That sounds like my kind of place. Traveling with 2 “adult kid” couples plus us, and we all want our own space (bed/bath) plus kitchen. Does the place have a living room or sitting room outside of the kitchen?
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I know many people hate timeshares, but we get a lot of good deals through our timeshare, buying “extra vacations” (that you pay cash for as opposed to using your timeshare time). I have almost always had places with at least 1 br and a kitchen, but I remember once we stayed in an efficiency unit in Taos NM - great location, and it was something like $39/nt over the week. We stayed one block off the strip in LV for less than $500 for a week for a 1BR. Lake Tahoe, by the water, in high ski season - week between Christmas and NY, and week of kid’s spring break - 2 BR/2BA for less than $750 (that one was a quick shuttle stop away from the ski lodge).
We did a trip to San Diego for less than $500 for 5 nights, but that place wasn’t in a great location.
Regarding VRBOs (or other places managed by property managers) it seems like leaving big tips and excess food/wine leads to little complaining, even if you don’t leave a place in perfect shape.
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When my son was at Fort Meade we stayed in a hotel with absolutely the worst breakfast ever. Yogurt and hardboiled eggs. When we used to go on wine tasting trips we usually stayed in regular B&Bs who have cutsie rooms and fancy breakfast. They were always fun. In Europe we look for boutique hotels - often those listed by Michelin (not hugely expensive ones) and they’ve been mostly great, sometimes quirky but in a good way. They’ve all had wonderful breakfasts.
The one thing I absolutely HATE is sliding doors in bathrooms and even more when they are translucent. Such a terrible idea and surprisingly common.
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This may sound dumb, but I don’t mind staying in a hotel - if I’m alone. 
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It’s rare that H and I ever go anywhere to need a hotel room just for us (he does not care to travel). I have enjoyed at least an annual work conference for decades and having a hotel room to myself is quite enjoyable! It sort of feels weird to have someone else in the room…even my husband …cause like you have no personal/individual space. No escaping the television that the other person insists on having on.
But if we DO need a place for just one night, it’s gonna be a hotel. Beyond one night and one person, likely a rental.
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If I’m staying at a place for a short period of time, hotel is almost always easier.
I have a hard time thinking about staying in a hotel room with another person who isn’t my husband or very closely related to me - an aunt I’m close to or my mom, for example (or of course my kids when they were younger). When I have traveled with a friend, I have always (well for decades anyway) had my own room/bathroom (although I do recall a time another friend came and slept in the other bed of my room for a night maybe.
If I were to travel by myself on a group trip, I think I’d have to pay the single supplement, even if I were with a friend.
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Oh no. Worst hotel breakfast. We were somewhere on the west coast. Quirky hotel. The breakfast was a loaf of bread from a grocery store with a toaster and a bowl of bananas. Nowhere to sit. We stood munching on our dry toast talking to a family from Australia doing the same!
And then when we moved older S into his apartment - the hotel had brown paper bags of an Apple and a granola bar. But at least that was during the height of Covid. The other was in 2014…
I absolutely adore the hotel waffle makers. That will influence my stay between two hotels. Bonus if they have topping available.
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I had a good laugh because that is my husband’s best breakfast ever! 
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I always want to love the big pan of scrambled eggs at a hotel breakfast (mid-range hotel) but they are largely terrible.
I’ll be waiting next in line to @ClassicMom98 for a waffle - but I only want half of the big Belgium round ones …anyone want the other half??
Something I enjoy is a hotel that has good coffee and something like cucumber water in the lobby ALL DAY.
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For some dumb reason, I especially love the hotel waffle makers that make waffles shaped like Texas. 
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I’ll take @abasket ’s other half in addition to my half!!
Ive heard of these Texas shaped ones, but I haven’t stayed in a hotel in Texas in decades. I’m quite certain it would be amazing!
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If you go to a hotel in an area with a large Latino clientele, they sometimes have tortillas and pork carnitas. Ill usually go for that instead of the powdered eggs.
Think last time, I was in Anaheim, and it was there.
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We just stayed here. Wonderful experience and Michelin rated restaurant. MS Collection: Palacete de Valdemouro | Aveiro | Official Website
Tortillas and carnitas sounds good. I never eat scrambled eggs at a hotel - they are grim. Unless you are staying at a fancier place, the free hotel breakfasts (to me) are meh.
I recently stayed in Irvine and they had that, plus a selection of Asian choices (Miso soup for breakfast anyone?) in addition to American breakfast choices.
I rented an Airbnb for a girls’ weekend (house & location were 10/10) but I didn’t find out until the day before I got there that I’d be required to drag all the garbage bags up a very steep driveway (the house was on a lake in the mountains), load them in my car and take them to a dump station. I think the owner purposely withheld that information because she was afraid it would impact who rented it. She was very apologetic about it but nonetheless, too late for me to object. There were 12 of us for 4 days - a lot of garbage and wine bottles, beer, etc. for recycling. I wasn’t thrilled, especially since I was also paying for a cleaning crew.
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Related to nothing on this thread, but apparently Harvard has the I Veritas shield (edited to correct from saying it was a big H)or whatever on their waffles. Your post reminded me of that.
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Now that was a bit of an internet rabbit hole, seeing all the shapes of “Novelty Waffles”!
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The American motel version of free breakfast is pathetic. Last summer we had an unplanned motel visit due to a flat tire situation. The breakfast was so sad. They did have the waffle but the last thirty minutes of the breakfast buffet they didn’t replenish anything. We had only been back a few weeks from an Italy holiday and the contrast was huge. The breakfasts we had in Italy were works of art.
Also why do motels buy the worst tasting variety of apples?
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They are gross. Typically the “red delicious” which are anything but.
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Due to my S’s advice, I have a Hyatt membership and credit card, and can transfer points from my Chase Sapphire to Hyatt. The two of us really adore the Hyatt system. I hate spending much money on lodging, as I can sleep anywhere. But free and occasional paid nights through Hyatt have become an enjoyable part of travel. Good breakfasts, nice beds, clean facilities, often a sofa bed separated from the other bed by a room divider, they work well for me and my offspring. But usually I’m solo.
S booked his wedding at a Hyatt property in coastal Vietnam and travelled from those accumulated points for a long while!
But they aren’t everywhere, and I try for Best Western to accrue points that sometimes have resulted in free nights. They are older, and often reasonably priced properties with some historic charm, at least in California.
Otherwise, I stay in airbnbs with my offspring and their sig. others, so we can all have separate rooms and let kids go to sleep while we stay up. I also am a home exchange member, and have really enjoyed the intimacy of that network, which is far more personal and integrated into the community.
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My son went to school in a very small remote town. Hotels for graduation were a 3 night minimum and had to be made a year in advance. I could be wrong but I thought that I informed my parents and my in-laws that if they wanted to attend, this was the deal. My dad was not doing well health wise, he passed away the following year, so my parents couldn’t make the long drive to graduation.
My in-laws on the other hand decided to attend at the last moment and stay with us in our hotel room. I booked a hotel with 2 queens so that if my daughter was able to, she could come with us.
Nope we got to stay in a hotel room with my in-laws. It was so awkward. I threw my back out the day before and so I was in horrible pain (and on painkillers).
I think about the things I’ve thought were normal or the boundaries that were crossed as something I had to put up with that my own kids would never do.
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