With staycations all the rage these days, we've decided to take a look at some of the best places in the U.S. for quick, close-to-home trips. Up first is Carmel-by-the-Sea, a small yet upscale town on the Monterey Peninsula. Known for its devotion to the arts and its celeb residents (Clint Eastwood was once mayor here), Carmel is also home to small hotels and inns galore. Enjoy.
While the sweeping scenery of the Monterey Peninsula with its rocky coastline and cypress trees is not to be missed on a visit to Carmel nor is the historic mission, there is a lot of action in the middle of town.
"Town" begins at Junipero Avenue with the main thoroughfare being Ocean Avenue. Here you can pop in and out of touristy shops, high-end fashion boutiques, expensive jewelry stores and pricey art galleries alike.
With this cachet of stores on hand in Carmel, you may want to save your pennies for some pretty things instead of forking over hundreds of dollars just for a room with a view.
Thus if you care more about being within walking distance to the action instead of snuggling up in luxury sheets, the The Best Western Carmel Bay View Inn might be for you. Just keep in mind, that it's still a Best Western.
Yesterday a news report said that the computer reservations system for Best Western Europe had been hacked and detailed guest information had been sold to the Russian mob.
While many guests probably had a sleepless night worrying that someone named Vlad or Tatiana was going to take over their lives, Best Western today issued a statement that the initial hacking report is "largely erroneous."
We can confirm that on August 21, 2008, three separate attempts were made via a single log-on ID to access the same data from a single hotel. The hotel in question is the 107-room Best Western Hotel am Schloss Kopenick in Berlin, Germany, where a Trojan horse virus was detected by the hotel's anti-virus software. The compromised log-in ID permitted access to reservations data for that property only. The log-in ID was immediately terminated, and the computer in question has been removed from use.
We can also confirm that we have been able to narrow down the number of customers affected by this breach to ten. We are currently contacting those customers and offering assistance as needed.
The statement from BW also said that the computer reservations system purges data from guests seven days after departure. This is definitely reassuring but does this mean they don't keep our pillow preferences on file?
In a truly bizarre turn for the hotel industry, the European Best Western reservations database was hacked last week. Information on former and future guests for the last year was stolen, including names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card information, and even places of employment. Ack!
The Jason Bourne-like heist involved a hack using an employee account login which siphoned the data. The data was then sold on a underground website operated by the Russian mafia.
Some are saying it's the greatest cyber-heist in world history which could affect up to 8 million people in several different ways.
After finding that the Best Western Madrid does pretty well in the WiFi stakes, we weren't surprised to discover that the same chain is advertising good access in Dublin, too. The Best Western Academy Plaza Hotel in central Dublin boasts free WiFi throughout the hotel; they emphasize that this is throughout the property, including guest bedrooms.
We've been hunting for feedback, but haven't yet heard from anyone who's used the WiFi service. There is also an internet service in guest rooms if you don't have a laptop, and it seems to operate via the television set--one recent guest complained that their room didn't have a remote control for the TV and it had to be operated using the attached keyboard. Really?
Another guest complained this internet access was almost impossible to navigate and they went downstairs to use the computer provided in the lobby instead. Still, connectivity sounds good and if you're prepared with your own equipment, the Academy Plaza is keen to get you wirelessly online for free.
We had to wonder, after spotting a Best Western in the bohemian section of Seville, and writing about this stylish Best Western off the coast of Ipanema, is the budget-friendly hotel chain aiming to attract a hipper market? We checked in with the franchiser to find out and, as it turns out, we were kinda right.
Though the company says it is difficult to describe a typical client, given that both business and leisure travelers are "looking for value," our source noted that the chain is increasingly serving guests in their 20s and 30s, a likely result of the past year's online marketing campaign focused on Gen X and Gen Y travelers.
Quick looks at openings both recent (Tokyo) and forward-looking (Thailand, Philippines) also show a migration toward the younger and typically more adventurous traveler. Here in the U.S., Best Western is targeting expansion in markets like New York, San Francisco and San Antonio.
The younger-eschewing marketing efforts continue this month, as the company rolls out a contest aimed at those of us who rocked big hair and Members Only jackets in the 80s. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the chain's loyalty program, the Water Cooler Contest awards $50,000 and more than a million program points to one winner, according to our source.
Full details aren't yet available, but we found a sneak peek on YouTube. Watch the video above to find out more.
Good hotel WiFi isn't always found where you'd expect. In relaxed Spain, our expectations aren't too high, but at the Best Western Arosa in Madrid, they're very proud of offering free wireless internet access throughout the entire hotel.
Judging by some recent guest reviews, the Best Western Arosa has only one major drawback--it's quite noisy, and you can hear other guests, the street, and even some bathroom noises. But everything else is pretty much okay, with a good central location, good service and some recently-updated rooms, and the price is reasonable too, averaging under $200 a night. Curiously, they also have 16 Japanese-style rooms, which complement their well-regarded Japanese restaurant.
But beyond the normal hotel basics, quite a few people have been enthusiastic about the free WiFi service. The hotel itself advertises it multiple times on its website and previous guests suggest that alone is a good enough reason to pick the Arosa. And unlike the Japanese instructions in Hiroshima, this Japanese-themed Spanish hotel doesn't seem to make it too hard for guest to get online.
We're pretty sure the Best Western Playa Suites in Acapulco, Mexico won't be keen on hosting Spring Breakers again.
Several Spring Breakers from the University of New Hampshire and Penn State were staying at the hotel when it caught fire early Monday morning.
The students had booked the trip through StudentCity.com and several had just arrived only a few hours before the fire broke out.
One senior from Bedford said she and her friends ran down 12 flights of stairs after their suite began to fill with smoke.
They stood outside in their pajamas and watched the smoke climb, unable to collect their belongings until many hours later, said the student, Ashley Herrin, 22.
"I was stranded with no money, no shoes, no passport in Mexico, with nowhere to go. It was just miserable," she said.
The hotel had recently passed a fire inspection but several students said they never heard any smoke or fire alarms. Fortunately, no one was injured and some students were able to enter last night to retrieve their belongings. The hotel hasn't updated their website but we are sure they won't be taking any guests anytime soon.
We're all for finding hotels that are easily accessible by train. Heck, we even run a special feature on hotels that are near train stations in Europe. But there's an important remark that we should include in these criteria: near a train station is good, directly next to a noisy train track is bad.
Apparently that's what happens at the Best Western Executive Inn Midvale near Salt Lake City. Not only have we come across this anti-view from one of the guest rooms at this Best Western, we can also confirm from guest reviews that there are multiple rooms that have the train tracks running outside. As anti-view provider peterhoneyman puts it:
how convenient to have a train running right by the hotel -- no alarm clock necessary.
That's definitely looking at the bright side ... or should we say it's looking trackside?
While the sweeping scenery of the Monterey Peninsula with its rocky coastline and cypress trees is not to be missed on a visit to Carmel nor is the historic mission, there is a lot of action in the middle of town. 
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by juliana
We're pretty sure the 
