Joe just put up a good post about the compromises involved with family travel. He writes:

Compromise 6: More domestic, less international

Our final compromise cuts me the deepest. We’ve really moved towards more domestic travel, dropping from two planned international trips a year to one. We love traveling internationally and love doing it with our kids but all the little tough things add up.

Time changes usually take 2-3 days to deal with, so not only are those days affected but it really means that to make a trip feel worth it you need to spend at least a week. Language barriers are always tougher to navigate when you feel stressed and traveling with kids often creates stress! And while we love trying new foods (well, my wife does), the reality is, not having “safe” options for the kids can wear us out.

None of this even mentions the extra travel time…

Good points all, and I would guess that the more kids one has the more one would agree. A bad family vacation can feel like you’re just doing all the chores associated with kids, except it’s costing you money (or points/miles) and precious vacation days to do so. We’ve had “vacation” days like that, although my youngest is now three years old and we’re finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel of high-maintenance resource-intensive parenting.

Every family is different, but when it comes to burning points for family travel we’ve found that quick trips of a night or two give us the most bang for the buck. We pick a place within a few hours’ drive: far enough for some separation to make it feel like a trip and give us a refreshing break from routine, but close enough that we don’t feel obligated to spend a full week to justify the long drive.

It’s easy to write off exploring places which are close to home, because where’s the fun in that? People into travel (and especially those into writing about travel) prefer writing about the new, the remote, and the exotic. But I’d be willing to bet a three-hour drive will get you some place you’ve never visited but would love to go.

This is where TripAdvisor is enormously helpful. If you see a Pointbreaks hotel within spitting distance of your home, or a Category 1 Marriott or a Category 2 Hilton or whatever, look up the “things to do” list for whatever crappy town that hotel is in and for whatever crappy towns lie in between point A and point B. Odds are there will be something that your kids will think is awesome simply because it’s something they haven’t seen or done before. Given their limited life experience, they don’t care too much whether they’re seeing Niagara Falls or some creek at a minor state park. They’re happy either way.

Via TripAdvisor we found the Tryon International Equestrian Center, which blew my mind when I saw it. Not because I’m into horses (if I were, I presumably would have heard of it) but because it is a massive equestrian / entertainment complex in the middle of nowhere. How massive? Apparently it’s hosting something called the World Equestrian Games in 2018 and 500,000 people will be attending. I had no idea it existed:

My wife grew up on a farm, so she loves horses. My kids–as is the case with all kids–love animals, so they of course love horses. And it was completely free to park, walk around, and watch people practicing jumps and other cool horse tricks. A good time was had by all. 

Another example: Troyer’s Country Amish Blatz. It’s outside of Asheville on the very scenic Asheville-Charlotte route that takes you through Lake Lure and Chimney Rock. What is it? It’s just a store that sells a whole bunch of Amish food and gifts brought down from points further north. Is it a destination? No. Is it a nice waypoint on an enjoyable road trip? Yes. Does it have a bunch of chickens and alpacas in the store’s backyard that my kids can watch? You bet! Would I have ever heard of this place without looking through TripAdvisor listings? Most likely not.

Another place that is neither the Maldives nor the Hyatt Vendôme yet is still fun to visit: Greenville, SC, a mere 90 minutes from us. Oh wait–the NYT recently named it as one of 52 places its beautiful, well-educated, upper middle class readers ought to visit in 2017. Here’s what the Times had to say:

Though small, Greenville, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, may be the next major food destination, with four big openings: Husk from Sean Brock, the Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck, Jianna from Michael Kramer and the speakeasy Vault & Vator. Before feasting, enjoy the city’s many public art works along the tree-lined streets, or grab a pour over at Methodical Coffee en route to biking the 21-mile Swamp Rabbit Trail.

Hmmm, that sounds suspiciously like a place that adults might even want to visit without kids. But in any case we’ve known about Greenville for many years since we like to get out and see places near us. That little blurb doesn’t even mention the awesome park in the middle of downtown:

 There’s a whole great world out there to explore, but there’s also a smaller world closer to home that you haven’t fully seen yet. Give the crappy towns a chance and find some great places of your own before the New York Times gets there.

After reading all 58 posts on the new batch of Pointbreaks, you probably feel like you know all you need to about IHG. You probably have similar sentiments regarding Hilton, Hyatt, Starwood, Club Carlson, and Marriott and to a lesser extent Wyndham and Choice. (And to an even lesser extent: Best Western, and Red Roof Inn.) That’s certainly how I feel. But are there any travel hacking opportunities outside the big brands? Any value to be gleaned from smaller hotel chains in the United States?

I’ve been wondering about this and I haven’t found a good source of information so I decided to write about it myself. I’m writing as a researcher here, not as an expert. I’ve never stayed in any of these hotels; the point of this exercise is to find out if there’s any reason for me to consider doing so. If anybody reading this has any experience worth sharing, by all means add a comment.

Now then: let’s talk about hotels!

Drury Hotels

This is the only one of these chains I’ve mentioned before since it has a credit card issued by Commerce Bank. Brands operated by Drury include Drury Inn and Suites, Drury Inn, Drury Suites, Drury Plaza Hotel, and Pear Tree Inn. They are primarily in the Midwest and South:

This may be selection bias on my part, but the sample of Drury Hotels I looked at on TripAdvisor was very well-reviewed on TripAdvisor. One interesting thing is that a number of them do what they call a 5:30 kickback, which is basically a light dinner except for everybody, not just the elite lounge-dwellers among us. That could save you some money and hassle if you’re traveling with a group.

They have a loyalty program called the Gold Key Club which awards 10 points per dollar spent. There’s no award chart; points requirred for a free night vary from hotel to hotel. Award redemptions start at 7,500 and go at least to 30,000 (for the Drury Plaza Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk). You can also trade 25,000 miles for 5,000 miles with American or United, which is a lousy deal. There do not appear to be any status levels within the program.

For what it’s worth, the aforementioned credit card touts the following benefits:

• Best room available within the category booked
• Early check-in and late check-out privileges (when available)
• Complimentary room upgrade promotions
• Exclusive offers and bonus points

Sonesta Hotels

There’s no map available, but this chain has hotels in 21 states scattered coast to coast as well as an odd assortment of six countries (Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Egypt, and St. Maarten). Their loyalty program offers 10 points per dollars spent with redemptions starting at 17,500 and topping out at 30,000 points:

Additionally there’s currently a sale where a number of redemptions are half off, putting the lowest redemption at 10,000 points. Redemptions apparently need to be made over the phone. Old school! There are three status tiers: Member, Preferred, and Elite (See Hyatt? That’s how you name status levels), which kick in at 0, 6, and 12 nights respectively. Elite benefits include complimentary room upgrade to the next highest category (“subject to availability” of course), 50% off a suite upgrade at check-in if you’re so inclined, and complimentary club lounge access.

Possibly of interest to those of you reading this: Sonesta does status-matching. Scroll down to #4. If you end up in a place like the Royal Sonesta New Orleans, a status match could be worthwhile for a club-level room.

Red Lion / Vantage

This is a surprisingly big chain that came into existence in its current form when Red Lion bought Vantage last fall. Red Lion’s brands include Red Lion Hotel, Red Lion Inn & Suites, Hotel RL, GuestHouse, and SettleInn (“Why not settle for SettleInn?” The marketing copy writes itself!). They are strongest on the west coast and I would suggest to them that if they open up shop in the southeast they drop the name “Red Lion” since it sounds too much like Food Lion, the supermarket chain. They are strongest on the west coast:

Vantage, meanwhile, is a surprisingly large chain (and is not be confused with the VantageScore credit scoring model). Its flagship brand, America’s Best Value Inns, has over 1,000 locations nationwide. At least, that’s what Wikipedia says. They don’t offer a map or a comprehensive list of locations but a cursory look at Google Maps confirms that there’s a good number of these hotels. Other brands include Country Hearth Inn & Suites, Jameson Inn, Canada’s Best Value Inns, and Lexington Hotels & Inns.

In the poor man’s version of the Marriott / Starwood merger, both legacy chains still have their own rewards programs. Red Lion has Hello Rewards, which has no points involved but offers a free night every seven stays. Other than that there isn’t much of interest in that rewards program. Vantage, meanwhile, has the Vantage Rewards program which also has no points involved and not much in the way of rewards, which come to think of it may be why the two companies merged, though they both offer free room upgrades (“when available”). What you do get with Vantage, however, is discounts at Applebee’s and Olive Garden:

So there’s that. (You all are familiar with the famous Olive Garden review, right?)

Conclusions

Did I miss any chains worth mentioning? Overall, I’m not seeing any screaming hot deals or missed opportunities, though I think a Sonesta status match could be worthwhile given the right situation. Likewise I think a 5:30 kickback could be pretty awesome if you have kids with you and can snag a low rate on a Drury hotel. With the exception of the Drury credit card, which earns points at a 1X rate and has a middling 15,000-point sign-up bonus, there are no ways to earn points at any of these chains outside of the old-fashioned staying-at-the-hotel approach.