Category Archives: LODGING

July 30, 2010 · 7:30 pm

the best b&b around Traverse City

We’re vacationing in Glen Arbor, Mi. in August and renting a cottage on Big Glen Lake that, alas, is not big enough to include relatives from suburban Detroit who we hope are meeting up with us.  So I’ve been looking online at the lodgings around the area, trying to find a nice b&b or inn that’s affordable, not too far from us, and has decor that’s not too goopy. My favorites so far – although some are too far  – (and this is just judging from website pix) are:

www.tesoroinn.com/ (too far, alas)
www.kornerkottage.com (recommended by NYT ; also too far)
http://www.windinthepinesbb.com/

Other options: The Homestead, The Sylvan Inn and Glen Arbor   Bed & Breakfast

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July 26, 2010 · 12:20 am

salina, Ks.

Oh that I could share some of the secret charms of Salina, Ks. with you but alas we saw nothing of it but the inside of the Ramada hotel. Such is the reality of my husband’s family reunion. I did hear tell that Salina is the terra-cotta capital of Kansas – no small feat considering how much terra-cotta clads the buildings of Wichita – but I didn’t get to see it – or visit some of our favorite restaurants such as the Cozy Inn and Jim’s Chicken. We did stop today on the way home at Freddy’s – the frozen custard/steakburger chain we first discovered in Oklahoma which seems to be expanding across Kansas. (We last spotted it in Hutchinson, now it’s in Topeka and Junction City.) Very rich custard – maybe too rich. My stomach hasn’t been right since – and eating Gates BBQ, which we picked up in Kansas City, probably won’t help. But fortune favors the brave….

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July 24, 2010 · 9:03 pm

lawrence ks

Our $49,99 ($57 w/tax) hotel room in Lawrence wasn’t bad at all – spacious, clean, sort of soft  beds but sleepable. There were some loud party girls at 2 a.m.  but that’s to be expected. So for the record, the motel is the Virginia Inn. I’d stay there again.

we ate breakfast at Milton’s on Massachusetts – good hearty omelette and strong coffee then walked along the street in the blistering heat, stopping in at vintage shops and KU apparel stores. Kids got the obligatory jayhawks t-shirts although lily got her’s  at a vintage shop.

we’re now at the ramada inn in Salina, ks. for a family gathering and this is the only sight  I’m  likely to see here.

t

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July 22, 2010 · 2:30 pm

Social B&B networks – the ultimate test:Iowa

Granted, my criteria for the usefulness of Social B&B networks is a bit Iowa-centric – but be that as it may, the only network I could find that included listings for places like Des Moines or Lawrence Kansas is…..airb&B.com

So good for them – and me. Interestingly, since the NYTimes story on these sites ran last Sunday, the number of Iowa options has grown from about 7 to 12. Not all have what I consider to be all-important photos of the lodging – and at least one of the photos was off-putting (two women standing in a worn and cluttered living room with a sagging couch draped in an old quilt. No thank you.)

But there are some great-looking options – a farm house in Cumming outside Des Moines ($30 a night); a beautiful cottage with a front porch overlooking the Mississippi in Dubuque ($100), a 19th-century restored cabin in Decorah ($100), some intriguing vintage trailers ($75) in the woods outside Sioux City owned by some artists and a pretty “historic home” in Iowa City ($55). There’s also an odd Quonset hut dwelling in Dickens, Ia  (in northwest Iowa near Spencer) that apparently doubles as an artists’ studio/gallery space. ($50)

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July 21, 2010 · 2:33 pm

frustrating search for cabin/canoe in northeast Iowa

I’ve been trying for two days to reach a cabin/canoe rental place near Decorah in beautiful northeast Iowa to see if it has anything available on Aug. 1 for four people (me, a friend and our two teens visiting a nearby college) but it’s been frustrating. I’ve left emails and phone messages and heard nothing back. I did check with the tourism office and the place is still open but sparsely staffed (they’re probably all out canoeing.)

I can’t understand why businesses like this offer ways to communicate then don’t respond. The email address is particularly frustrating because when you try to use it up pops a message saying you need to go through a screening in order to use the email.  Huh?

Meanwhile, I heard about another place and tried to contact it via the Internet but you need a Facebook account to reach them – which I don’t have and don’t want.

Come on people – don’t you want my business?

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May 29, 2010 · 10:58 pm

Cool hotels in Texas

We went to San Antonio and Austin for the first time last June and I hope we’ll get to go back soon. In San Antonio we stayed at a fancy hotel, the Westin Riverwalk,  which was a treat (and needless to say, it was paid for by one of our employers. ) But if we return on our own dime, the Hotel Havana looks very cool. I read about it in the NYTimes – in a profile about Liz Lambert who became her inn-keeping career reviving the funky old Hotel San Jose – right across from The Continental, a great music club we did manage to visit during our 5 hours in Austin.  Another one of her hotels that sounds fun is the Hotel Saint Cecilia.

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May 11, 2010 · 10:46 pm

FLWright in Mason City again

The FLWright house that  reopened recently in Mason City is not to be confused with the FLWright hotel – the last of the six hotels he designed that remains – that I gather is opening in about a year.  The restoration of the hotel – to be called the Historic Park Inn Hotel – has been in the works for 13 years, with three different owners, the most recent being a citizens group that bought the poor old place on ebay for $1. The hotel first opened in 1910. Wright reportedly visited the hotel construction site (and next to it a bank he designed) until a notorious escapade ended his visits – Wright took off for Europe with the wife of one of his clients. (See the novel “Loving Frank” for more details on that.)

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May 8, 2010 · 6:10 pm

London Hotels – takemewithyou

Full disclosure: I have been to London oh, maybe a dozen times. But I have never stayed in a hotel – I always stay with friends. (Or else I wouldn’t be able to afford a visit to London.) So when friends ask me for advice on London hotels – especially affordable London hotels – I am at a loss. But for my friends A and N, I’ve done a little sleuthing (my usual – just google NYTimes travel section) and this one sounds good – excellent central location, although could be a tad noisy, and remarkably reasonable price – if the rooms really do start at $136.  Dean Street Townhouse, 69-71 Dean Street, W1D; (44-207) 434-1775; deanstreettownhouse.com.

for more details see: http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/travel/18checkin.html (This same issue, which was on economical europe, may have some suggestions for paris – although I love the place we recommended to you there.)

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April 14, 2010 · 11:06 pm

New Iowa B&B? (or maybe just new to me)

The DM Register’s story on Iowa B&Bs today mentioned some I hadn’t heard of before. One in particular caught my eye because it’s in a town I  like to visit –  the pretty Northeast Iowa river town of McGregor. The place is Stauer House Bed & Breakfast.

In McGregor, we’ve had good luck with the Little Switzerland Inn.  Two summers ago, I stayed there with a friend from London and we got the   entire upper floor of the inn, complete with a full kitchen and balcony looking out on the Mississippi. In the past, we’ve rented the 1850’s cabin next to the Inn’s regular building, which is perfect for a family with kids – even if it’s a little strange being in a cabin smack dab on the busy Main Street. (The cabin was relocated, presumably from a more rural location where a cabin would more likely be built.)

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April 9, 2010 · 11:02 pm

searching for that cottage up north part 2

So far, I’ve very impressed with visitupnorth.com – which I’ve been using to find a place to rent in northern Michigan this summer. Within a day of emailing the website, a very helpful woman emailed me back – asked a few more questions and prompted produced several viable ideas (both a place that rents by the week and options if we want to stay just a few days) and valuable information (like how far such-and-such a cottage is from town and a public beach).

What did we do before the Internet? Actually I know what we – or I – did. Fifteen-or-so years ago when I was first looking for a place to rent with friends in upstate New York, I called the local newspaper to see what their want-ads offered and I looked at tourism information brochures. The one place I rented came virtually sight unseen – the owner sent me some fuzzy photographs. What a change.

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