Forget about finding a decent hotel room in New York City on New Year’s Eve. Unless you hit the jackpot between now and Friday night, or you are fine sharing a bed with cockroaches the size of rats, then you might consider waiting until after the ball drops in Times Square before visiting the Big Apple. By exercising patience and waiting until the week after New Year’s to travel to “The City that Never Sleeps,” you’ll be able to preserve your budget well into 2012. According to travel experts, tourists who can hold off until January 6-15, 2012, to check … Continue reading →

With parts of the country still digging out from nearly two feet of fresh snow, it’s no wonder flights to Florida are jam-packed. Why wouldn’t you want to escape to the sun, sand and surf instead of battling frozen sidewalks and brutal wind chills? Fortunately, there are places along Florida’s Gulf Coast that can accommodate even the tightest budgets. The trick to securing decent lodging this time of year without breaking the bank is to book early. According to Florida’s tourism experts, reasonable winter rates along the Sunshine State’s central Gulf Coast are available if you know where to look. … Continue reading →

Forget about toting burlap bags and recyclable water bottles to environmentally-friendly vacation spots, I talking about the basics: Do you think twice about leaving the lights on in your hotel room while you’re throwing back Cosmos during Happy Hour in the lobby? Do you spend an hour singing in the shower because you’re not paying for the water? Do you fall asleep with the television on, and then leave it on because you can’t find the remote and don’t want to get out of bed to look for it? Bottom line: How much do you really care about conserving water … Continue reading →

What does your hotel room look like when you check-out? Is the bedding crumpled on the floor? Are wet towels thrown on chairs or do you dump them in the tub? Do you leave the place looking like a pigsty and figure you’re just helping the housekeeping staff earn their pay for the day? According to a recent poll, more than 60 percent of American hotel guests pile their used towels on the bathroom floor, leave puddles near sinks and bathtubs and throw bedding and pillows around the room. Bottom line: Most guests don’t treat hotel rooms the same way … Continue reading →

I lived in a hotel near downtown Honolulu for 37 consecutive days while I looked for a place to live on the tiny salary I received upon taking a new job as a TV reporter at the CBS affiliate. The place was a dump, but the location was ideal. I was a block away from the station, which was vital given that I didn’t have a car, and less than two blocks from Ala Moana Beach. The station worked me like a dog, so I didn’t spend much time in my hotel room. Still, it would have been nice not … Continue reading →

According to ABC News, hotel rooms in the Dallas/Fort Worth area are going for upwards of $500 per night in the days leading up to Super Bowl XLV. I cannot image dropping that much money on a space I would only be using to sleep and shower in. I couldn’t pay a fraction of that price for a hotel room, and I wouldn’t, given there are much cheaper alternatives, though maybe not so much in the city hosting the Super Bowl the night before the big game. Still, if you are looking to cut down on the cost of lodgings … Continue reading →