New Series: Laudable Lodging
Dorothy was wrong–there are a great many places like home, and even more that are better than home.
I own more half-empty bottles of tiny shampoo than I care to count. I am confused at home in the middle of the night, when the bathroom is down the hall. I have an outside zippered pocked on my purse that I reserve for one thing and one thing only: the storage of hotel room key cards. During the month of August, I threw a hotel room key card in the garbage can of the next hotel room nine times. In the month of September, I did the same seven times.
September was a slow month.
Clearly, I spend a lot of time living in places that are not my home (my dogs remain displeased). Thus, I feel it is time for a new series here on The Suitcase Scholar. Enter–Laudable Lodging.
What is Laudable Lodging?
It’s kind of like Informed Edibles–but for hotels, motels, inns, and other various places-to-rest-your-head. Laudable Lodging posts will highlight hotel (and motel and B&B and inn) properties. And, much like Informed Edibles, Laudable Lodging posts will be super-obsessively organized. All Laudable Lodging posts will include information organized into each of the following categories:
Laudable Lodging Categories
Location: When it comes down to it, a hotel room is real estate. And you know the three keys to real estate–location, location, and location. Thus, all Laudable Lodging posts featured on The Suitcase Scholar will first describe the location of said lodging. However…
Purpose of Visit: Of course, a good location is dependent upon one other extremely important variable–why you are visiting the area in the first place. Staying in mid-town Manhattan is great if you are planning on, oh I don’t know, eating overpriced food and seeing a show or if you, like me, are extending a trip beginning or ending at Grand Central Terminal. A remote resort property in the mountains of Virginia may be ideal if your goal is to unplug and stare at mountains. Thus, all Laudable Lodging posts will place lodging in the context of the trip and in doing so, explain why said property is ideal for a specific goal.
Value-Added: I don’t do budget travel–I’m all about value. Value means that you get exactly what you paid for–and a little bit more. Would I spend a little more to stay in a historic inn owned by interesting innkeepers? Yes. Am I thrilled to spend less for a tiny room in a great location if on a solo trip? Of course. All other things being equal, would I select a hotel with a great view, or an art gallery, or a fabulous on-site restaurant? Clearly. Thus, all Laudable Lodging properties will feature some sort of value-added benefit.
Stay tuned for the very first Laudable Lodging post, featuring The Belvedere Beach Resort in Virginia Beach (swiftly followed by the second Laudable Lodging post, featuring The Hotel Felix in Chicago. And then another one on Starved Rock Lodge, Starved Rock State Park, Illinois. I told you I stay in a lot of hotels!)