Midwest & More Road Trip Discussion (Pre-departure)

[HostDave]

Right now the plan is to leave on the 22nd, but I did notice that a few hotels are booked up (or have blocked rooms) for that week. Now I know why.

[FeAudrey]

I checked a convention calendar, and the blocked rooms are more likely associated with a big trade show (Kitchen & Bath Industry Show) that is listed at 60,000 attendees April 24-26.

THAT was moved up from a later date to accommodate a G-8/NATO conference.

[MemberErik]

Host Dave,

I am not a Hilton Honors member but I have been reading that HH has recently instituted a new redemption schedule that allows for standard and premium room redemptions, apparently in many cases standard rooms are mostly unavailable now and premium rooms are well, at a premium. It seems that your 200,000 miles may not go as far as you would have imagined. I have read reports that say Hilton is in some cases claiming that any room with a king size bed is now considered a "premium" room. I hope in your case that this is simply over-dramatized hype, but comes from some pretty reliable sources.

[HostDave]

I haven't found that to be true so far. All they have done as far as I can tell is make it possible to "buy" any kind of room/suite by using more points. The standard rooms are the same number of points (15,000 to 50,000 depending on the brand.) HH doesn't have any restrictions that I have ever seen. If a room is available to the general public, you can pay for it with points. Sometimes (rarely) King rooms are more expensive anyway, so it makes sense they would charge more points for them. When you look at the reservation site and the list of available rooms, it shows the "Best Available" price, the AAA price, and the number of points you need to pay for it. Before, only the most standard rooms had a points price. The HH program is WAY more generous with awarding points than any of the others (Marriott, Hyatt, InterContinental/Holiday Inn and Best Western). I got 5,000 bonus points (some sort of promotion) for the stay in Victorville that I paid for with points, plus another 380 for the $38 I spent on food, plus a 50% bonus on that AND I got 500 bonus points from HH AMEX. Hard to beat. Also got free breakfast, two bottles of water and internet for being at the Gold level (comes with the HH AMEX.) It also counted as a night toward the next tier. With Marriott, for example, if you pay with points it is like you didn't stay at all, no credit for the night's stay and you don't earn any base points (you do gets points for any $ spent there.) The InterContinental/HI program is about the same as Marriott's, but I haven't used it yet, so I'm not 100% sure.

The BW program is the worst. They give you lots of points, but the hotels only offer smoking rooms or the worst possible rooms for free, and they block freebies when the hotel isn't empty. Plus it was a huge hassle to use the $50 reward I earned from the previous road trip. Marriott is about the same as Hilton as far as redeeming points (except you usually can't buy premium rooms), but they aren't as generous with the bonus points. I haven't stayed at Hyatt in years until the recent trip, but when I reactivated an account I last used in 1995, they dredged up points I earned way back then and put it in my new account, which is something I never expected them to do.

The change to the Hilton program is a good thing for me. I usually only use points for one-night stays because I don't care as much about the view, etc. I wouldn't use points for longer stays in the past because I want a better room. Now I can decide if I want to use points for an upgrade. Of course, I managed to charm my way into suite upgrades during the Yellowstone trip while using standard points, but I can't count on that

[MemberErik]

I tend to book with Marriott when I'm unfamiliar with the hotels in a destination, mostly because I think they have the most consistant standards of the brand name hotels. When I traveled more domestically, that is what I thought Hilton lacked was consistancy, sometimes great, often not so great. I also have a Starwood (SPG) card if I know their particular hotels and Hyatt although they are very hit and miss as in some cities they have a strong presence and great hotels and in other cities nothing at all. What this all adds up to is I have low-level elite status in a number of programs (mostly due to credit card usage) that rarely leads to much of anything upgrade-wise, but hopefully, a few free nights or additional airline mileage eventually.

I was also going to suggest Minneapolis for your itinerary, although it might be out of your way if you are heading South from Chicago, I happen to think it is a very underated city, but I was born there. An added plus you are then half way to the Black Hills of South Dakota and that has plenty of kitchy attractions and of course, Mt. Rushmore. It might be a little early for the charms of the Wisconsin Dells (a couple of hours West of Chicago).

[HostDave]

I agree about Marriott...the staff is usually very friendly also. Even the Fairfield Inns are nice and we've liked the Springhill Suites a lot (but they are always more expensive than a suite at nearby Hilton Garden Inns.) I'd never chosen Hilton before until I got the AMEX card, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm still not sure I'm all that hot to book an actual big Hilton since they are usually pretty old and dated. I have a couple in mind that have good reviews for the upcoming trip, so we'll give them a shot. We usually stay at their Garden Inns or Homewood Suites and since those are mostly new they've been great. HGIs are my favorite chain hotel now. I do always check Tripadvisor though before I book anything. That always helps me decide between a Hilton or Marriott brand in smaller towns.

We've been let down my so many Sheratons and Luxury Collection hotels that I won't consider booking them anymore. Same with Hyatt. We used to choose Hyatt all the time, but so many of them are stuck in the 80's and run down. Plus I HATE paying for internet access! I'd like to try some of Hyatt's new brands though. However, they seem to be updating their older properties now, so we've given them a shot again...the one in Palm Springs was fine, but still not as nice as the newer Hilton and Marriott brands.

Since I worked for Doubletree, I know how those are managed (poorly, on a shoe-string budget), and they don't seem to have changed much now that they are part of Hilton. We'll probably give a couple of those a shot this trip, too, if only for nostalgia purposes They're very inconsistent because they are always a take-over property. I'm not sure they even have a brand standard for the floorplans. I know that they require certain amenities to be a Doubletree (full service restaurant, room service, gift shop, stuff like that.) And I'm really good at forging the guest service log to fool the inspectors!

[HostDave]

I have posted a tentative map of the road trip, subject to revision, of course.

[FeAudrey]

Title quibble:

I dunno about the madness, but the preliminary routing doesn't look very midwestern to me.

Illinois, yeah, but Missouri was a slave-holding state -- I'd classify it as a border state, with a Southern-oriented culture. The rest of the itinerary is Southwestern.

Maybe something about the way west? Following in Walt Disney's footsteps?

[HostDave]

It's as close to midwest as we're ever gonna get

[Jocelyn]

LOL

Midwest - No

Southwest/West - Yes