If there is one thing I’ve learned about airport hotels over the years it is that the shuttle to and from the airport can be a hassle. You usually stay at an airport hotel in one of two situations – you are either arriving late at night or leaving early in the morning. Waiting for a shuttle when you land is an extra step in your journey and taking a shuttle in the morning means you have to add the extra time to your morning routine. Being connected to the airport is a major advantage since you can simply walk downstairs and your in the terminal!

The hotel itself is beautiful with an excellent restaurant/bar in the lobby with actually very good food. Whether you want to grab a burger and a quick drink or a full meal this hotel actually has a restaurant worth visiting!

The service in the hotel is exceptional with a quick check-in process and lighting-fast response time to any requests. Since the hotel is brand-new everything is in perfect (and I mean perfect) condition. The rooms are a good size for an airport hotel featuring incredible desk space along with a neat little power center with four outlets and all the connections to hook your laptop into the flat-screen television in the room.

Marriott has great beds and being in a new Marriott means you get to sleep in a brand-new bed as well. There’s nothing I dislike more than going to a nice hotel only to sleep on a 20 year-old mattress. The bed at this Marriott was one of the most comfortable I’ve ever slept in at a hotel and with incredible sound-proofing I didn’t hear a single airplane the entire time I was there!

The hotel also features a brand-new gym with all the equipment you could ever need and a full selection of free-weights (something I always look for in a hotel). The gym is open 24-hours and the swimming pool is open until 11PM so you can enjoy a top-notch gym facility on your own schedule just like you were at home.

Of course the only major downside to this hotel is that it is at the airport. Downtown Montreal is one of the most incredible places in the world so if you’re going to be in the city for a while you’ll want to stay downtown. If you’re in Montreal for a short trip and need the convenience of an airport hotel this is the best one I’ve ever encountered!

As you can see from the picture below the room looks directly onto the field and yes, the windows do open so you can smell the hot dogs and peanuts!

Even if you’re not a big sports fan the hotel is in an excellent location in Toronto just a block off of Front street and a two block walk to King Street. If you don’t know Toronto very well King Street is a great place to grab a bit to eat or see a play or musical at one of the popular downtown theaters. If you haven’t been to the CN Tower there is a walkway directly to it from the Renaissance so you can gaze at the city from the clouds!

The rooms at the Renaissance are nice featuring comfortable beds, good desk space, large closets, and excellent shower heads. The service is top-notch although I would avoid ordering room service as the food quality really is nothing to write home about.

There are a few things I didn’t like about this hotel – the first being the restaurant “Arriba” located in the lobby which featured very mediocre food and an underwhelming menu. My assumption is that this restaurant is more geared towards the sports crowd that fills the dining area while a game is going on so definitely head to King Street if you want to grab a bite to eat.

My other complaint about the hotel is that the lobby shop cannot charge to your room. This is very uncommon in hotels and a bit of a hassle especially if you’ve come down to the lobby to grab a water and a granola bar only to find-out you have to go back to your room, get money, and come back down.

All and all this hotel has excellent customer service, an incredible location and comfortable rooms, as long as you don’t eat there the Renaissance is a great pick for your next trip to Toronto.

This hotel is on Bloor Street which is in the heart of the action and easy walking distance from everything you could want. Since it does get a bit chilly in Toronto it is a 5-10 minute cab ride to just about every other part of the city if you’d like to escape this upscale enclave.

The hotel itself is the original Intercontinental of which there are now two (the one next to the CN Tower used to be a Crowne Plaza). The lobby features a Martini bar as well as upscale restaurant so you can grab a bite to eat and a drink without every leaving of the hotel. If you’re like me then you want to get some fresh air and affiliate yourself with the area. Luckily the concierge has a map of local restaurants with an easy map so you can act like a local and enjoy some exception food.

The hotel rooms are very nice with bay windows and plenty of desk space and power outlets. Spacious bathrooms will make you feel right at home with shower-heads that meet the HotelCritic.org seal of approval. In my video I said the bed was comfortable as it seemed to be at first feel. After one night in the hotel I can tell you this is the only weak spot to this hotel.

While the beds do have a nice feather-top the mattress itself is quite uncomfortable so don’t expect to mirror the comfort of your bed at home. I think this has to do with the age of the hotel and hopefully they will replace the beds soon. Otherwise the room has all the amenities you need including a power-strip on the desk which is always a nice touch for the business traveler.

If you want to stay in an upscale neighborhood in Toronto without paying an upscale price the Intercontinental in Yorkville is a great pick.

Located about three minutes from the hustle and bustle of Sainte Catherine Street you can easily visit some of the best restaurants and shops Montreal has to offer. One of my favorite restaurants is called Les Trois Brasseurs which offers cheap but tasty food in a nice environment and is open late so you can grab dinner at 10PM if you get into the city late.

The rooms are immaculate and have some nice features that make you feel right at home. The clock radio features an iPod dock so you can listen to the tunes on your iPod or iPhone and the hotel offers wireless Internet access so you can do your emails in bed! There is plenty of desk space and a flat-screen TV with impressive picture-quality for a hotel television.

The bathrooms are clean and well-appointed with top of the line fixtures and great shower-heads. The rooms are big enough to accommodate a nice seating area so you have the feeling of living in a condo downtown.

My only major disappointment with this hotel was Parking. You can only valet park your car and the valet service is very very slow. In many cases I found it took between 20-30 minutes to get my car which makes this hotel difficult to stay at if you need to drive to meetings in the morning. Hopefully in the future they’ll either hire more valet’s or figure-out a way to get people their cars in a reasonable time-frame.

The hotel features two main towers both of which immediately make you feel like you have a private condo in the heart of the city. The hotel is literally ten feet from tons of great restaurants and bars along with easy access to Stanley park for a morning jog or walk.

Getting to the waterfront is an easy five-minute walk away from the hotel and you can explore downtown on foot if you’d like to venture further into the city. Daily wine tastings at a nice touch to a hotel that already offers an incredible customer experience.

There is an indoor swimming pool so you can take a swim even when it’s pouring rain outside which tends to happen quite a bit in Vancouver. Whether coming to the city for business or pleasure this hotel does an excellent job of making you feel at home which is why I stay there every time I come to Vancouver.

Prague is a beautiful city rich with history, if you are going to stay in Prague being right next to the Charles Bridge gives you instant access to both the old and new parts of town. Located only about 15 minutes from the Prague castle it is easy to get-in all the best sights the city has to offer without having to walk too far.

Hotel Biskupsky Dum is a four-star hotel, however this does not equate to a four star hotel anywhere else in the world as there are a few key amenities this hotel lacks. My main complaint about this hotel is the lack of air conditioning. In the summer Prague can be quite hot and without air conditioning it is easy for your hotel room to become an intense sauna making you want to spend your time in the much much cooler hallway on the other side of your door. I am yet to find a four-star hotel anywhere in the world where travelers come-back after a long day and have to come-back to a piping-hot sauna. This makes coming-back to your hotel a nightmare and difficult to sleep. The hotel does provide one tiny fan for the room but this isn’t enough to get the job done.

One the plus-side the hotel does have Internet access and it’s lightning fast, unfortunately the staff does not know how it works. The only instructions I could get was, “Type qwertyuiopqwe on your keyboard to access the Internet”. Luckily – if you are a bit resourceful you can find an Ethernet jack (not guarantees for all the rooms) on the side of your wall. Once connected the Internet is very fast and it is nice to have a dedicated hard-wired connection. Bring a long Ethernet cable if you don’t want to sit on the floor or ask downstairs as they have a few extra.

The television in the room is tiny and a bit difficult to watch from the bed. Most frustrating is the volume-limiter that prevents you from turning the volume past 50%. This means you have two options, use your fan and stay cool but hear nothing on the TV or watch TV and pretend you are enjoying an ancient sweat-lodge – it’s your choice but either option is far from relaxing.

The bathroom is a very nice size and everything in it worked properly. The only very odd thing about the bathroom is that if you want to have power for your room to charge your laptop, watch TV, etc. you must keep the bathroom light on. This means at night if you’d like to let anything electronic charge you have to have the bathroom light on! This is because they have a switch labeled “Central” that activates all the outlets in the room as well as the lights in the bathroom. While not a huge deal it wastes an incredible amount of electricity to keep the light on all night – you’re not paying the electricity bill but still just another thing you’ll have to get used to.

The front-desk staff is very friendly and happy to help you find your way around town. They alternate staff about twice a day and everyone I encountered was very friendly and helpful. The breakfast in the morning leaves something to be desired as you’ll have to get used to cereal with warm milk and cold-cuts or cheese to start your day.

My one final grip about the rooms is the lack of an iron. It’s hard to feel you enjoying a four-star experience when you are sweating like crazy wearing wrinkled clothes and trying as hard as you can to hear your unbelievably quiet television.

You know what they say in real estate, Location, Location, Location. Hotel Biskupsky Dum is in a great location in Prague. While definitely not a four-star hotel I’d bring this hotel down to a nice even three stars and say that if you can get a good deal on this hotel – go for it – otherwise there might be better options for the four-star traveler.

Citalys has a number of apartments available at www.citalys.com that range in price from 60 euro and up. This can offer travelers an incredible discount on staying in a city known for its wildly overpriced hotels. There are many two-star hotels in Paris that charge over 100 euro a night – which is over $150 U.S. for a 2-star hotel. If you haven’t stayed at a two-star hotel before, consider yourself lucky. I will say this, you never want to stay at a two-star hotel for $150!

I rented an apartment in the exclusive Louvre district just about a block from the museum. This is a great location about two blocks from the Seine and major Metro station. You can easily walk to the Latin Quarter or Notre-Dame or hop on a Metro and the city is at your fingertips.

Citalys makes the whole process of getting your apartment quick simple. You book an apartment on their website and then take a cab or metro to their offices when you arrive. They pay for a cab to take you to your apartment so you don’t have to waste your money on two cab rides when you arrive in Paris. I’d suggest trying to get to Citalys by metro if you can as a cab from the airport can easily cost you over 80 euro which is just about $140 U.S.!

The staff is very friendly and dedicated to making your stay in Paris enjoyable. They are very easy to get in contact with as a quick phone call always gets you a person on the other end of the line. Citalys has a very personalized feel to it which makes you feel right at home.

I paid 60 euro for a beautiful studio apartment with a nice kitchen with a stove, microwave, toaster, refrigerator, and all the dishes you need to make your meals at home. I had requested an apartment with Internet access as I plan most of my trips as I go. Unfortunately the Internet access did not work and the staff was unable to fix it. I was staying for five days and they were nice enough to give me a night free for the lack of Internet access. I was a bit surprised though that in the five days I was there they weren’t able to have it fixed. It seems like this should be one phone call to the ISP and the problem would be solved.

I can say that Citalys does go out of their way to make sure you are satisfied. When I initially told them about the Internet access they sent-over keys to another apartment. Unfortunately the other apartment was not even close to the same neighborhood and not nearly as nice (although the Internet did work there).

All and all the experience was very good and let me feel like a local living in a studio apartment just a stones throw from the Louvre and beautiful Seine river. In an area where hotels are usually over 200 euro/night paying only 60 euro for a full apartment was an incredible deal.

I would highly suggest that anyone who visits Paris take a look at Citalys and try living like a local. You’ll likely save a fortune and have all the amenities of home.

A two block walk north will land you in the middle of Leidseplein where you can hang-out at the popular Bulldog Coffee Shop or visit one of the beautiful outdoor patio bars and grab a drink. The Rijks Museum and Van Gogh Museum are only two block from the hotel so you can see the best Museums in Amsterdam easily before you have lunch! The hotel also rents bikes and motor scooters so you can easily get from one place to another without spending a fortune on cabs. Absoltely everone in Amsterdam bikes and it is by far the fastest form of transportation in the city.

The hotel rooms themselves are small but clean and well-appointed. A single halogen light sits above the bed and serves as the main room light. The bathroom is modern and very european definitely adding a tinge of elegance to the room. The closet is small and there are no drawers for your clothes so plan on living out of your suitecases while you’re here.

The bathroom features a nice big rain showerhead that would be heavenly in almost any shower except for this one. While the shower looks very nice – it is not very functional. It is just too small to really enjoy a good shower and the showerhead it too far forward causing water to rush-out onto the floor no matter how you configure things. You’ll definitely get clean but it may take some creative manuevering to get the job done.

Internet access at the hotel is wildly expensive costing 30 euro/day for business access which is about $45/day just to use the Internet! Luckily, there are a number of great cafe’s and coffee shops just a few blocks away with free Internet access.

Hotel Vondel is in a prime location in Amsterdam close to some of the best museums in the world and the hustle and bustle of the popular Leidseplein neighborhood. The hotel rooms are clean and friendly staff make you feel right at home. With the option to rent a bike or a scooter, or just lounge in the backyard and read, this hotel offers plenty of options to help you enjoy every minute you’re in Amsterdam.

So what has gone wrong with this hotel? Looking at the website you can see it is part of the LXR Resort group – don’t let this fool you, this hotel may have once been a fine resort but is certainly not anymore.

When we checked-in the person standing next to me was complaining to the front desk. He indicated that his key became demagnetized 4 times in the previous day, none of the phones in his room worked, the TV had no remote, and the bathroom door was broken. The reservation agent responded by handing him a TV remote and explaining that the cards become demagnetized often. They also apologized for the non-working bathroom door and phone but did nothing to indicate that the problem would be solved.

For the record, when checking-into a hotel this is usually a bad sign. Our agent was friendly and I asked for three keys just to be safe. She issued us a room on the 16th floor and we headed-up to our room. While the lobby of the hotel is reasonably nice and does resemble the pictures – once the elevator doors open you know this hotel is going to have quality issues.

The hallways had old faded carpets with doors featuring large brass knockers. Many of the doors had paint missing from different areas and the hallway had a strange mildew odor to it. Entering our room we were immediately struck by a strong cigarette smell. Having booked a non-smoking room I called downstairs. The reservation agent was surprised and indicated that it was a non-smoking hotel. I let her know there was an ashtray on our desk so it’s pretty unlikely this was a non-smoking room. How many hotels are non-smoking but offer ashtray’s in a room? Luckily she let us change rooms and I went downstairs to pick-up the new key.

Our next room, while not smelling of cigarette smoke was also in great need of repair. Almost none of the electrical outlets worked and some were not properly installed causing the plug to pop-out of the wall about a minute or two after being plugged-in. Our bathroom door was also broken making it impossible to close. The toilet seat also would not stay up meaning that you had to hold it up while going to the bathroom. The television was ancient with very poor picture quality and a remote that had much of the text faded off of it.

Now for some good news. The view from our room was absolutely beautiful overlooking the canal across the street and giving excellent sunset views at night.

Sorry, but that is the only positive I have about the hotel. So now for the pool and beach. You need to use a “Towel Card” in order to get a towel at the pool area. What they give you is a far cry from a towel and is instead a blue rag. This may sound like I am being overly critical, but I’m not. These were very rough thin almost shop rags that become completely soaked the second they touch water. They are also much shorter than a typical pool or beach towel meaning that the one you get will not cover you entire pool chair. You can only have one at a time so if you want two you’ll have to steal a “Towel Card” from someone else.

The “Beach Access” that the hotel prides itself on is simply a public beach located behind the hotel. It clearly states you are leaving hotel property and there is no way to get food or drink service once you are at the beach. Instead if you want a beach chair or umbrella you have to buy it from a third-party company that will charge you $20 (cash only) to use their equipment for the day. The chair I used was broken and missing the pieces in the back to adjust the height. They had replaced this with a bunch of bolts making it difficult to adjust the chair.

As for the location of the hotel you’ll need to take a $15 cab ride to get to South Beach where all the action is. This hotel is surrounded by other hotels that are being remodeled and the staff will insist that there are no restaurants or stores within walking distance. When I asked the staff about taking a cab back to Fort Lauderdale all they could tell me was that it would be expensive.

On our cab ride back to Fort Lauderdale the driver told me this hotel was monopolizing on the fact that all the hotels next to it had closed down to remodel. This was the only hotel that had decided not to remodel because they knew they could still get business as the only hotel left on the strip.

Miami Beach and South Beach are great destinations with some of the best hotels in Florida – I’d suggest taking a look at the Palms or Loews if you want to have a more enjoyable stay. To our credit we had a great trip despite all the downfalls of this hotel. It just goes to show that you really can’t judge a book by its cover.

UPDATE: I was contacted by the manager of the Miami Beach Resort and Spa who apologized for the experience that I had and gave some explination. He indicated that the hotel is going to be undergoing massive renovations so I was not catching the hotel at the best time. My best advice for travelers would be to call ahead of time and make sure you get a renovated room – you can’t beat the location, and with nice hotel rooms and a bit of sprucing-up the hotel could be very nice.

Having not visited this hotel before the renovations I can’t say how improved the hotel is – what I can say is that the quality is there. When staying at a hotel there are certain elements I look for that signify the quality and thought put into the amenities.

First for the lobby. It is very well appointed and modern featuring a huge circular carpet and trendy upscale bar area to the side of the entrance. There’s lots of outdoor seating visible through the large glass windows lining the back of the lobby. Everything is brand new and they definitely did not spare any expense in making the hotel look top notch.

The reservation staff was very friendly on check-in and let me know right-away that the hotel is part of the Hilton HHonors rewards program. As a frequent traveler I’m a big fan of Hilton HHonors as it allows you to earn hotel points as well as points on your favorite airline.

The rooms are where things really get good. First off, there is one feature in the rooms that is a first for me – large LCD HDTV being fed an actual HD signal. I’ve stayed at plenty of hotels with HDTV’s however none that I have encountered are being fed a true HD signal. As a basketball fan watching the playoffs on this TV was an absolute joy.

I’m pretty picky about beds, particularly the thread count of the sheets and pillowcases. At home I have all 600 thread count sheets and the Fort Lauderdale Grande offered a familiar feel. Brand new high-thread count duvet cover with a comfortable down comforter inside is a great addition to the cushy bed supported by a feather down top cover. The feather pillows were great and altogether this was one of the most comfortable beds I have slept in at a hotel.

Through a door towards the back was a beautiful balcony overlooking the swimming pool, canals, and adjoining yacht harbor. The balcony had two chairs and a small table making it the perfect place to have a nice breakfast and enjoy the beautiful Florida mornings. An advanced in-room coffee-maker made a mean cup or coffee or tea depending on what you prefer. The room also had an empty refrigerator which is great for travelers looking to save some money and store some snacks or breakfast food. We stocked-up on bagels and cream cheese which made for a quick and easy breakfast in the morning.

The bathroom is also well-appointed with a rain shower coming from the ceiling. This is very rare in hotel and I can’t tell you the number of Four Season and Ritz Carlton hotels that don’t have this luxurious shower option. The sink has a designer look to it and the entire bathroom is very classy and elegant – it just feels good to be in this hotel bathroom. My only critique is that there was no bath mat and instead just a bathmat towel. The shower has a frosted glass wall that doesn’t reach quite far enough leaving the bath towel completely soaked with water each time you step out of the shower. This was a definite oversight on their part as it’s a less-than-elegant experience getting out of the shower and stepping onto a soaking wet towel – but all-and-all the bathroom still gets an A-grade.

The swimming pool was fantastic and temperature perfect for swimming during the day or late at night. A variety of pool-chair options lets you relax by the pool in style. My main complaint about the pool area was the service. They oftentimes ran out of towels leaving you to dry-off with a freezing cold wet towel – yuck! The servers would only offer menus and drinks to a portion of the guests sitting by the pool. I am yet to figure-out how they decide who to serve. On day we received service right-away, the next we say outside for two hours while people all around us were offered food and drinks and we were ignored. If this hotel wants to maximize their income it would make sense to offer food and drinks to all of their guests.

The location of the hotel is on it’s own private Yacht harbor between several beautiful canals that line “millionaire row” in Fort Lauderdale. There is shuttle that goes to the beach every hour but it stops running at 6:05 so expect to take a cab back from the beach if you want to spend the day there. The beach is about a thirty minute walk if you want to make the journey on foot but the Florida heat will leave you dehydrated and exhausted once you get there so I’d suggest taking the shuttle or a short cab ride – about 10 minutes.

My only main complaint about the hotel was the concierge. We were traveling to Miami from Fort Lauderdale and wanted to know the best way to get there. I asked the concierge about a cab and she indicated it would cost at least $120. She suggested I take a shuttle company she knew that would take us for just $95. When I went outside to talk to the valet guys they said the concierge had lied to us because she wanted us to use a company that gave her a kickback. They negotiated a flat rate of $70 for the cab and we were on our way to Miami. This is definitely a problem if you can’t trust the concierge so I would really take everything they say at this particular hotel with a grain of salt. Most hotels I’ve stayed at the concierge is on your side, with this blatant lying it was easy to see that all she cared about was making money herself.