A Home Away From Home

When I was a kid, I remember that my family rarely took many vacations. Aside from one or two trips to Reno, Nevada we usually stayed close to home. However, about every five years or so we would traveled to sunny Anaheim, CA to visit Disneyland.

We always stayed at modest hotels and sometimes motels near the theme park. Looking back, I now realize that we didn't have a lot of money. However, at the time I felt as though we were well off. I figured since we had enough money to stay at a hotel for a week we must be rich, right? I remember staying at a hodge podge of places such as the Howard Johnson's or the Best Western. When I got older, I followed suit and naturally took my own daughter to Disneyland. Without even thinking the first time I took my kid to Disneyland I made my reservation at where else.... yep you guessed it, the Howard Johnsons. It had all the amenities I thought one needed, a swimming pool, wake up calls, maid service, what more could one possibly need?

Naturally, as I got older I did more traveling and began to be a little bit more adventurous in my accomodations choices. I also got a job that required me to travel about 25% of the time. Through my domestic travels I've stayed at a variety of hotel chains. Ironically, sometimes when I sleep at home I wake up in the middle of the night thinking to myself, wow, this is a comfortable bed. Only to wake up and discover that my little Yorkshire Terrier is nestled next to me and I am actually at home.

I'm a self-professed "pain in the ass" when it comes to hotels. I don't want to pay a lot of money but I want a nice room. I want all of the comforts of a "home away from home," yet I don't have the budget of an A-List celebrity. This blog is an account of some of my hotel stays throughout the past few years. Obviously, some of the stays have been much more enjoyable than others. I hope you find this blog useful if you are looking to book a hotel and want to find a great place to stay without spending a fortune.