It’s time for a staycation! I’ve been to the Civilian Hotel numerous times for drinks in two of its fabulous bars, but we wanted to stay here as well. This stylized Broadway theater district hotel plays on that strength (see bars, later). But you just feel like a hip, trendy person when you go there. When you walk into the hotel, there are 2 desks down the hall – one is for dining/bar reservations (I think) and one is for hotel check-in. It was the smallest reception desk I’ve seen in my life, but it worked perfectly well and you can leave your luggage with them there if you need as well.
With Broadway back, we had a staycation weekend in NYC. We found the Staypineapple Hotel in midtown and prices weren’t too bad for a Saturday night. It was such a cute hotel I wanted to post about it! Here’s our review: Staypinapple Hotel.
As Great Wolf Lodge newbies, we weren’t quite sure what to expect on our weekend. Yes, I did some reading, but there’s still nothing like going yourself.
A boy sad to leave Great Wolf Lodge. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
On our trip to Niagara Falls, we stayed at two different hotels. Our time was limited, and we chose one hotel in the heart of the tourist district, and one that was slightly further away. Here’s our review of both.
We were looking to raft in the Adirondacks near Lake George, and came across the Glen Lodge and Market when researching. Their rafting/lodging special was too good to pass up ($199/person for 2 nights’ lodging, breakfasts, rafting day and dinner). We came with 2 families, booking three of the lodge’s seven rooms.
The Glen Lodge in Warrensburg has seven rooms and a woodsy feel.
The rooms were all upstairs. They had plenty of space and were stocked with tables, chairs, toiletries and a hair dryer. While not fancy, it was quite comfortable and warm. One treat was Lake Champlain chocolates on the nightstand. Continue reading “Review: Glen Lodge in the Adirondacks”
When we stay in a hotel, our preference is a suite – that includes breakfast (and even better for one that includes happy hour). We really enjoy having our kids sleep in a separate area, but not necessarily next door. We often end up at the Embassy Suites in downtown Chicago (600 N. State Street). (While we sometimes get rooms to review for the blog, we paid for this one ourselves).
Recently I spent a girls’ weekend in Philadelphia with other travel writers. With six in our group, we wanted a place we could hang out, and a good location. It didn’t have to be luxurious, but it should be nice. Instead of going the hotel route, we went the rental by owner route. We hated our rental.
How can you avoid the mistakes we made when renting from an owner? Here’s how, using an in-depth review of the Perle Mesta Inn B&B in Philadelphia as our example.
One of the house perks: hanging out with the alligator skin from Thailand
How the services work
Several established companies offer room/home rentals by owner. These companies act as a listing service and do some vetting (but do not manage the properties, nor do they physically see them).
When I looked at how it works on FlipKey (disclosure: they paid for our rental), owners can create a free listing. They upload all the details and photos, and can take payment through the site. They pay FlipKey a 3% charge for each booking. Guests booking pay a 5-10% booking fee.
We’ve been very happy with our VRBO.com rentals both domestically and internationally. My friend Paige used airbnb.com extensively during her 11 month family trip around the world, and was happy with their services.
The key is to ask lots of questions. Don’t assume that the rentals are heavily vetted or inspected personally.
**This is part of a series on Philadelphia with kids. Please see all the posts in the series here, or check the bottom for individual links.**
The two times we’ve visited Philly with the kids we stayed at the Embassy Suites in Center City Philadelphia. As I mentioned in my intro Philadelphia post, our ideal hotel is one offering economical suites (so we don’t have to share the bedroom with the kids), one with a free happy hour, free breakfast and a hotel that’s convenient to the sites or public transportation. The Embassy Suites is all that in Philadelphia (and FYI – we are not receiving any compensation for posting this, and we paid full freight for our room).
The hotel is on the Ben Franklin Parkway, in close walking distance to everything we did on the trip. It’s close to the Franklin Institute (kids’ hands-on science museum), Barnes Foundation and Rodin Museum. It was walkable to Independence Mall (about 20 minutes at a good pace), the Eastern State Penitentiary (maybe 20 minutes? We stopped en route at the Rodin Museum) and if you like walking (we do), you can walk to South Philly from there too. Continue reading “Philadelphia: Embassy Suites with Kids Review”
