Travel Blog

Howard Johnson is a well known hotel chain in the United States, especially for those of us that are over the age of 40. The Howard Johnson name actually became famous from its large chain of restaurants. The original owner, Howard Deering Johnson, opened his first restaurant in Quincy, MA, not exactly a big city name, but one that became well known after a Eugene O’Neill play was moved there from Boston after the mayor of the city refused to allow it to be performed there. Many people stopped at Howard Johnson’s, loved the food, and spread the word.

After building and franchising over 400 restaurants by 1954, they opened their first motor lodge in Savannah, GA. The corporation hired designers for the project, as they wanted to make sure they had a design they could take all over the United States to be known for. Within 7 years they had 88 motor lodges in 32 states, most of them situated near one of their restaurants to help enhance the traveler’s experience.

Today, Howard Johnson Hotels are owned and operated by Wyndham Worldwide’s – Wyndham Hotel Group, which encompasses more than 7,000 hotels in 66 countries. Brands under the Wyndham Hotel Group include: Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Ramada Worldwide, Days Inn, Super 8, Wingate, Baymont Inn & Suites, Microtel Inns & Suites, Hawthorn Suites, Howard Johnson, Travelodge and Knights Inn.

Those of us who are a little older, still remember “Going to Ho Jo’s”…learn more about Howard Johnson by visiting www.hojo.com

See Also:

Wyndham Worldwide – www.wyndhamworldwide.com

Wyndham Green – A worldwide commitment to a global issue

Caesars Palace is one of the most famous hotel and casinos in the world. It not only is a world class casino, but has been home to some of history’s top entertainment events. It’s located in Las Vegas on the Strip, and is owned by Harrah’s Entertainment. It has 3,348 rooms in five towers: Augustus, Centurion, Roman, Palace, and Forum. The Forum tower features guest suites with 1,000 square feet of space.

Caesars Palace has been home to many professional boxing matches over the years. Some of the most famous matches include Sugar Ray Leonard in his first fight against Tommy Hearns, Aaron Pryor vs Alexis Arguello, Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns (the only one Hearns won), and Evander Holyfield against Riddick Bowe, which involved a parachutist landing in the ring during the fight.

The Las Vegas Resort Casino has also hosted many other events, such as Grand Prix races in 1981 and 1982. It was also where Evil Knievel tried to jump the water fountains; he didn’t make it, and ended up in a coma for 29 days. His son Robby successfully made the same jump in 1989. Wrestlemania IX was held there in 1993. And George Burns was scheduled to make his first appearance on his 100th birthday there, but unfortunately passed away two years before then, at age 98.

Caesars Palace is known as one of the top luxury hotels in the world. It fills up 85 acres of space, has 26 restaurants and cafes, a 4.5-acre Garden of the Gods pools and gardens, Qua – a world-class spa, and 240,000 square feet of premium meeting and convention space. Its 4,100-seat Colosseum, originally built for Celine Dion and her long run, has spotlighted entertainers such as Bette Midler, Cher, Elton John and Jerry Seinfeld. If all that wasn’t enough, Caesars Palace has been featured in many movies: The Electric Horseman, History of the World – Part I, Rain Man, Ocean’s Eleven, and Iron Man.

Of course, what Caesars Palace is really known for is gaming, and at more than 129,999 square feet, it has one of the largest gaming areas in the United States. It not only has thousands of slot machines, but is known for having more million dollar slot machines than any casino in the world. There’s an 8,500 square foot main poker room, as well as a 6,000 square foot tournament area, making Caesars Palace one of the only casinos in Las Vegas to offer a private tournament area.

If you’re visiting Las Vegas, even if you’re staying at another hotel or casino, one of the places you have to take time to visit is Caesar’s Palace. For more information about Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, visit them online at www.caesarspalace.com.

Marriott International, is one of the largest and most socially responsible hotel chains in the world. They comprise a type of quality and luxury that’s well known, whether you’re staying in one of their top hotels or one of what would be considered a family chain; there are no budget Marriott Hotels. Marriott International franchises and operates hotels for their owners under long-term contracts; the company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol MAR.

Who would believe that the Marriott chain actually started as a small root beer stand in 1927 by the founder, J. Willard Marriott, in Washington D.C.? That would be a misnomer, of course, but that set up the foundation for making enough money to purchase his first hotel, and the rest, as they say, is history. As of 2009, the overall organization has about 3,150 lodging properties located in the United States and 67 other countries and territories.

Marriott hotels are known not only for their style, but for what they don’t allow. They don’t allow gambling in any of their hotels, even though some of them might have a casino attached to them. They also eliminated smoking anywhere on their premises in 2006. And they’re the first hotel chain to decide that none of their restaurants will be allowed to cook with trans fats, although it’s not known whether they’ve extended that to restaurants owned by others which may be attached to their properties.

Strangely enough, the pinnacle of the Marriott chain isn’t a Marriott hotel at all. Instead, it’s their control of the Ritz-Carlton chain, of which they own 99%. They originally started with only 49% of the chain in 1983, and grabbed most of the rest in 1998. Though they franchise to other organizations under the Ritz-Carlton name, they retain rights to the name, and thus receive subsidies from any affiliating hotels.

Marriott International owns a number of timeshares and other properties throughout the world. At one point they also owned theme parks, but they sold them to the Six Flags Theme Park Corporation.

Below is a list of the properties owned by Marriott International:

Full Service Lodging -

• Marriott Hotels & Resorts
• JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts
• Renaissance Hotels & Resorts
• Marriott Conference Centers
• Ritz-Carlton
• BVLGARI Hotels & Resorts
• Renaissance ClubSport Hotel & Fitness

Select Service Lodging -

• Courtyard by Marriott
• Fairfield Inn by Marriott
• SpringHill Suites by Marriott

Extended Stay Lodging -

• Residence Inn by Marriott
• TownePlace Suites by Marriott
• Marriott ExecuStay
• Marriott Executive Apartments

Timeshare -

• Marriott Vacation Club International (MVCI)
• Horizons by Marriott Vacation Club
• Marriott Grand Residence Club

For more information about Marriott International and all of the brands under the Marriott umbrella, visit www.Marriott.com

See Also:
Marriott Rewards Program
Marriott on the Move – Bill Marriott’s Blog

Since it opened in 1993, Turning Stone Resort & Casino has not only remained the most successful casino in the state of New York, but has developed the most stunning lodging outside of the New York City area. It is owned by the Oneida Indian Nation, and was the first hotel to open in the state.

When it opened, the Hotel only had two sections. The main section, of course, was the casino. The second section was the hotel, which consisted of three levels of hotel space, along with many hospitality suites. It was designed in an interesting way with curved hallways that extend in both directions, and special rooms in the middle areas that contained things like suites, Jacuzzis, separate bathroom and shower, and patio suites. There is also a spa and massage center in the hotel. There wasn’t anything else like it in central New York, and instantly became a special vacation hideaway.

Turning Stone the casino grew in popularity because of visitors from surrounding states, mainly young adults between 18 & 21 because the casino doesn’t serve alcohol, which means they’re allowed to come to the casino and gamble, especially to play poker. This caused Turning Stone to build its Tower Hotel which, at 19 floors, is the tallest building between Syracuse and Albany. The Tower Hotel is connected to the casino, and has a great mixture of regular guest rooms, junior suites, spacious elegant suites and an exclusive, membership-only dining club on the top floor. The Tower also added a fitness center, lap pool, business center with corporate meeting rooms, and concierge services.

Deciding that wasn’t enough, Turning Stone decided it wanted a way to reach even more exclusive customers. They did so by first creating not one, but three world class golf courses, one of which now sponsors a PGA tournament every year in September, but then they added The Lodge, their first facility not attached to the Casino, but less than 100 yards walking distance.

Talk about class. The Lodge is a three-time AAA 4-Diamond award-winner featuring 95 exquisitely appointed suites, with spectacular woodland views from graceful balconies and the finest beds covered in plush Egyptian cotton linen. As quoted from their website, “Selected by Condé Nast Johansens as its “Most Excellent Resort” for the USA and Canada, The Lodge at Turning Stone Resort • Casino also is a Hospitality Design magazine award-winner for luxury hotels, Resorts & Great Hotels’ “Connoisseur’s Choice,” and one of Lodging Hospitality magazine’s “best luxury hotels”.

There are two specialty’s of the Lodge. The first are their VIP suites, which include:

• Large wrap around balcony with several sets of chairs and tables
• Four-person hot tub on large balcony
• Large living room and separate bedroom
• Pass-through marble bathroom with separate glass enclosed shower and soaking tub
• Half bathroom in living room
• Entry with wood flooring, mini-bar in milled cabinet
• Living room furnished with a couch, easy chairs, coffee and end tables, and an entertainment cabinet that includes a pull-out desk top
• Wood-and-frosted-glass French doors separate the living room and bedroom
• Wet bar

And if you don’t feel special enough after that, there’s always the Presidential Suite, which is not only 2,900 square feet, but includes:

• Two levels of lavish comfort. The lower level features a grand living space that includes two adjoining bedrooms, a marble powder room, dining area, and kitchenette. The upper level features a loft-style master suite that includes a walk-in closet and luxurious bathroom.
• Two adjoining bedrooms with king beds
• Master loft with king bed
• Six-person dining area
• Gas fireplaces in living room and bedroom
• Entertainment center and plasma-screen televisions
• Large private balcony with teak furniture and hot tub
• Wet bar stocked with stemware
• Kitchenette with stocked refrigerator and range
• Master bath with infinity whirlpool tub, “His and Hers” Swiss showers, plasma televisions, and steam room
• Butler service upon request

And, just recently, Turning Stone has added what they call The Inn, an off site hotel for guests whose budgets might be a little tighter than everyone else’s. It’s located about 2 miles from the casino, but is easily accessed by a free shuttle, and also offers a free continental breakfast.

Turning Stone Resort & Casino can compete with any resort or hotel chain in the nation, and they’re not done yet. They’re always building something, so one can only wonder what’s coming next.

Learn and search more casino destinations and discover cheap casino vacations by visiting DiscountHotels.com…Right room, right price

Holiday Inn is one of the most recognized hotel chains in the United States. It’s in over 1,300 locations, is well known for its unique internal design, and is, at present, the official hotel of Major League Baseball.

Holiday Inn hotels are usually known for their unique internal courtyard style. The rooms facing outside of the hotel aren’t any different, but the rooms on the other side usually face a large internal courtyard, which often has a pool, eating area, sometimes a restaurant, and sometimes a heated whirlpool. It promotes a community feel and is considered very family friendly and safe, because parents don’t have to worry about their children being out at the pool away from their eyesight.

The first Holiday Inn hotel opened in Memphis, TN in 1952, with the premise of having affordable places for families to stay. The intention for growing the chain was to have hotels everywhere a person would go so guests knew they would be staying in a place that not only had quality standards, but was affordable. Holiday Inn was the first hotel chain to have a rewards program, now known as Priority Club Rewards.

Holiday Inn maintained that standard until the original owner and creator, Kemmons Wilson, retired in 1979. Since that time, the Holiday Inn brand has expanded and grown into many different brands, including a foray into the luxury hotel business with the Crowne Plaza Hotels.

The Holiday Inn family of hotels all have the name Holiday Inn, which makes it easy for everyone to know they’re the same chain. The standard hotel is called Holiday Inn, which most people are familiar with if they’ve done any traveling. The rooms aren’t spectacular, but are functional and comfortable. Most of these hotels have a full restaurant and bar.

Other names in the chain are:

Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites, which is a mixture of both regular rooms and suites;
Holiday Inn Resort, which are located mainly in high tourism areas;
Holiday Inn Sunspress Resorts, which are located in resort areas;
Holiday Inn Garden Court, which are only in Europe and South Africa, and styled more for their location than the traditional Holiday Inn American style;
Holiday Inn Express, which are smaller, more compact versions of the big hotels

Holiday Inn is still a quality hotel chain, and you will always have a very comfortable stay at any of their hotels.

See Also:

Holiday Inn on Wikipedia
Holiday Inn Corporate Homepage

One of the top hotel chains in the United States, and around the world, is the Hilton brand of hotels.  Conrad Hilton founded the chain by opening his first hotel in 1919 in Texas, then started buying up more hotels.  The first hotel to have his name on it was the Dallas Hilton in 1925, which was also his company’s first high rise hotel.  He didn’t open his first hotel outside the state until 1939, with the La Posada de Albuquerque in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Hilton brand comprises of 9 different types of hotel chains, some very exclusive, others midrange with some minor special touches here and there, and some others that are closer to budget hotels.  However, even the budget hotels offer amenities that other hotel chains would be hard pressed to follow.

At the top of the chain, oddly enough, are the Waldorf Astoria brand name hotels.  These are all elegant and expensive, named and styled after the original Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City, which is also owned by Hilton.  The brand is so exclusive that there are only 20 of them around the world.  These hotels are only in vacation destinations, and some of them offer golf clubs as well as special spa accommodations.  The hotel in Saudi Arabia, for example, starts at $400 a night, has only 46 guest suites, an extra large Jacuzzi in each room, Italian furniture, intricate wall decorations, gold leaf ceilings, marble bathrooms, and private butlers for personal attention around the clock.

If that’s a bit too much for you, step down slightly to the Conrad brand name hotels, obviously named after its founder.  There are only 30 hotels of this brand around the world, a couple not yet complete, and only four in the United States.  Lobbies lined in golf plating, extra large rooms and bathrooms, and spectacular views are what these hotels are known for.

One of the fastest growing favorites in the Hilton brand are their Homewood Suites hotels.  These hotels offer kitchens and are for extended stay clients who wish to be able to fix their own meals or buy food and have a place to store it.  One of their newest hotels is in Reno, Nevada, and it was styled so as to fit within the décor of the Southwest.  As with all Hilton hotels, they offer a full breakfast with many choices.

My favorite hotel brand within the family is the Doubletree, which also offers style and luxury of a fashion.  However, their best feature is the world famous Doubletree chocolate chip cookie, which can only be purchased from this brand.  Each guest gets a warm cookie upon registration, and cookies can be bought at $10 for a can of 8.

The newest brand in the Hilton family of hotels is the Home 2 collection, which features all suites for extended time away from home.  What’s special about this hotel chain is that it calls itself 70% green, and the look and feel is definitely something different from traditional hotel room chains in both color and style.

The other brands of hotels in the chain aren’t slouches either; these are:  Embassy Suites; Hilton Garden Inn; and Hilton Grand Vacations.  Hilton also offers hotel points rewards under their Hilton Honors program, which includes upgrades and guarantees that they will have a room for you whenever needed, or will pay for your stay at a hotel of comparable luxury if you reach their platinum level.

You can’t go wrong by staying at any hotel within the Hilton family brand. Get the best deal when you book your hotel today at www.DiscountHotels.com – right room, right price.

Visit www.Hilton.com for more information about Hilton Hotels.

See Also:

Waldorf Astoria

Conrad

Homewood Suites

Doubletree

Hilton Garden Inn

Embassy Suites