Comments on: Non-chain Travel: Looking For Local

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:06:50 +0000

One great way to find local places that aren’t chains is to do a search on Google Maps. If you want to stay, for example, near San Antonio, type in “hotels near San Antonio, TX”. You’ll see a map of San Antonio with some letters marking certain locations and some dots. The letters will almost certainly be chains and expensive hotels. The dots without letters, however, will be the cheaper places that didn’t pay for advertising on Google. Click dots in the areas you’re interested in. You’ll see at least the name of the establishment and a phone number, and possible also a website. (You can do a search for the ones that don’t have websites recorded on Google. A few will have websites, but many won’t.)

Obviously, in a big city, you’ll want to be somewhat familiar with areas so that you don’t end up in an area with motels with hourly rates or something like that. If a motel you’re interested in is located near a chain resort, check out the chain’s website for pictures of that hotel and read reviews on various sites to get an idea about the safety and “newness” of the area.

By: Zed

Zed — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:18:45 +0000

Kika, I agree with you about Expedia! Mine always says “you’ve exceeded the maximum number of infants.” Huh? I have 4 kids: 1, 3, 5, 8. How am I exceeding the max no. of infants? Weird.

As to your concern about finding B%Bs, please please please try using tripadvisor.com. They do a great job of listing fabulous B&Bs and even farm houses and stuff like that. It’s the best website for finding non-chain places, in my opinion. I think you’ll really like them. They seem to have a good following of “travel-minded” people, too, so the reviews are usually pretty thoughtful and decent.

Good luck!

By: Kika

Kika — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:57:55 +0000

I do not have much luck (or skill?) at finding deals online. Expedia often has listings but when we say we have three children the results always come back as “exceeded the maximum number of guest allowed”. What? With just three kids? This is so frustrating. I tend to book through AMA travel; yes, we end up staying in a chain but we request a family friendly place – preferably one with breakfast included – and they book for us. I wish there was an easier way to find nice B&B’s and other options.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:41:00 +0000

We love local places too! On one of our vacations in the Southwest the local chains were all full but we received an excellent recommendation for a place down the street. It turns out that it was a Navajo boarding school that was taking in travelers during school break. A fascinating experience! And we felt great giving our money to a good cause instead of a national chain.

By: Shannon M

Shannon M — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:52:24 +0000

My dad hates chains. He has always been all about finding the intersting, local, off-the-beaten-path kind of places. And since we traveled so much when I was growing up, there were lots of oppportunities for that to rub off on me:)
We “vacation” pretty close to home these days, but I still always ask around for recommendations…In a town near me I found an awesome little hamburger joint still serving 50cent little hamburgers and the kids loved sitting at the counter on swirly stools:)