Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn

I am becoming a hotel snob, I think. I have a specific criteria and I am willing to pay a little extra in order for my hotel to measure up to my expectations.

My hotel snobbiness started in 2001 when I stayed in a hotel at Disney World called The Swan. As a Disney Hotel the service and facilities were excellent. Before this time, I had always stayed with my family in places that would more appropriately be called motels.

Since then, I have stayed in the lower-class hotels, but every time I do, I feel dirty. This past year, we have stayed in a couple Red Lions, a Renaissance, a Radisson, a Days Inn, a little Podunk hotel in Bryce without a national Chain, The Mirage, The Anaheim Plaza, and I think The Lodge in Park City.

I have to say that of these chains, I think my favorites were the Radisson and the Renaissance. It might be because we were staying there when soccer players were also there, and we were able to talk to them or see them, but I don’t think that’s it. The Radisson has the Sleep Number bed, which is about the most fun in the world. They are super comfy and you get to inflate/deflate them to your firmness preference. I would love to have one of my own. It also had an exceptional fitness facility and a rather nice pool.

The Renaissance was an exceptional facility (we were in Denver). The beds have down-alternative comforters and more pillows than I needed, but they are great when you are sitting in bed watching TV. I slept extremely well in Denver.

So, when I am booking a hotel, I look for three basic features: Internet Access (prefer wireless complimentary), Fitness Room and Pool. Both the Radisson and the Renaissance had all three features.

The Mirage in Las Vegas has all three features, but they charge for Internet Access ($9.99 per day) which they warn you about. They do not; however, warn you that they will charge you to use their fitness facility, nor do they warn you that it’s $25 per person per day. We did not use either of these features at The Mirage. We actually tried to connect to the internet, but were unable to do so. I don’t know why, but pretty much every hotel in Las Vegas charges for internet access. Maybe it’s because they want you to spend your hard-earned money in the casino, not surfing the web.

I think that the Mirage could have been a little nicer. We were paying more than we paid at either the Radisson or the Renaissance, and yet, our room was not quite as nice. I think we’ll stick to other vacation spots and hotels we know.