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Tags: Deal Or No Deal / Best Western Hotels / Hotel Deals / Rome Hotels / Italy Hotels / Europe Hotels / → All Tags

Best Western's European Deal is Good But Not Great

Winter citybreaks in Europe are our absolute favourite type of shopping-and-culture trips. Hotels are cheap, flights are half empty, the monuments are queue-free and the shops are full of Christmas cheer. Plus, eating loads is obligatory to stave off the demon cold.

So Best Western’s Two Day Promotion really tickled our fancy. The deal is this: 400 BW hotels in Europe and Egypt are offering rates starting at a peasly (for Europe) €49 (£43/$72) up to €79 (£70/$118) over December, January and February (most have backout days around Christmas and New Year, but other than that you have pretty much a free run at it – check the website for individual hotel details). To secure the rates, you need to book on 20 or 21 November on this link.

But then we checked out just how good a deal it was by scoping out the cost of a few days in Rome this December. And we were sorely disappointed.

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Tags: Hotel Renovations / Manhattan Hotels / Best Western Hotels / → All Tags

There Will Be a President Inside The New Best Western in NYC

Where: 234 W 48th St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10036-1424

When we received a tip that the newly renovated President Hotel in New York would be re-opening on October 5, we thought, “Huh? What is the President Hotel?” We’ve been so focused on the fancy new hotels opening in Manhattan in the coming months that we forgot about the humble little Best Western in Times Square. Only, with these new renos, the Best Western President Hotel (as it is officially known) ain’t so humble.

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Tags: Best Western Hotels / Fall Hotel Deals / Hotel Deals / → All Tags

Tick-Tock: Best Western's Themed 'Countdown to Savings' Is Back

Oh, the places you'll go...if only you weren't so indecisive. It's a big world we live in, so the question of whether to spend fall watching leaves turn on the East Coast or hop a plane to still-warm Mediterranean climates isn't so easily answered. There's a reason travelers still use the ol' "Spin the Globe" method when they're weighed down by too many options.

But when choices are narrowed for you and prices hit the $100 and less range, the question of "where" becomes less of a burden. Starting today, Best Western begins their "Countdown to Savings" promo. Starting today and running through Friday, September 18, BW is offering daily deals on select cities, each weekday themed around fall travel. Today lists 11 "Places to See Fall Colors," tomorrow will be a selection of "NFL Stadium Cities," Wednesday highlights Facebook fan chosen "'Bucket List' Must See Cities," Thursday is "Grab Bag" day, and Friday lists places with notable "Roadside Attractions."

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Tags: Pet-Friendly Hotels / Best Western Hotels / Hotel Applications / → All Tags

Best Western's New Web App Merges Your Photo With Fido's

Similar to those composite photos you get to see what your future baby will look like, Best Western's new Web app shows you what a mix of you and your dog, kitty, monkey, horse or whatever animal would look like. The Best Western Friends Forever Inseparator allows owners to merge their photos with their pets' to see if they share complementary features.

Although we adore our Lhasa apso's cutie nose and scraggly dirty-blond hair, we we'd never wondered how our photos would look superimposed on one another, and we weren't sure why Best Western would offer this novelty Web app. The chain explained:

"Best Western is known for being pet friendly and we wanted to create a fun way for pet owners, and pet travelers, to share their love for their pets,” says Troy Rutman, director of external communications for Best Western. “We hope the application will remind travelers that pets need vacations too!"

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Tags: Hotel Deals / Best Western Hotels / Hotel Promotions / Jonas Brothers / → All Tags

Score a Free Night (And Possibly Some Jonas Action) With Best Western

Everyone's gettin' in on the free-stay-this-summer action, even, evidently, the budget brands like Best Western. Got a hot road trip across the country planned? Or, um, just want to kick it Best Western style?

Right now through August 16, members of Best Western Rewards>Here's the deal: complete two separate qualifying stays at any of the 2,200 Best Western hotels in the U.S. and Canada, and you'll get a 16,000 point electronic voucher (the equivalent of a free night). You can use the voucher any night of the week, too — and you can earn up to two free nights and combine two of 'em to make a free two-night stay. Also, if you're a Best Western Rewards member, you get 250 bonus points if you book through the BW site. Check out the fine print here.

For Jonas Brothers fans, there's this: looks like the same deal is running a Jonas Brothers promo, too. You can earn your free nights and enter for a chance to win a "Jonas Rockin' Vacation" — a family vacay at a Best Western in LA, where you'll get to visit the set of JONAS and meet the dudes.

Tags: Best Western Hotels / Hotel News / Maldives Hotels / → All Tags

Who's Ready For The Best Western Madoogali?

...Because it's coming soon! It's just been announced that Best Western, they of continental breakfasts and drive-up motor lodges, will open their first Maldives property this September.

Set about 50 miles west of Male, the Maldives' capital, the island of Madoogali will be dedicated to the 56 palm-thatched chalets of the resort and spa. According to the press release, it will also include "a refined restaurant, a spa, a dive center and numerous water sport activities, including windsurfing, canoeing, kayaking, water-skiing, catamarans and pedalòs." This doesn't sound like the Best Western we know.

While no estimated room rates have been released, we doubt that they'll be anything near the $700+ a night of the W Maldives Retreat. For those dreaming of a relatively affordable Maldives vacation, the Best Western could be a great option. Or, how about all of us Maldives-fanatics put our money together to buy a little island for ourselves? Neighboring Dhinnolhufinolhu looks promising, but then we'd have to write that on our envelopes all the time.

[Madoogali photo: IsoleMaldive]

Tags: Hotel Contests / Best Western Hotels / → All Tags

Best Western Wants Your Awkward Family Vacation Photos

You don’t have to read “Travels With Charley” or “On the Road” — or any other classic road trip screed — to know that road trips have, well, evolved a bit over the past few decades. Steinbeck’s poodle companion, Charley, has been replaced with the stern, robotic voice on your GPS, while time-consuming mix tapes have all-too-often gone the way of satellite radio.

That's why Best Western and AAA are cranking back time to give one family a summer road trip that bridges retro nostalgia and modern convenience. The winner of their “Retro to Now Road Trip Contest” will win a trip that starts with an “old-school car, paper maps, and car games, as well as other familiar supplies of yesteryear.” Halfway through, though, they’ll fast-forward, well, back to the future with a modern vehicle, GPS device, and DVD players.

To enter the contest, all you have to do is email a photo of you and your family on a favorite road trip to roadtrip@bestwestern.com by 11:59 p.m. EDT May 31. Ten finalists will be chosen and posted at Bestwestern.com/roadtrip, where you can vote for your fave photo until the end of the day June 12. The family with the most votes wins a road trip for four to take place Aug. 1 to 7. Trip includes airfare, transportation, hotel accommodations, and $1,000 in travel money.

Tags: Best Western Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Technology / → All Tags

We Will Never, Ever Search Aimlessly For a Budget Hotel Again

Just as budget-y chains have kicked the whole launching-iPhone-apps thing into gear (holla back, Choice Hotels and Travelodge), Best Western has answered back with a brand new techie-friendly program to ensure you are never wandering around lost, looking for accommodations at a budget hotel. Find yourself in an unfamiliar Midwestern city off the Interstate? Consult your iPhone to find the closest Choice property! Barreling down the highway on a long-distance road trip? Check the ol' GPS device and find yourself a Best Western!

Yes, Best Western has, officially, become the first hotel company to make all of its North American and Caribbean hotel locations available for download to GPS devices. According to a press release:

Through bestwestern.com and POIfriend.com, users can download an official listing of all North American and Caribbean Best Western hotel locations to the majority of GPS-enabled navigation devices. "Customers will no longer have to rely solely on the pre-loaded data on their GPS devices," added Gaffney. "This will place the most current Best Western information at their fingertips."

And so, friends, you will never, ever find yourself in any area — ever — without having a way to find some budget accommodations. Well, so long as you have an iPhone and/or a GPS-enabled device. Er, make that a charged iPhone and/or a GPS-enabled device.

The future is now, people.

Tags: Killer View / Manhattan Hotels / Best Western Hotels / → All Tags

The Beauty Of a Hotel View Is In the Eye Of the Beholder

Where: 234 W 48th Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10036

We are suckers for a room with a killer view.  We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.

You know what? The world is full of people complaining. And mean people. And swine flu. And sadness. And, unfortunately, bad hotel views.

However. Let's all take a minute and polish our attitudes and remember that when it comes to hotel room views, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Right?

Take, for instance, a Manhattan hotel view — and we all know that big city views have the most dangerous potential to go from possibly-killer to impossibly-anti-view due to the crowding of buildings and whatnot — such as this one. This is a shot by Kevin H., who, instead of posting a complain-y caption of his Best Western President hotel view (which, by most standards, would be a certified anti-view), but he captioned it:

View from the window of my room at the Best Western President hotel in New York City's theater district. It made me think of an Edward Hopper painting.

Look at that. A little positivity in such a negative world. A little more positivity: rates here start at only $110 for some dates in May. Hooray!

[Photo: Kevin H.]

Tags: Hotel Deals / Best Western Hotels / → All Tags

Best Western is Dishing Out $50 Gift Cards to Guests

Best Westerns were budget cool long before the recession kicked in. But if you're still on the fence about staying at a Best Western, the hotel chain is offering guests $50 gift cards for those who stay two nights between April 6 and June 14, 2009.

You must register for the promotion at www.bestwestern.com/jump and you need to be a Best Western Rewards member to qualify. No fear, it's easy to sign up and join. Once you do, you can earn 250 bonus points, up to a total of 500 points, each time you book your hotel online.

The Best Western Travel card can be redeemed at any of the 4,000 Best Western hotels worldwide on your next vacation. Of course, not all Best Westerns are created equal. Some are...shall we say...more pleasant than others. Like the Best Western Columbia River Inn which has a killer view of the river. Or the Best Western in Carmel which is within walking distance to all the shops in this coastal California town. However all BW hotels are equal when it comes to free WiFi. Amen to that!

Tags: Brooklyn Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Construction / Budget Hotels / New York City Hotels / Best Western Hotels / Hyatt Place / → All Tags

No Sleep Til There Are More Budget Hotels in Brooklyn

We know NYC room rates are dropping. But when you really want to do up the Big Apple on a budget, we've been telling you to take a second look at Brooklyn. We consider ourselves sorta like Brooklyn cheerleaders here at HC; we've already profiled the Five Best Hotels for Those Willing to Go to Brooklyn — and we're happy to tell you over and over just how easy it is to hop on a subway to roll a few stops into Manhattan. Heck, we promise you: it's even easy to hail a 2 a.m. cab back to the ol' BK after you've indulged in a few too many swanky Manhattan hotel cocktails. Really!

And apparently The Borough of Trees is really hoping we do our Brooklyn cheerleading job well: they're adding even more hotel rooms out there. The Daily Eagle is reporting that a Hyatt Place Hotel and a Best Western are on their way to Downtown Brooklyn.

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Tags: Best Western Hotels / Hotel Promotions / → All Tags

Best Western Offering Ten Hours of Savings This Week

Last month Best Western Hotels offered their countdown to savings deals with extra-low rates on particular hotels, with the special bookings possible for a two-hour window each day for a week. Apparently because this promotion was so successful (or their hotels are still so empty), just one month later they're repeating the whole thing again.

Starting today, there'll be rates like $43 a night for Las Vegas, $80 for LA and $125 for New York. Like last time, the cities offered each day will be grouped by a theme: today is spring break, Tuesday is walker-friendly cities, Wednesday is family-friendly day, Thursday is for sports fans and Friday is family friendly packages including tickets to local attractions.

You can click over to Countdown to Savings from 12:00pm EST today to find out what exactly the deals are; Best Western promises on this website that "it WILL be worth the wait" so let's see if that rings true when the deals start selling.