hotels

Somewhere along our 4,800 mile trek across the mid and south west last month, Logan attained Genius booking status through Booking.com. (Booking.com likes people who take long road trips which require many hotel rooms.)

Because variety is part of what keeps life interesting, we set out to experience a different brand of accommodation every night of our trip.

(actually, we didn't really have this goal, but I thought it would be a fun goal, and...

turns out, we did it!)

If you're curious about our sleeping stops, here's the run down:

1. Hampton Inn near St. Louis airport in St. Louis, MO
2. Howard Johnson in Oklahoma City, OK
3. Econo Lodge in Santa Rosa, NM (I know, this one may sound sketchy, but I assure you it wasn't. It was recently remodeled, and conveniently located on historic Route 66 [insert a Route 66 infatuation emoji]. This is the first hotel I've stayed at here in the States which boasted a hard floor rather than carpeting throughout the room. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.)
4. Airbnb in Mesa, AZ
5. Best Western Premier in Tusayan, AZ right near the Grand Canyon (This was the most expensive and worst of our stays. We were sure to leave a poor review. All other hotels received top notch reviews. The massive number of tourists plus the lack of accommodation options near the Canyon seemed to be what keeps this hotel alive... not its excellent service.)
6. Comfort Inn in Page, AZ (This one had beautiful Canyon photos on the walls)
7. The Academy Hotel in Colorado Springs, CO (breakfast pictured below)
8. Days Inn in Ellis, KS (note: it can be a challenge to find a hotel in Kansas as there is hardly anything-- trees, buildings, towns, etc.-- in the State. This hotel was excellent and we recommend it next time you are in Kansas.)
9. LaQuinta Inn and Suites in Indianapolis, IN

And now, a word about hotel breakfasts, because, that's one of the funnest parts of hotels. [Did I ever tell you about the one I stayed in last year which had a pancake making machine?!] Anyway:

When I was five and we took our big trip to Washington D.C., the ultimate hotel breakfast consisted of doughnuts and Fruit Loops.

I realized midway through our recent road trip that none of the hotels we had stayed at offered Fruit Loops! Hopefully our route/stay combination is not a common one for five-year-old little girls, because that could turn out to be an ultra disappointing vacation.

 (Note: we did encounter some Fruit Loops later in the trip.)

Breakfast at The Academy Hotel, Colorado Spring's premier breakfast stop
(according to the online hotel review world)

And a general word about our hotel stays throughout the road trip:

I've spent more than a few nights in more than a few sleeping arrangements in my adult years,

and some locations have been, well, not the greatest. For example, there was that time when a cockroach climbed out of the bread basket at breakfast (okay, so that one was in another country...).

Logan's accommodation selections impressed me night after night as we pushed open door after door and surveyed our surroundings.

no smokey rooms

no stinky rooms

no dirty rooms

In fact, Logan's hotels included top quality wifi, served a variety of complimentary full breakfasts, and always contained a mini fridge to accommodate our #econoroadtrip needs. Each hotel boasted a minimum 8.5 star rating (out of 10), and was also economically priced (...except maybe the Best Western Premier near the Canyon...).

All this to say: if you're ever traveling and in need of a second opinion regarding lodging selection, I recommend you get in touch with Genius Logan :).