My Travel Philosophy: Where You Stay Matters

My husband and I like to stay in special places when we travel.  Well, I guess it would be more accurate to say that I like to stay in special places when we travel.  Mark isn’t particularly aesthetically oriented.  We’re talking about a man who didn’t notice that we’d had the entire interior of our condo painted until two weeks later.  Lucky for me, he loves me and is happy to indulge this passion of mine. 

Staying somewhere special is a big part of what I consider to be a great vacation, part of the experience of being somewhere entirely different. 

Don’t get me wrong, an in-town weekend getaway at the Intercontinental (my favorite in Atlanta), Four Seasons or the Ritz are fab.  By design, you know exactly what to expect whether you’re in LA, New York, London or Bali.

But when I head out of town, I don’t want to know exactly what to expect.  I’m getting away for a reason, and I want something, well, different.  Something you can only find there, wherever there is.  Something special, something wholly unique, something that will be an integral part of my experience and memories.   

Whenever we zero in on our next vacation spot, my lodging juices start flowing and I begin pouring over every reliable source I can get my hands on, seeing what places get multiple mentions, hearing different perspectives on the same property. 

For bigger cities or properties that are destinations unto themselves, some of my favorite resources are Relais and Chateaux, Historic Hotels of America, Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Select Registry, Small Luxury Resorts of the World, Travel + Leisure, and Condé Nast.  Fodors has also rarely steered me wrong.  And while I don’t always agree with the rankings, I value www.tripadvisor.com for all the candid photos and priceless insights you can glean from the reviews (i.e. “…avoid rooms 303-316 as they back up to the dumpster, which the city collected promptly at 5:30 AM every day of our stay…”). 

These sources, along with some great travel agents, have steered us for example to the trendy Hotel Andra in Seattle, the venerable Cloisters in Sea Island, and the private escape of Villa San Pio in Rome.

If we’re going to a small town or remote area, I’ll tend toward a bed and breakfast, and have found www.bedandbreakfast.com to be the best starting place for most searches.  From there, I can cross reference with regional and local sources.  A favorite if you’re visiting the South is Southern Living. 

My husband is from the UK, and his parents live in Wales, so we’ve also spent quite a bit of time there.  While we often stay with family, when we do venture out, two consistently good sources are Best Loved Hotels and Welsh Rarebits.  For our last trip through the rugged North of Wales, they brought us such jewels as the Bodysgallen Hall and Spa outside Llandudno, one of my all-time favorites.  Simply stunning.

If we’re visiting a National Park as part of our vacation, I always check out lodgings in the park itself.  Some of the most unique and storied places to stay in this country were built during the expansion of the National Parks system and/or the WPA, and provide incomparable (if not luxurious) experiences.  Mark and I have fond memories of topping off a long day of hiking by playing cards and drinking red wine in front of the roaring fire at the Sylvan Lake Lodge in Custer State Park, South Dakota.

So, ladies, this is a special insight into how I love to travel.  If you are a kindred spirit, I hope you’ll enjoy hearing about the wonderful places this passion has brought to us.  If not, no worries.  My good friend Bonnie couldn’t give two shakes about where she stays beyond a comfy bed, a central location, and whether it’s in one of her points programs.  If that sounds like you, I hope you’ll consider giving one of my choices a try some day.  You just might like it.