Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with travel and Hotels

Never use Priceline after 5am

disillusioned — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:30:58 -0800

IdiotFilter: I booked a Priceline hotel with the wrong region selected. Should I eat it and book somewhere else? Or will it work for New Year's Eve? I made the catastrophic mistake of Pricelineing after 5am last night and during my rebid process (where you add regions that don't have the star level you're looking for, so you can instantly rebid), I jacked it down from 4 star to 3.5 star without unchecking all the regions.

This placed me at the Hilton Del Mar (map).

I'm there from Dec 31 - Jan 3, for $161 total.

I wanted to be in Downtown/Harbor Island, so that I could have a choice of festivities, and to be closer to downtown SD during the other days, but again, I was an idiot.

Both Priceline and Hilton absolutely refuse to budge and that's to be expected—I read the terms and made the mistake.

So my question is: Should I eat the $161 and try to find a similar deal closer? Or should I just stay there and drive in?

We have a vehicle, but I don't know what sort of parking situation we'll see coming in to downtown.

We might like to do the Zoo, Sea World, Harbor Island, the beach (which is close to this hotel), and the Gaslamp Quarter, so clearly being closer would be nice.

What's your expert opinion, San Diegans? It appears to be a solid 20 miles from downtown—will this be absolutely devastating, traffic-wise on the holiday weekend? Or can I reasonably make it down in 20 minutes?

God, I feel stupid. I'm usually fastidious and extremely careful with things like travel bookings, but I just missed it here and now I'm stuck.

Your advice is welcome—I'm willing to eat the $161, since I'm splitting the hotel with the girlfriend (she'll split wherever we stay, I'll eat the $161 myself) so that hurts a bit less, but if it's manageable, we'll just stay there. It looks like a pretty nice hotel on its own.

Good hotels in Baton Rouge?

exolstice — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:42:30 -0800

Going near Baton Rouge, LA for work. I need suggestions of good hotels to stay in the $80-$100 a night range. I also need suggestions of things to do in the evenings. Thanks! I'll be working about 30-45 minute drive South of the city, if that helps with the suggestions for areas. I'd prefer something not too close to a highway. I'd prefer to be able to walk to as many places as possible, but this is not required. Definitely non-smoking. Oh and if you can tell me anything about the breakfast, that would be a plus.

As for suggestions of things to do, looking for restaurants (with vegetarian options if possible) and any attractions that can be experienced in the evenings. Thanks!

Where to take a 30th birthday long weekend near NYC?

toomuchkatherine — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:47:39 -0800

I'm turning 30 in two weeks. Help me find a great ~4-day trip not too far from New York to celebrate it. My 30th birthday is June 26. I'm hoping to get out of town (NYC) for it; I don't have *too* much angst about turning 30, but I hope not to be sung "Happy Birthday" to in a local dive. And I've been meaning to explore the great Northeast more anyway.

I prefer the mountains to the beach, and am looking for someplace fun to go within a reasonable (6 hour?) train or car ride from New York City. I'd like to stay in a fun funky town, small city, or rural area. Hudson Valley? Vermont? Adirondacks? Lake Placid? Maine (too far?)? I don't have a tent of my own, so no utter backpacking, but I do like to hike etc.

I've been all over Western Massachusetts, because I have family there; it's nice, but I want to try something new. I will probably be on my own for one or two nights, and joined by the bf for the next part.

Would love any suggestions for towns or specific accommodations. I'm not super flush but am willing to spend a bit to make this a nice getaway.

Washington DC hotels?

Karlos the Jackal — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:53:01 -0800

My wife and I are going to Washington DC next year for a few days. We'll be sticking to touristy stuff -- monuments, the Smithsonian -- so we want to be able to get to those parts and back fairly easily. We won't have a car. Where should we stay? Recommendations for areas or for specific hotels appreciated. What we're looking for in a hotel: quiet, clean, simple, air conditioning, in a safe neighborhood, maybe $250 a night.

We've been looking at some hotels online but we're not sure how easy it is to get around without a car, so we're not sure how far away we can stray. We are fine with public transportation if it's not too confusing.

Has anyone ever heard of southtravel.com ?

thewalrus — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 05:23:54 -0800

Has anyone had a good or bad experience with a UAE based travel agency known as SouthTravels.com? They appear to be an agency similar to asiatravel.com, a Singaporean company with which I've had good experiences. I've been looking at their selection of hotels and guest houses in Pakistan, specifically Islamabad. Here's their Pakistan page and the page for Islamabad.

In the past when I have booked budget hotels in the UAE through asiatravel, the reception desk at the hotel has had a printout ready with my name and passport number when I check in. At one place it was in a folder with printouts from 3-4 other booking agencies. It looks like this is emailed or faxed to the hotel once per day. Is this sort of arrangement also common in Pakistan? Southtravel appears to be a legit organization, I'm not too paranoid about giving my VISA card number to them, but I'm looking for any good or bad experiences out there on the net before making a booking...

hotel suggestions for sxsw (music)

dannon205 — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:11:25 -0800

Austin hotels for SXSW (music festival)? Hi everyone. Finally after two years, I have saved up my pennies and decided to go to SXSW for its music festival. I need to book a room, which will be shared by several ppl in order to defray the cost. I have never been to Austin before and am not very familiar with the locations. I know that the action is downtown, but if I can't afford a hotel downtown, what are some affordable options closeby (i.e., taking a cab)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Best plan of attack when you have only 3 days in Europe

seekingsimplicity — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:06:23 -0800

Each year in the fall, my DH and I go to Ireland for his business meetings. These meetings last 3-4 days and then he takes 3 days of vacation and we go somewhere else in Europe. We have gone to Paris, the west coast of Ireland, Scotland and here is my question: When you have only 3 days, what would be the best plan of attack? You have to figure in travel time to the next country so it has felt very rushed. Paris in 3 days was a frantic feeling for me. Trying to see so much in such a short amount of time. My DH doesn't seem to mind but I feel like it almost makes it not very fun!

I have been to most every country in Europe so I have a different perspective than he does because I traveled there during my summers in college in a leisurely way as college students can do! He is just seeing these countries for the first time. We are talking about Venice or Switzerland next year.

Should I try to push for another day or 2? The other factor is that he is in a very high level job and feels stressed when he takes too much time away--- but I may be able to talk him into more time if his schedule permits. Also, what source should I use to find our hotels? It seems like an overwhelming maze of info out there.

Our hotel in Scotland was $150 per night (great price!), had a great location but the room was borderline---smoke smell in bathroom. Very little charm whatsoever. I have wondered if going to smaller towns in the different country would make the experience of 3 days more enjoyable? Thanks for your insight!

DC Nightlife

jsavimbi — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:21:13 -0800

If you were going to Washington, DC for a week and were the kind of person who likes to do the museum thing by day and go out to eat/drink/merry at night, where would you stay? I'm headed down there Mon-Thur next week and have no clue

Nice but inexpensive/moderately priced lodging around Boston?

14580 — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 09:03:29 -0800

We're going to be visiting Boston for a few days, starting tomorrow (Sunday). We'd like to avoid traffic and parking issues by staying in the outskirts and taking mass-transit into downtown to see the sights. We're looking for a hotel or motel that is pleasant, clean and fairly inexpensive (less than $125/night IF possible). Any recommendations?

Help me cushion the leaving-home blow.

AthenaPolias — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 11:43:14 -0800

I'm moving from Boston to Cincinnati in a few weeks, and am doing the drive to OH on my own. I'd like to stop halfway through and stay the night - someplace not expensive, but hopefully someplace nice (to help cushion the blow of leaving 'home' for good). However, Travelocity et. al. are just giving me HoJos, Holiday Inns, etc, all for quite a bit of money per night and generally with questionable cleanliness. It seems logical to get off the highway to find a place that's not going to rip me off - but how do I find a nice, clean, mostly inexpensive place while knowing nothing about the area I'm hoping to stop (Rochester/Buffalo/Erie, PA)? Can you help? I have this awful mental picture of checking into a hotel and finding a dingy room with basic cable, threadbare sheets, with a rotten shower, and feeling terribly lonely on my first night of my new adventure. If at all possible I'd like to avoid this scenario - but being a grad student I don't have much money to help insulate myself from this. Getting off the highway seems the best idea, but I need to know what I'm driving towards for the end of the first day - so I turn to the Hivemind for some local tips.

I should add that my route is flexible at this point. Google maps tells me to take 1-90W and drive through upstate NY, bypassing most of PA (fine with me!) on the way into Ohio. It seems the easiest and speediest, but I can alter this if it might be worth my while for an enjoyable night.

My price range is up to about $150 a night. I know anything right on the highway is going to be pricey for not the nicest room, but that's mostly the limit of what I know to search. Short of punching every town in a reasonable distance to Orbitz (which I've already begin to try, with little result), that is.

Can you help find me a comfy spot for what is bound to be a bittersweet night?

Adam up in smoke

Goofyy — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:29:24 -0800

AmsterdamFilter: Decent hotels w/smoking rooms? Looking for centrally located hotel with smoking rooms. All hotels we find claim new legislation doesn't allow smoking. But the official site contradicts that (had the same thing in Paris, actually, where the official word is, hotel rooms are exempt).

Looking for something mid-upper quality, close to Central Station. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Can anyone recommend a similar Barcelona hotel?

angryjellybean — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:07:28 -0800

Can anyone recommend a similar Barcelona hotel? My boyfriend and I are hoping to stay in Barcelona sometime between the 14th and 23rd September for 7 nights. Last night, after checking MeFi, we found the perfect one -

http://www.hotelbanysorientals.com/

... only to discover that it's not available for the dates we need.

Can anybody recommend a really nice, cosy, not grossly expensive, not ridiculously noisy and central, friendly, perhaps even nice-looking hotel in Barcelona?

I think that due to the location of the Banys Oriental, we're also preferably looking for somewhere near or around the Jaume 1 or Barceloneta(?) metro stations.

What hotels are in/near the Germantown section of Philadelphia?

Dreama — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:31:16 -0800

Can you help in finding a hotel in or near the Germantown section of Philadelphia? I'll be in Philly next month for a conference to be held in Germantown (or perhaps between Germantown and Mt. Airy, per Google Maps) and I'm having difficulty figuring out what hotels are close to the conference location. (Right off of Germantown Avenue, in the 19119 zip code.) Conference organizers have suggested that the Chestnut Hill Hotel is the closest accommodation, but there are no vacancies over the weekend when the conference is occurring.

I ask for very little, my main concern is that it's clean and preferably quiet, free wifi would be a major plus. I don't bother with affinity programs so I don't care much for branding.

Suggestions for other hotels in the area or even how to narrow my searches to this area (TripAdvisor, for instance, divides the city into Airport, Downtown/Center City/Historic Area, Old City, University City/West Phila and City Line/Northeast and I have no idea where Germantown falls in those divisions) would be greatly appreciated.

i like fun things.

negative1 — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:48:10 -0800

The lady & I want to watch some whales in Victoria BC around Memorial day. We'd like to avoid cookie-cutter-corporate hotels. We want a funky mid-price (think $100/night or so) place to stay. When we travel around Washington/Oregon, we like to stay at McMenamins. Is there anything close to that in Victoria?

Tacna, Peru!

mateuslee — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 06:49:20 -0800

Things to do and places to stay in Tacna, Peru? On my way to Tacna, Peru tomorrow. Wonder if any of you have any suggestions of places to stay and things to do while I´m there for a couple days.

Can I plan an original bachelor party?

mrmcsurly — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 22:53:13 -0800

4 men. 3 days/2nights. 1 bachelor party. Fun and originality are the priorities. Money is tight. Help me, hive mind? I am the best man at my friend's wedding. He's like a brother to me. We're beyond the days of kegs and pizza, and have moved on to good scotch and great steaks.

No strippers. No hostels. We need a proper hotel, and some good restaurants. I'd like to plan a three day and two night trip for four of us to someplace warm -- the weather is crap here in Toronto. We're going from Toronto on either Feb 2 or Feb 16 weekend. We can't all afford to spend a lot, so I have to keep costs down.

I'm looking for suggestions on:

- Ideas for destinations
- Finding good/cheap airfare and hotels (incl. package deals)
- Activities for adventurous young men (day and night)

I know it's a tall order, but I know MeFi is up to it, and I'm feeling a bit unoriginal right now. Need some inspiration.

Ice hotels

LittleMissCranky — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 22:11:03 -0800

Has anyone stayed in an ice hotel? Particularly the one in Quebec? I'm thinking of taking my husband there for his birthday in the early spring. Any input would be appreciated!

Where to stay, eat and booze in Portland, Maine?

CunningLinguist — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 07:01:42 -0800

Mainers: I need bar and cheapo hotel recommendations for Portland this Friday. We will be arriving around 8 p.m. and stay overnight before catching a ferry in the morning. Where should we stay? Where should we drink? Fun dive bars with food preferred but any type of saloon recommendation gratefully accepted. AskMe is full of Portland advice, but it's all for that other Portland.

Where to stay and how much to pay on the West Coast?

wackybrit — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:22:49 -0800

Have I got the right budget for my LA->SF drive? What are the hotels / motels really like? Are there any "bargain" towns or price blackspots? My wife and I are planning to fly to Los Angeles, hire a convertible, and do the clichéd drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco over a period of about a week with stays in LA and SF at each end. There are 12 total "nights" to budget for. Dates are approximately Oct 30 -> Nov 11.

I've budgeted $2800 ($233.33 per night) for the accommodations. But.. looking around the net, all I can find is marketing bumph and hot air (and overpriced "luxury" hotels). Is it practical to drive the coast, and find a reasonably comfortable non-seedy place each night without bookings and spend $233.33 per night on average? If we can spend far less than that, all the better, and we'll spend the difference on better hotels in LA and SF.

Basically, if you know these areas, or have done this trip before, we're looking for any and all advice on the accommodation front that you can give :) Thanks in advance!

(Note: We have no particular places we want to stay at on the drive, other than Santa Cruz for at least one night.. so your suggestions could shape our whole trip)

Looking for good Frankfurt Hotel

smcniven — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 05:04:48 -0800

Could anybody recommend a nice hotel in Frankfurt? My wife and I will be in Germany next week, and would like to spend 1 night in Frankfurt (sans-children) to celebrate her upcoming 40th birthday. Could anybody suggest a nice hotel in the downtown area, close to the major Christmas markets? We were looking at the Hilton Frankfurt, but if we could find a nice place that's somewhat cheaper we'd prefer that.

Inexpensive (and unscary) hotels: Seattle/Portland

hazelshade — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:14:03 -0800

We're two recent grad-school graduates on a budget, travelling to Portland and Seattle in a couple of weeks. Any recommendations for relatively inexpensive hotels in both cities? (Previous Seattle questions have brought up the Moore Hotel, but in case they're booked, any alternative suggestions?) Thanks!

How bad is it to stay in East Memphis?

kdern — Wed, 17 May 2006 11:14:35 -0800

Is it a bad idea to stay in East Memphis? I've never been to Memphis before - we're planning to drive in from St. Louis for Memorial Day weekend. We're planning to visit the normal tourist attractions... Beale Street, Al Green's Church, Sun Records, Civil Rights Museum, lots of BBQ.

Hotels downtown are either sold out or priced too high ($160-200 per night). I've got a room booked at the Park Place hotel in East Memphis, about 20 minutes away. How much of a pain is it going to be to drive into town and park, considering it's a holiday weekend and there's a music festival on Sat night (Memphis in May)?

Also - anyone ever been to this hotel? Is it a nice, clean place? As nice as a Hampton Inn? Is it a nice neighborhood? Anything to walk to?

Weekend getaway locales and lodging near Portland, OR

matildaben — Mon, 15 May 2006 13:29:01 -0800

I'd like to gather some recommendations for good bed & breakfasts or rental cabins for a weekend couple getaway in the Oregon Coast area or other areas of Oregon with great natural beauty. Requirements are listed on the inside. The town should be small enough to let the natural beauty be its main attraction, but big enough to have a decent bookstore, good breweries, and quirky/arty stuff (Port Townsend, WA is a good point of comparison here). It should be the kind of town where non-mainstream people and non-traditional couples won't be given a second glance. The ability to find vegan-friendly restaurants is important. As for the lodging, we're not into "roughing-it" - fluffy pillows and hot baths are a must. It should be a place where the guests can have a lot of privacy and come and go as they please without being on top of other guests all the time. And it shouldn't be more than an hour or two drive out of Portland.

Need hotel in Pittsburgh, don't know where I am going.

punkrockrat — Mon, 08 May 2006 07:40:45 -0800

Looking for a hotel recommendation in Pittsburgh... preferable near Pitt. I got a job interview next week in Pittsburgh and would like to find a good, reasonably priced hotel that will put me as close to the University of Pittsburgh as possible. Anyone have a recommendation?

A good bed and breakfast around Seattle?

MasonDixon — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 08:49:57 -0800

Any recommendations for a good Bed and Breakfast near Seattle-- either in town or out in the scenery? My wife and I are going for a wedding in September and thought we'd make a vacation out of it. A few decent places are listed here, but here's the rub. My wife and I want to stay either in the city or within a short drive (an hour or less, let's say) from the city in a scenic location.