Hotels & motels
Mom-and-pop motels of Grand Marais
Cheapskates love 'em, but so do traditionalists and anyone who just needs a room.
In summer, when the cities start to sizzle, a lot of people suddenly realize they’d rather be in Grand Marais.
This village on Minnesota’s North Shore is awash in Lake Superior’s cool breezes, and it has everything else a tourist could want – restaurants, shops, galleries, nightlife and scenery.
But it doesn’t always have enough room for all of the escapees, especially on festival weekends.
Inn retreats
If you don't like the weather, spend a weekend where everything is under one roof.
In winter, not everyone wants to get out and enjoy the great outdoors.
Many people would rather enjoy down comforters, hot toddies and a massage. Many people don't even want to look at snow and ice.
And that's possible at many inns and resorts. Some include a spa or dinner theater, others shops and restaurants, and a few
offer a whole weekend's worth of entertainment under one roof.
Where to stay in Door County
This tourist playground has a dizzying array of resorts, cottages, motels and inns — everything but chains.
If you think it’s expensive to stay in Wisconsin's Door County, you haven’t looked very hard.
In June, rates can be almost ludicrously low, cheaper than a Super 8. And even on weekends in July and August, it’s not hard to find a nice place for less than $100.
The Door Peninsula's breezy beaches are the place to be when the rest of the region is sweltering. During one early June heat wave, temperatures there were 20 to 40 degrees lower, and lodging rates were low, too — I paid $147.50 not for one night at a motel, but for three.
Perry's palace
In central Iowa, a gorgeous Arts and Crafts boutique hotel gets a second life.
In 1997, a small-town damsel who married a prince — well, an heir — waved a silver wand over her hometown of Perry, Iowa, and unusual things began to happen.
She took the Hotel Pattee, a dowdy brick building on the brink of demolition, and
filled it with terra-cotta tile, Persian rugs and so much Honduran mahogany she cornered the market for it. Artists moved in
and painted murals and whimsical folk-art lamps, bedsteads and armoires.
Decorators went to work on the Arts and Crafts lobby and library, a railroad dining-car restaurant and 40 theme rooms and suites that honor everyone from Louis Armstrong to the creator of the "Alley Oop’’ comic strip.
Great mom-and-pop motels
The good ones are homey, hospitable and inexpensive, the best values in lodging. But they're disappearing fast.
In Bayfield, the Seagull Bay Motel is a throwback to bygone days.
The roadside motel was built in 1957, and it hasn't kept up with the times — there's no fitness room, no hot tub, no spa services, no designer decor. Modern developers consider it a tear-down, says owner Mike Goodier.
Strange, then, that so many people want to stay there.
Happy deals
For rock-bottom hotel rates, learn how to use Priceline.
When reserving a hotel room, there are deals, and then there’s Priceline.
Five years ago, I tried the on-line bidding service, which has a big catch: You don’t know what hotel you’ve
reserved until you’ve paid for the room. We got a hotel in Miami’s South Beach that had a decent location but was
noisy, had an unfriendly staff and charged an extra "resort fee.''
After that, I’d had it with Priceline – until friends made me reconsider.
© Beth Gauper, 2007 - 2012 all rights reserved
