went to the beach and came back. New linens but still now towels. We requested towels. They bought us dirty ones, covered in stains and hair. We walked down to the front desk again to get towels (everything required a walk to the front desk bc there was one person working the entirety of the lobby who didn’t answer the app or phone.). They send up new ones and the guy who bought them said “sorry about that. people normally don’t check towels so we just give whichever ones while we are doing laundry”
Eeeeeeeeew!

We tried to go to the pool. We get in and it’s so cloudy you can’t see your feet in the 3 foot end. Not even your thighs. There is trash floating in it. We jump out and head to the shower. Gross!

We try to eat at the restaurant. Prices are not cheap but it’s convenient and after a long day we choose to stay. The bartender doubles as the waitress and can’t find the menus. When we finally order she brings us water and the glasses have all kinds of floaters in them. Gross! She brings out our appetizer after 30 minutes. They’re “cheesesteak spring rolls” for $14. They come out and they’re 5 super mini microwaved taquitos. We eat them bc we are starving. She comes out about 20 minutes later to tell us “they just told me they are out of kids meals.” Like everything on the kids menu? We pay for the apps, she comps the one beer we had, and we hightail it to a local diner.

Come back to room and woke up in a puddle of sweat from the stupid sensor air conditioners. The linens also include a heavy comforter. I just have a sheet on now.

I’m writing this in the middle of the night, so this is as much of a vent for me as a review. Thank you if you’ve held on this long.

TL/DR: beautiful hotel that is very poorly managed

Pros:
-located close to beach towns (not a lot of chain hotels available in NJ beach towns)
-beautifully remodeled and redone
-rooms are large and spacious with 2 queen beds, couch, chair, table, and decent sized bathroom

Cons:
-very poorly managed
-filthy dirty pool
-hotel apparently frequently runs out of towels
-sensor air conditioner that shuts off when you sleep
-room not the cleanest
-on site restaurant is short staffed, slow, runs out of food, and has dirty glasses


Overall: don’t stay here. It’s beautiful now, but in two years will be so run down it will resemble a truck stop motel in two years
 

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BETHANY BEACH OCEAN SUITES RESIDENCE INN
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/rehri-bethany-beach-ocean-suites-residence-inn/433804

Travel Dates: August 7-10, 2019

We stayed at this Oceanside Residence Inn using Marriott Bonvoy points for a short beach trip.
  • The cash rate each night was $855+ (per night - so $2,566.54 for the stay)
  • We redeemed 150,000 Points (50k per night) to stay for free. For those into unattainable cpp goals - that's 1.71 cpp - wow am I a baller! (haha!) I would imagine that this property will NEVER feature a good cash rate but it is a great value with Marriott Bonvoy points (assuming that it doesn't change categories or get hit with never-ending "peak status).
  • I should preface this whole review with saying that I am not a fan of a traditional hotel for a beach trip. I'd prefer a condo, a house, or a multi-bedroom suite - so keep that in mind when you see how positive I am about this hotel.
  • Summary comment: This was a well kept hotel, a great location, and VERY fun.
General Comments on Layout and Location:
The hotel consists of 2 buildings. If possible, you definitely want to be in the main building (we were). This makes going to breakfast and hitting the pool much easier. Requesting a high floor room in the main building might result in you being on the same floor as the rooftop pool (again we were) and that was awesome! Taking a "night swim" and being 100 steps from our room was great. I would not have wanted to take an elevator down and then walked outside across the parking lot to the other building after our swim.

Location is great here - you are right on the beach. You walk across a 10 foot boardwalk to the beach access. We kept our beach stuff in the back of our van which was conveniently parked under the hotel in their garage. That made getting to and from the beach easy (and was nice to not carry chairs and such back up to the room). Just a short walk down the boardwalk is what seems like a "town center". There are lots of shops and restaurants - it was a very pleasant area in the evening.

A note on the beach itself: The waves crash very close to shore and on both of our beach days, when high tide hit, it crested the front wall of the beach and trickled into (and then later washed away) people's stuff. Know the tides and when the water starts coming in, be sure to move to the far back against the fence (or just setup there for the whole day). Many people got an unpleasant surprise with coolers, chairs, blankets, towels, etc. washing away and getting soaked. I'm not sure if that occurs all the time but it happened both days we were there. Also, the water is VERY cold for somebody who is used to Gulf of Mexico water and the occasional Myrtle Beach trip. It took a lot of convincing to get in!

Amenities and Activities
They did some activities while we were there. Crafts in the morning, a carnival on Wednesday afternoon, Mermaid pictures poolside in the afternoon, A movie at the pool in the evening etc. These were enjoyable for the kids!

Breakfast was your typical free breakfast. They did a nice job - they also seated you (to make sure no random people off the street were wandering in). You could even request a table outside with a view of the boardwalk and ocean - a nice touch for sure!

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There is a spa, bar, and fitness center. We didn't use these. There is also an expensive on-site restaurant that seems upscale - we didn't eat there.

The pool is a rooftop pool that is outdoor doing the day and enclosed at night (or when it rains). Reminder - this is in the main building. In the pictures below, you can see the roof/wall that can slide closed. It was pretty neat! The pool is fairly large and luckily was not busy when we were there.

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Room Comments:
We stayed in a 2 queen bed room with a sofa bed. It worked well for our travel party of 5 (including my sister). It would've worked even better with just 4 as we could've pulled the table out and left the couch as a couch. The room was VERY clean and nice. We had a "partial ocean-view" room which meant you could see the ocean from your balcony. I assume they don't give ocean-view rooms out on points but it was nice to sit on the balcony and see the waves crash. This is their web photo which is basically what our room looked like (beds/seating area and kitchen):

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Other Comments:
Consider driving one evening over to Rehoboth to go to Funland. http://www.funlandrehoboth.com/
100 tickets for $30 will give you a couple of hours of fun! Many of the little kid rides are 1-3 tickets. Even the top tier rides are only 4-6 tickets. It was busy but well-run and we had a great time there!
 
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Hotel Kimpton Nine Zero - Boston
https://www.ninezero.com/
Dates Stayed: August 1-4, 2019
Redeemed 1 Free-Night Cert from IHG CC (old rules), 80K IHG points for partial 2 night booking from SUB, purchased another 40K points during a points break sale for the remainder points needed ~ $215

I picked this hotel with is proximity to the Freedom Trail start and to be more in the center of town instead of the Intercontinental which was more in the financial district. I loved that we were close to the T to get to/from the airport (5 minute walk) and go up to Cambridge for the evening. We were about 20 minutes from everything we wanted to walk to. A HUGE Walgreens was around the corner for forgotten sunscreen, wine and snacks for the room.

I don't have pictures of our room, but thought it was nice. We could see a little of Boston Commons from our window. A European Continental Breakfast was included, along with an evening reception, but we never were around for it.

While I liked this hotel a lot, especially the location, there were a few things that I wasn't too thrilled about:
  1. The soundproofing wasn't too great. We could hear everyone who went past our door, even if they were silently walking.
  2. There were a lot of small lights in the room that never turned off, so for a light sleeper sensitive to light, I got creative trying to make it DARK in the room at night. (and ipad remote with docking station, reading lights above the bed that had their own nightlights)
  3. I felt like it was either warm or totally freezing in our room. I wasn't too bothered by it, but DH wasn't a fan.
  4. The breakfast was included and located in the bar area on the second floor (you needed to use your key in the elevator to access it). It was very simple: cheese, deli meats, some fruit, coffee, tea, juice, one type of pasty...However, we were greeted with a $50 bill every morning for our breakfast that was zeroed out with a tip line. I usually just ignore stuff like that since the only service we received at breakfast was for a server to bring us our "bill", but as we were leaving the server actually chased me down after we left the room for me to sign the "bill". I was not a fan of that at all.
The front desk was great. They printed tickets for us for the Freedom Trail, answered any questions about transportation, and were very polite.

I only picked this hotel because of our IHG points, and liked it, but might consider something else if we eve go back to Boston.
 


Radisson Hotel Orlando-Lake Buena Vista
September 20-21
2 Queen Beds
8,603 URs and would've cost $107.54 if we had paid cash

Pros:
-The theming to the room was something we actually liked. It had arches and a separate living area. It's very dated, but we found it charming
-Bigger room with pullout couch
-Free parking
-Front desk staff was friendly

Cons:
-Hard to get out of hotel onto the highway (you have to do a U-turn further down the road to get turned around
-Old and very stained carpet
-Very outdated room and worn out (stains everywhere, tile in shower very outdated, no USB plugs)
-Sleep number beds are old and remote barely worked
-Wifi can be slow at times

We just wanted a room to crash in for one night after going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and this worked fine for that. I definitely wouldn't do a longer stay here, but for one night I can't complain. It's very cheap and you get free parking which is hard to come by in the Disney Springs area. There also were no resort fees. They do charge for breakfast so we didn't try it, but it's right next to a Waffle House and that could be an option. We may try this hotel in the future if we need another quick, one night stay.
 

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As of Sept 27th, 2019 the Index is UPDATED. Took a lot of work but glad to have it done. It's been LONG overdue!!
  • I've changed the format slightly because it was WAY too much work to link to everything. Now you'll each review listed with a page number.
  • If you've never had a chance to read through this entire thread it's REALLY neat
  • Anybody can contribute new reviews to this thread. If possible start your review with a clear name of the hotel being reviewed in Bold. This will make it easier for me to update the index in the future!
Thanks to everybody who has contributed to here. I think people enjoy doing a write-up and reliving fun hotels that they stayed at! I certainly enjoy reading them!
 
Intercontinental The Clement Monterey
Monterey, CA
Sept 8 - 11, 2019

For 3 nights, we used my free night cert, DH's free night cert, and 70,000 points. I recall the cash price being relatively low here, so it probably wasn't the best redemption. But we rarely use our IHG points and have plenty.

This hotel charges $30 per night + tax for either self park or valet (same price for both). We upgraded our room to get a water view and a Juliette balcony. Total charge per night with the upgrade and parking was $118.

The location was good. The hotel is right in the heart of Monterey; you can walk to shops/restaurants/aquarium. You're also adjacent to the coastal walking/biking trail, which we enjoyed tremendously. Having said that, we spent most of our time away from the town area. If we go again, we'd probably opt for the Carmel Highlands Hyatt (see @Lain 's review).

The beds were comfy. The room was very nice. No complaints at all. We were able to empty out the minibar to store groceries.

View from room -

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Courtyard San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf
Sept 11 - 13

We used 2 of DH's Marriott free night certs. We booked when the price was 35K points/night (it has since increased to 50k I believe). Our room was clean, and the bed was comfortable. Otherwise, the hotel is unremarkable. We booked here solely due to the location (+ free!). It seems like we walked everywhere in the Fisherman's Wharf area . . . to Ghiradelli Square, to the Alcatraz dock, to dinner at Scoma's, to Pier 39. We even walked to the Orpheum theatre to see Hamilton - which was a very hilly 45 minute walk (we ubered back).

Given this was my first time in San Francisco, the location was perfect. Fisherman's Wharf for me though is a one and done thing. Next time, I'd probably opt for a nicer hotel in a less touristy location.
 
San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront
August 29, September 13

The price was 35k points when I booked. We really enjoyed this hotel. The rooms were nice, and the lounge access for Platinums was terrific! Additionally, the hotel is located near the airport directly on the water. You can sit outside and watch planes land and take-off. And there's access to the coastal trail (we ran here in the mornings).

No room pics, but here are a few of the view in front of the hotel (and our feet :) ) -

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Park Hyatt Tokyo

Our stay was pricing at over $1,000 per night. We transferred 60,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points to Hyatt and booked our two nights on points. The hotel is about 2 hours away from Narita airport and not close to any of the things we planned on experiencing. However, I have been wanting to stay at the “Lost In Translation” Hotel and cross it off the bucket list. The Shinjuku station is an easy 10-15 minutes walk from the hotel.

Our view from the room was really nice and the service from the staff has been outstanding! We really enjoyed our stay.

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Santa Ynez Valley Marriott
Sept 4 - 6, 2019
$160ish/night total with taxes - paid cash (gift cards)

Disappointed! This hotel gets decent reviews and has been recently renovated. We used 2 of our platinum suite upgrade certs here, so we had a very large one bedroom suite with a balcony. Unfortunately, our experience here didn't live up to expectations. Initially, we were placed in a room with a view of electrical equipment. I called the front desk and politely asked if we could be moved to a room with a better view. This was our view from the new room . . .

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A big thing for us is the balcony/patio. We love sitting outside to have coffee in the mornings and wine in the evenings. Sadly, the balconies here were so narrow that it was impossible to sit facing the proper direction. Also, half of the balcony "view" was blocked by a wall. Oh well - no morning coffee gazing out over the gorgeous roof top for us!

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The hotel recently renovated rooms. At first glance they looked great. However, the floors were improperly installed and had "waves" and were actually coming apart in some places.

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Positives here . . .

Comfy bed
Lots of room in the suite
Nice restaurant/bar area
Excellent breakfast buffet (free for Platinums)
Friendly staff

What pushed me over the edge here was that upon check-in, we were not informed of the weekly wine reception which was that very night, so we missed it. Yep - we missed FREE WINE and appetizers.

All in all, we were annoyed but got over it quickly. We were visiting the area to see Solvang and visit wineries. The wine tour we enjoyed was terrific, and we had a great time overall.

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Harbor House Inn
Santa Barbara, CA
Sept 6 - 8, 2019
Not a chain; booked with UR points

To say we adored this inn would be an understatement. We used 26,500 UR points/night. Pricey but worth it! The location was just a block or two from the harbor and beach. We walked everywhere, and didn't use our car at all while here. They provided complimentary bikes, beach chairs, and beach towels.

We booked a queen room with kitchen but were upgraded to a king with kitchen. The customer service here was exceptional. The room was large; the bed was comfortable; and the decor was perfect! The only thing that would have made our stay better would have been a pool.

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The Hotel Paradox, Santa Cruz CA
Autograph Collection (Marriott brand, Cat 5)
Stayed in the early summer

The Paradox a former motel that has been redone as an upscale hotel, so there are no interior corridors. The rooms are small, but the beds are comfy. I tried to use one of our "suite rewards" but didn't get an upgrade. The only kind of suite they have is basically 2 regular rooms that connect. They are trying hard, but it still really feels like a motel room. We had some housekeeping issues - they ran out of extra blankets (???) and failed to service our room (with a family of 4, we really needed at least a towel refresh). I complained, and they did give us a 30% discount on our room rate.

The pool area was really nice, and we were able to sweet talk the manager into letting us use one of the cabanas for a while without paying. The restaurant was good (platinum breakfast benefit was a credit for breakfast - would cover their continental buffet or chose something else from the menu).

Location is about 10 minute drive from the beach, 5-10 minute walk to the main strip of downtown Santa Cruz.

Based on my research (but not a lot of actual stays) hotels in SC are pretty pricey, and often just beach-town places to crash. If you're looking for a chain hotel so you can use points or get Marriott nights, this isn't a bad choice. I'd probably stay there again (but would seriously consider getting 2 rooms if all 4 of us were traveling together again - it was a pretty tight fit!)
 
Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf, San Fransisco, CA
Marriott brand category 6
Stayed in early summer

The Sheraton Fisheman's Wharf is a totally solid tourist hotel right near the Fisherman's Wharf tourism area. Room was clean, reasonably recently refurbished and nothing to write home about. We weren't able to get any kind of upgrade with our Suite Rewards. At the desk they "upgraded" us to a high floor, but there really isn't anything to have a view of, so it didn't matter much. They did give us 4 vouchers for breakfast (technically only have to give us 2 with plat status) plus water and some chocolate ("welcome gift" for plat members).

Breakfast was a decent buffet with eggs, bacon etc. and nice fruit. Also rice and a couple other things for a basic asian style breakfast. They had fancy coffees and a few other items you could "upgrade" to by purchasing, but the regular buffet was fine for our needs. Service was friendly and efficient.

Location was good for us - we were doing Alcatraz, and the boat was a 10 minute walk from the hotel (glad we had bought tickets ahead of time - it was sold out for the next few days, according to the ticket window). Looked to be plenty of tourist-friendly restaurant options within a short walk, none of which we actually checked out.

Was a good location for a quick stay in San Fransisco, but not a lot of character.
 
Renaissance Atlanta Gateway

Used a 35k FN for positioning flight.
I’ll be changing our go to hotel from the Westin Atlanta to either this hotel or the Atl Airport Gateway Marriott- so much easier to grab the skytrain(every 3 min) and get to and from ATL.

Room is fine, they honored my request for extra towels with one of each and the front desk clerk at check in was personal, professional and agreed that pepsi is gross.

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The gym is nice and well equipped and I’m very pleased with this choice.

ETA- it’s not marked well to get to the SkyTrain so I did a lot of research and it’s easy if you follow signs to Rental Cars, just fyi

ETA2- I’m gold and other than maybe free wifi for just being a Bonbon member got nothing nada zilch for my gold status. Considering some of the super lame rewards I’ received in the past (8 oz water bottle, mini bag of rold gold pretzels) no biggie.
 
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Best Western Plus Park Place Inn
Anaheim, CA
September 28-30, 2019
17,500 UR points/night with CSR

Stayed here for 2 nights while taking DD to the Oogie Boogie Bash at DCA. Pretty pricey for a Best Western. But location, location, location. It is THE closest offsite hotel at DLR. Right at the crosswalk, cross the street, past the buses, past the security check point, and you are at the park entrances. It is even closer than the Disneyland Hotel. So among all hotels, second only to the Grand Californian. We were put at the very end of the building though, which negated some of the closeness!

The room looked updated except for the sink area. Bed was comfortable. We were on the first floor, so didn't really want to open the plantation shutters with people walking by and cars parked right outside. The room and building felt more motel-y than the Fairfield Anaheim, even though they both have exterior room doors. So I prefer the room at the Fairfield, but I did feel the difference in distance at the end of the night.

Breakfast is included at the restaurant next door (second floor of Captain Kidd's). We only made it one morning at 9:30 (it ends at 10). I thought the selection wasn't that great, but maybe it's because we were there late. Juice machine was out of service. Coffee was decent though.

We were putting on our shoes about 5 minutes before 11 (check out time) when housekeeping knocked on the door. I was a little annoyed. Yes, yes, we're leaving. Can't remember the last time I've had that happen.

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I'd like to add some reviews! We travel frequently and I can't remember the last time we paid for a hotel! We do often stay in Airbnbs when we travel to Europe, but almost all of our domestic travel is hotels.

We are brand loyal to Marriott, as hubby is Lifetime Titanium Elite. The benefits have been great. We get to access the Concierge Lounge which usually means free breakfast, coffee, water bottles (great to grab when exploring a city, esp in the summer!), sometimes afternoon and/or evening snacks. We can often make a meal out of the little bites in the lounge as well.

We also have been using "Suite Night Rewards". DH had 5 in his account so I used them to upgrade our room in NYC this summer and we had a room overlooking Times Square! Pretty fab.

Okay, now that I said that, I'll review some recents stays. :)
 

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