Reply To: Help me plan my US trip please [was Hilton or Marriott – best for US stays?]

[Tiger]

@slidey Fortunately, we have friends in SFO who have graciously invited us to stay with them. So we don’t need to book SFO hotels. But we do intend to go around the California state, where we will need the hotels. From what our friends have told us, we shall travel to Lake Tahoe, Mt Shasta, Burney Falls, McCloud Falls and Yosemite National Park. I am letting them take the lead on planning the itinerary for our time in SFO. Once I have a clear dates, I will book hotels for both families as a token of reciprocity of their kindness to let us stay with them.
Thanks for your tip on avoiding Hilton & Marriott in Vegas. We will look at other options. And going by your experience, Embassy suites in Vegas is a no go area for us. 😬

@BlairWaldorf Salad Thank you.

@dougzz99 I did mean both free and good breakfast. 😛 I just completed a home renovation project, so I am little tight on cash at the moment. Since, we will be on the road in the US for almost 50 days, I want to save wherever possible. Thanks for sharing your experiences about various brands. It certainly made me feel like I am expecting too much from US hotels.

@GuernseyGlobetrotter Thank you. It is a hard work I quite enjoy doing, planning trips for both of us. I will keep Oceana Santa Monica in mind when booking Los Angeles and nearby hotels. I honestly would have preferred IHG myself in some on these cities but I burnt my stash of IHG points which admittedly were milked from the Creation card, during our trip to Asia earlier this year. Now I am left with circa 1000 IHG One points. Unless I buy IHG points during those points sales, I don’t reckon I can run such high balances ever again without any credit card options. I would certainly have a look at The Willard in Washington as @RichardPeters and @NorthernLass suggested.