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

| June 23, 2009 at 8:56 AM | 0 Comments

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.

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Who's Ready For The Best Western Madoogali?

Where: Madoogali, North Ari Atoll, Maldives

| June 10, 2009 at 2:32 PM | 0 Comments

...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]

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Best Western Wants Your Awkward Family Vacation Photos

| May 13, 2009 at 9:56 AM | 1 Comment

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.

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

| May 5, 2009 at 3:30 PM | 0 Comments

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.

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

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 234 W 48th Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10036

| April 30, 2009 at 2:24 PM | 0 Comments

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.]

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Best Western is Dishing Out $50 Gift Cards to Guests

| April 6, 2009 at 4:39 PM | 0 Comments

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!

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No Sleep Til There Are More Budget Hotels in Brooklyn

| March 17, 2009 at 1:56 PM | 2 Comments

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.

more ›

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Best Western Offering Ten Hours of Savings This Week

| March 9, 2009 at 8:56 AM | 0 Comments

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.

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Rooftop UFO's That Are Neither Best Nor Western

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Husova 16, Brno, Czech Republic, 65921

| March 5, 2009 at 11:19 AM | 0 Comments

You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.

Remember that awesome Killer View we found out the window of a Best Western one time? And we were all like, "oh hey, maybe Best Westerns are a little bit more awesome than we'd originally thought they were?"

Yeah, well, go east and ye shall find a Best Western view that is neither Best nor Western, really: this is a shot out the window of what we believe to be the Best Western Premier Hotel International in Brno, Czech Republic.

Imagine AchimH's surprise when he glanced out the window to find these UFO-esque things protruding from the roof (does anyone know what these are?) — which, though UFO's are usually pretty sweet, obstructed the lovely view of the city. Based on the hotel's location, that view could have possibly included Castle Spilberk and St. Peter and Paul's Cathedrals...but, as with most cases involving UFO's, we'll never really know.

[Photo: AchimH]

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Best Western Dishing Out Double Rewards

| February 20, 2009 at 5:22 PM | 0 Comments

Happy Spring! As the snow starts to melt and the flowers start coming out, Best Western is offering double points, miles or credits for Best Western Rewards members all spring long. If you register for the promo at bestwestern.com/spring and stay at least two nights between February 15 and April 5, 2009 (and they don't even have to be consecutive nights!), you'll score twice the rewards points to be redeemed for free room nights later on. Oh, also: if you participate in the promo, you earn 250 extra points (up to 500 points) each time you book their hotel directly off the Best Western website.

But none of that will really matter if you win this: the chain is running a sweepstakes that gives entrants the chance to win 1 million Best Western Rewards points that will score you up to 125 free nights at the 4,000+ B-Dubs hotels worldwide.

And if you're not so into Best Westerns, take another look: some of them have killer views and awesome rates.

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Best Western Counts Down to Savings All Week Long

| February 9, 2009 at 11:41 AM | 0 Comments

Bedding at a budget Best Western might not scream sexy, but need we remind you that it’s a recession? And just like mac & cheese and brinner (you know, breakfast for dinner), the simpler things in life are suddenly all the rage.

This week, more than 1,200 Best Western hotels in the U.S. and Canada are rolling out some pretty tempting room rates. Today through Friday, slashed-rate travel deals will be posted on Bestwestern.com/countdown from noon to 2 p.m. EST.

We’re talking Orlando as low as $53, New York from $69, and San Diego from $90, with travel good any time this year. Prepayment is required to lock in posted rates.

Today, bargain-hunters can score deals on “popular ski destinations and resorts.” Tuesday is all about “romantic hotspots” in Napa, Savannah, and Nashville. On Wednesday, find warm weather escapes like Honolulu, San Diego, Scottsdale, and Orlando; while Thursday will feature city deals (New York, San Fran, L.A.). Rounding out the week is grab-bag Friday, with other top North American cities featured.

Of course, these Internet-only deals are based on availability, so let us know in the comments how it goes.

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A View From a Best Western That is Both "Best" and "Western"

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 735 WANAPA STREET [map], Cascade Locks, OR, United States, 97014

| December 11, 2008 at 12:56 PM | 1 Comment

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.

So, if you're anything like the victim of our last Anti-View, surely you thought you were pretty awesome when you jetted off to Amsterdam, forked over the big bucks to stay in the Sofitel that was supposed to have the gorgeous views of the canals and the garden and such, when $380+ bucks later, you ended up pulling back the shades in your fancypants hotel room to find this.

Surely you think you're a lot less awesome now that you've seen this photo, which was not only snapped in the lovely United States of America, but from the window of a Best Western. Yes. A Best Western.

Scriptingnews was shacking up at a BW in Cascade Locks, Oregon (we're pretty sure it was the Best Western Columbia River Inn) and took this shot from an iPhone.

We know. Amazing. We will not be hating on Best Westerns any more. Well, we won't be hating as much, anyway.

[Photo: Scriptingnews]