Some might wonder how I figure out lodging. Or maybe no one does. It could be I’m writing this for myself. Who knows?!

If we are staying in a city that has a walled in area, or a formerly walled in area, I usually choose to stay in or near that. I do read up on places, both online and in various travel books (like Rick Steves). If there is a part of the city (or village) that has narrow alleys and streets I tend to enjoy staying there. I also look to see which streets are larger and busier: I don’t want those if I can help it! In big metropolitan cities I check to see if we are doing anything that might require night walking (as we did in Paris) and find a place that would allow for that. And sometimes I want to be a bit closer to the train station, as long as it’s close to the part of the city or village we want to see and is not too unsafe. I always book places that allow for cancelations, even while knowing I have to pay more then. (One of these trips I’d love to truly wing it and not book a thing, but I have a feeling my better half wouldn’t want to chance that!) Oh, and I also rarely, if ever, pay for breakfast. We just don’t need to eat that much! Sometimes a place will come with breakfast, and then we have no problem indulging.

Here is a list of where we stayed for this trip, and I’ll repost a few photos —

Heidelberg: For this it was an easy choice! We stayed with Greg and Jan. It was a great location and, well, we even got some nice meals at their place! Plus they are such fun to be with.

Riquewihr: This spot was Greg’s doing, so I didn’t have to look. We stayed at Gite Riquewihr “C’est Beau la Vie Alsace”. It was in a fabulous location. We could walk in a couple minutes time and get to the center of things. Our place for three nights was above the owners. We had two bedrooms, two baths, and a kitchen.

Nürnberg: I wanted to stay within the old walled in part of the city: Dan and I had passed through on our way to Bayreuth some years back, and I loved that area. The trouble was that we were going during a very popular time of year. They are known for their Christmas Market, and so many of the hotels didn’t allow for cancelations. Although I dn’t care to stay in an American chain, we ended up at the Holiday Inn Nürnberg City Centre. It really was a convenient location: inside the wall, but not near the crowds, and walking distance to the train station. And it was a nice place. I still would have preferred something other, but so it goes.

München: (Yes, I like to try and use the name of the city as those who live there would. I’m goofy that way, I guess.) Again, Greg chose this place, We stayed at Hilton Munich City. The location was nice. Not in the middle of the crowds, so quiet, but walking distance to a number of areas. It used to be close to the concert hall, and perhaps will be so again after renovations, but it turned out our concert was a cab drive away. Our room was very nice, but it was funny: Greg & Jan’s room had a good coffee machine. Ours did not. Greg is much higher up on the “Hilton chain” so maybe that’s why …? (And I forgot to take photos, I guess!)

Paris: For this we wanted to be walking distance to the opera house. I would have liked to find something less costly, but Paris is … well … Paris! We ended up at the Hotel St. Petersbourg Opera & Spa. The spa bit is wasted on us since we aren’t spa people. This is the place that had a small bar and had the worst cocktails ever. But I’ll let that go. Unless they ask me. The room was fine, and typically small. The one funny thing was that the toilet was in its own space and one had to walk across the room to a sink. But we managed.

Montpellier: We were quite near the Place de la Comédie, but not RIGHT in it, which would have been noisy. I thought the location of Hotel d”Aragon was great. Rooms were a bit odd, with the carpet that looked like wood. But it was totally fine. We were up one flight of stairs and there was no elevator, but we managed.

Zaragoza: Not an American chain, but a chain nonetheless, we stayed at Catalonia El Pilar. It was a good location, the room was nice, we had a good view outside our window, and it was quiet.

Madrid: We opted to stay off of busy streets, even while Rick Steves recommended some. He just advised that we ask for a higher floor on those streets. But while he might ask for a higher floor and get it, we weren’t so certain we would. So I found a place very close to the opera house (even though we weren’t going to an opera), and it looked interesting. The Hotel Meninas was really in a nice location, and it was quiet most of the time.

Manhattan: And now for the smallest and most expensive room on our trip. The only place to open luggage was on the bed, the closet could only hold Dan’s clothes, and the bathroom door ran into the bed! The room had no coffee machine, but did come with $10 for each of us each day for coffee and pastry at a bakery connected to the hotel. I think, though, it might be our last stay at the Hotel Belleclaire. It’s in a great location for getting up to The Bronx, but it’s just so very costly. (And yes, I forgot to take a photo. I think I was just so shocked by the size of the room.)

So there you go … all the places we stayed. Over ‘n out.