Route 66 Review - Hotels

Along the way I have stayed in 13 different hotels. To some extent I have been man in a suitcase - this final stop is the first time I have stayed for more than 2 nights (3!) and 6 of them were just for a night.

Overall, the standard has been fairly good. However, the hotels have been variable. In some ways, this is more noticeable as I purchased the trip as a package. If you had arranged the trip yourself, you would expect something different from a $50 hotel than a $200 hotel. However, as it was just one payment, a lower quality hotel can sometimes come as a little bit of a surprise!

Across the hotels, all except one had free wi-fi (the first hotel) and all except two coffee making facilities (the first hotel again, plus Vegas). I have only had to pay for parking at three hotels (St Louis, Oklahoma City & Santa Monica - I didn't have the car in Chicago) - charges were reasonable apart from here in Santa Monica!

Stars in terms of the hotels are Drury Plaza Hotel at the Arch in St Louis (lots of "free" things - breakfast, happy hour drinks, popcorn etc and a good location, large room and, although it did not have an outside window, it at least positioned the "window" where no-one would walk by), Colcord Hotel in Oklahoma City (very nice room, good location but bizarre parking in a half-deserted building across the road) and the Inn of the Governors in Santa Fe (free breakfast, great location, free parking). The Holiday Inn I am in now in Santa Monica is also a very nice room (possibly the best) but the parking is extortionate! [UPDATE: The Holiday Inn very kindly waived the parking fees for me which has certainly moved them up in my estimation!]

I should also make a mention of the Holiday Inn Express at the Grand Canyon who, despite having a full hotel and my booking having been put in for July not June, managed to sort it out easily. This also had an unexpected included breakfast which was a bonus!

Two of the hotels were in Casinos (Monte Carlo in Las Vegas and Route 66 Casino Hotel "in" Albuquerque) which was slightly odd to have a huge casino floor downstairs. I played a dollar on the slot machines at each, and managed to win back my dollar in each case which meant I broke even (no 2p machines to play unfortunately). (For the rate the Route 66 hotel was quite nice, but it was 15 miles from Albuquerque and therefore not the most convenient to use).

A few were traditional Route 66 hotels, including the Hotel Safari in Tucumcari which had tried well to update the rooms to modern standards whilst keeping the historic perspectives.

What is possibly the most remarkable is that 12 changes of hotel so far and I have not forgotten anything in my packing and unpacking (yet!)