City Hotels
Beyond the norm
Of course, there are countless places to stay in the big cities across the USA. On this page we want to share a few hotels that we liked particularly well during our travels. These hotels are exceptional for us for a variety of reasons. The order is not a rating but rather random.
Palmer House
17 E Monroe St, Chicago, IL 60603
HOMEPAGE
Description: The Palmer House is a well-known and historic hotel in Chicago. The first Palmer House was built by Potter Palmer for his bride Bertha Honoré as a wedding gift. During the "Great Chicago Fire" just 13 days after it opened, it burned to the ground on October 9, 1871. The hotel reopened its doors in 1875 and subsequently hosted many famous personalities. In 1945, Conrad Hilton purchased the hotel for $20 million and since then it has been known as The Palmer House Hilton. Between 2007 and 2009, the hotel was renovated and restored at a cost of over $170 million. The hotel has 1639 rooms and is one of the largest hotels in Chicago. The Palmer House was the first hotel to have elevators, electric light bulbs and telephones in the guest rooms. Well, and then the brownie was invented here.
Our rating: The hotel is centrally located in downtown Chicago between E Monroe Street and S Wabash Avenue, just steps from Millennium Park and Cloud Gate. Many other attractions were within walking distance.
We stayed at the hotel for three nights and felt very comfortable. Not only the beautiful hotel, but also very nice, helpful and courteous staff made our stay special.
Breakfast: No breakfast included in the room rate. But there is a restaurant where breakfast is offered.
But: Those who participate in the Hilton Honor Program and have at least Diamond status can have breakfast here in the Executive Lounge for free. In the afternoon there is also a small meal and free drinks.
Our visit: Three nights in May 2017
Description: Before the huge casinos that line the Las Vegas Strip today, there were classics like the Plaza that established Las Vegas as a city of glitz, glamour and gambling. The Plaza on Main Street is a historic landmark of Downtown Las Vegas. The Plaza Hotel & Casino is also the gateway to the famous Fremont Street Experience. When the Plaza opened its doors in 1971, it was the largest hotel and casino in the world with over 500 rooms.
Breakfast: No breakfast included in the room rate. However, there are several restaurants where breakfast is offered.
Our rating: In June 2023, we arrived just in time for the reopening of the Caroussel Bar and other renovations that have been made to the hotel. We stayed in a Luxe room, which was completely renovated a few years ago. Even though the hotel is a bit outdated, we liked it here a lot. The walk from the parking garage to the front desk and to the rooms is not as far as you are used to in the huge strip hotels. Our room was huge and was off Fremont Street. So we didn't notice any of the noise from the street. We liked the great location right in the middle of the action. We would definitely stay here again.
Our visit: Two nights in June 2023
Description: In the greater Los Angeles area there are endless possibilities to stay overnight. We discovered the Motel Sakura on our 2023 road trip because it had very good reviews and, unlike many other hotels, a very good price. The hotel is located in Glendale, very conveniently right at the intersection of two major highways. There are also lots of restaurants nearby and also a huge mall. Many of the attractions in the northern part of the city are very easy to get to from here.
Breakfast: No breakfast included in the room rate. However, there are several restaurants where breakfast is offered.
Our rating: The hotel is small and has a courtyard where you can park your car. The parking is included in the room rate. The rooms and bathroom are very large and newly renovated. There is nothing to complain about. It will be our hotel of choice for future visits to LA.
Our visit: One night in June 2023
Omni Shoreham
2500 Calvert St NW, Washington, DC 20008
HOMEPAGE
Description: The historic, and very elegant looking hotel in the north of Washington DC opened its doors in 1930. It is known mainly because since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt every 4 years the inaugural ball for the US presidents takes place in the hotels ball room.
It has always been a meeting place for all kinds of celebrities. For example, Liza Minelli made her first appearance here.
Breakfast: No breakfast included in the room rate. But there is a restaurant where breakfast is offered.
Our rating: We landed in this hotel through a travel agency offer and spent two nights here in October 2013. We didn't know anything about the history of the hotel beforehand and were very surprised when we saw the great ambience when we arrived. Such fancy hotels are not usually on our itinerary.
Even though we are a little more casual, we really liked it here. The rooms were huge and even had a walk-in closet. However, we would have gladly exchanged that for a larger bathroom.
We had breakfast in the café across the street. Here we had very delicious coffee, which is not necessarily a matter of course in the USA.
Our visit: Two nights in October 2013
Embassy Suites - Fallsview
6700 Fallsview Blvd, Niagara Falls, ON L2G 3W6, Kanada
HOMEPAGE
Description: The hotel is neither historic, nor particularly beautiful, but it is located at truly brilliant place, directly across from Canada's Niagara Falls.
If you want to have a room with Fallsview, you should definitely book it in advance. Otherwise it is very likely that everything is fully booked. There are all kinds of room categories that have different prices depending on the equipment and view of course.
Breakfast: No breakfast included in the room rate. But there is a restaurant where breakfast is offered.
Our rating: In October 2010 we were really lucky to get a room with a view of the falls without a reservation. Nowadays (2019) we would definitely recommend a reservation in advance.
We had a huge room with an anteroom. Everything was clean and up to the normal Embassy standard.
The view from the room here is simply brilliant. It really doesn't get much better than this. So if you want something special, we can only recommend an overnight stay here.
There is also a Keg Steakhouse in the hotel where you can enjoy a very tasty steak with a view of Niagara Falls.
Our visit: One night in October 2010.
Sheraton on the Falls
5875 Falls Ave, Niagara Falls, ON L2G 3K7, Kanada
HOMEPAGE
Description: The hotel is neither historic, nor particularly beautiful, but it is in a truly brilliant location, diagonally across from the American Niagara Falls.
If you want to have a room with Fallsview, you should definitely book it in advance. Otherwise it can happen very easily that everything is fully booked. There are all kinds of room categories that have different prices depending on the equipment and view of course. If you book through a portal, you should read the room descriptions very carefully, because view of the waterfall does not mean that you have a free view of two waterfalls. It only means that you have a room on the side of the hotel where the waterfalls are. How the view from one of these rooms can be you can see below on the middle photo.
Breakfast: No breakfast included in the room rate. But there is a restaurant where breakfast is offered.
Our rating: We spent two nights at the Sheraton on the Falls in October 2013.
Unfortunately, we were misled in our booking, because view of the waterfall implied something else than the view of 3/4 of the American waterfall, behind a huge cypress. The Canadian waterfall could not be seen at all. After some negotiations and an extra charge we got a room on one of the upper floors for the second night. This had then the view, which we would have expected actually with the salted room prices.
Even with a good view, we enjoyed the view from the rooms of the Embassy Suite Hotel much more, simply because the hotel is much closer to the falls.
Our visit: Three nights in October 2013
Cow Hollow Inn & Suits
2190 Lombard St, San Francisco, CA 94123
HOMEPAGE
Description: Finding hotels in San Francisco has been like looking for a needle in a haystack. Many of the hotels in the city and also those in the immediate vicinity are very very expensive and often fully booked. Especially in Lombard Street, however, there are still a few accommodations in a tolerable price range. The big advantage with this hotel, which we chose in September 2019, is the free parking. It's not uncommon to see $60/day for parking at just about all hotels in the city. We would definitely recommend booking your room here in advance.
Breakfast: The room rate does not include breakfast. However, there are several coffee shops and breakfast restaurants within walking distance.
Our rating: After a long unsuccessful search we were made aware of this hotel by our dear friend Caro. The hotel and our room was very clean and had everything you need for a pleasant stay. The location is great because many of the sights can be reached very well from here. The free parking saved quite a bit of money in what is really a very expensive city. We would definitely stay here again.
TIPP: We had read in the reviews that the rooms facing Lombard St. can be very noisy, because the street is very busy. We therefore booked a room facing the back and had no problems with noise.
Our visit: Three nights in September 2019
