Live and Learn: Hotel/Motels

Road trip from Salt Lake City, Utah to San Diego, California

We had an opportunity to make a trip to San Diego and decided we wanted to drive. It's comfortably a two day trip each way. Going to San Diego, we drove I-15 south through Utah and stayed in Mesquite Nevada, then drove on to San Diego the next day. On the return trip, we drove to Las Vegas to stay the night on the strip and then drove on to Salt Lake City the next day.

In making our plans, we used the web to reserve rooms in San Diego. The Hotel's site had pictures of the room, and pricing which helped us make the purchase right there.

Knowing we'd stop between SLC and SD we looked for hotels in Mesquite, NV. My impression at the time was that Mesquite didn't have a very good presence on the web. After what seemed a hunt, we found and emailed an Inn in Mesquite, Nevada for room pricing. Their site wasn't as convenient at the SD Hotel, and so we didn't end up making a reservation. Instead we thougt we'd look around town and see what else was available. When we got into town and looked around a little, we stopped at the Inn and when and when they quoted us the same price from the email (without being told about the email) we were so impressed with the honesty that we stayed there after all. As a jaded consumer (see my notes on Caesar's Palace) it seems honesty in America is a waning commodity. So, a plug for the Budget Inn and Suites in Mesquite, Nevada! Folks, we'll look to stay at your establishment any time we're passing through! Thanks for your excellent service and comfortable room!

Hotels and Motels

Mesquite, Nevada
Budget Inn and Suites - Family Suite (2 queen beds, 1 sofa bed, kitchette), Cost: $59.00 (per night)

Good: We got exactly what we expected. Nice desert town.

Bad: Cable TV sucked.... wow 70 channels of crap, don't subscribe to cable it's not worth the money.

San Diego, California
Days Inn - Hotel Circle

Good: Cable was better than Mesquite. Pool was nice.

Bad: (no serious complaints... we'd stay here again)

Las Vegas, Nevada
Caesars Palace (walk in), 2 twin beds, roman tower, Cost: 299.00 (per night)

Good: Incredible view, room decor, comfort.

Bad: Felt screwed... cost was excessive, and when we got the final bill, 1 night cost us $350.00.... they screwed us on a phone call and 25 bucks in tax. (This was a once in a life time experience... we'll never stay here again and suggest you don't waste your money... instead, use their free parking and just walk through... if you really want to send a message, don't spend a dime here, but stop and use the bathroom.)