Englewood, Ohio: Hampton Inn & Suites Dayton Airport

November 2021, weekday, 1-night, king guestroom 402

Check-in and diamond perks

I checked in on the app, and chose room 402. I received two bottles of water when I arrived. I am glad Hilton is making the change to upgrade elite members before check-in, if available. I often wonder if it is better to choose my room on the app, or wait until I get to the hotel. This time, my choice of the end room may not have been the best choice.

Guestroom 402 in Hampton Inn & Suites Dayton airport 

King guestroom 402

Although this is an end top floor room, which is my preference, there were a couple of things that made it not my favorite choice. This guestroom has a connecting room door with room 404. This is visible in the guestroom diagram on back of the door. I am not sure if it is not designated as such on the app, or if I missed it when I chose my room. Also, this room is close to the expressway. Traffic noise does not usually bother me; however, it did this time. Fortunately, I was able to turn just the fan on in the guestroom without the heat or A/C to muffle the noise. I also needed the fan on because the air in the guestroom smelled musty and stale.

Guestroom diagram in room 402 in Hampton Inn & Suites Dayton airport 

The bed was comfortable and clean. The guestroom contained the usual items: flatscreen TV on an armoire, suitcase bench, work desk and chair, and single serve coffeemaker with supplies. I think it also had a microwave and small fridge; however, I did not take photos, so I am not certain.

Guestroom 402 in Hampton Inn & Suites Dayton airport 

Springfield, Ohio: Fairfield Inn & Suites

November 2021, weekday, 1-night, king guestroom 220

Check-in and gold perks

I had checked in on the app, and my room was ready when I arrived, even though it was before check-in time. I was surprised and impressed when I received a snack bag with bottled water and two snacks from this hotel. My status with Marriott is only gold, whereas, I have diamond status with Hilton. I always have great experiences with Marriott properties in regards to recognition and upgrades; however, it is more difficult to reach higher status levels with Marriott.

View from guestroom 220 in Fairfield Inn & Suites Springfield, Ohio

Guestroom 220

This is a basic king guestroom near the end of the hall. It looked just like the king guestroom photos on the Marriott website. It was comfortable, although it did not smell very fresh. The perfume scent was rather strong, as if trying to mask a different odor.

Guestroom 220 in Fairfield Inn & Suites Springfield, Ohio

Grand Rapids, Michigan: Tru by Hilton Grand Rapids Airport

 November 2021, Sunday, 1-night, king guestroom 414

Sunset facing west the night of our stay.
Photo taken from car after leaving guestroom to run an errand.

Check-in, arrival, diamond perks

I checked in on the app and chose a corner top floor guestroom. I did not receive notification that my room was ready when we arrived after check-in time, so I stopped at the front desk. I was initially assigned guestroom 431, which I think is the room I had chosen. This room faces west, and would have had a sunset view. I scheduled a wake-up call for 3:45 AM during check-in. The agent gave me my keys, and said I could get some bottled water from the cooler. As I was getting the water, she stepped over with new keys, and said I was going to be in guestroom 414 instead. In hindsight, I should have questioned the room assignments. She had offered me water, so I assumed she was giving me an upgrade, or had at least checked for one.

Guestroom 414 in Tru by Hilton Grand Rapids Airport

King Guestroom 414

This is a basic guestroom on the top floor. It is in the center of the building across from the elevator. It faces the parking lot and street.

The room was comfortable and clean. In addition to the king size bed, it contained a large flatscreen TV, suitcase bench, desk and chair, and small fridge. There was no microwave or coffee in the guestroom. Apparently, many people miss not having a microwave, because front desk staff had mentioned this to me. I missed not having coffee in the guestroom more than I did a microwave, as I typically have coffee first thing in the morning, before I even shower.

Holland, Michigan: CityFlatsHotel Holland, Tapestry Collection by Hilton

October 2021, weekend, 1-night, king guestroom 422

Room diagram in CityFlatsHotel Holland, Tapestry Collection by Hilton

Check-in and diamond perks

When I tried to check-in on the app, I did not see rooms available on the top floor, and there was no chat function available. We were not going to arrive until later in the evening, so I decided to call the hotel to ask about room assignment location. The agent said she could assign me a top floor corner room, although I did not receive a room upgrade (I did not ask about an upgrade, as this is supposed to be automatic). Looking at the guestroom diagram after we arrived, it looked liked guestroom 412 would have been an amazing upgrade! I have actually not received an upgrade in any of the four different Hilton properties I stayed in during October. I just received an email from Hilton this week titled: Iris, your room upgrades are about to get better! The body of the email says that starting on November 15th, room upgrades will be given 3 days before the stay, if a complimentary upgrade has been awarded. This makes me feel like upgrade opportunities will be looked at, whereas now, I do not feel like anyone is even checking for this opportunity. I received 2 bottles of water from the front desk when we arrived to complete check-in. We also received a $12 food and beverage credit per person to cover breakfast.

Guestroom 422 in CityFlatsHotel Holland, Tapestry Collection by Hilton

Guestroom 422

There are 5 floors in this hotel; however, the top floor is for events, so this guestroom is on the top floor. It was comfortable and quiet. The bed was comfortable, and the sheets were good quality.

Guestroom 422 in CityFlatsHotel Holland, Tapestry Collection by Hilton

Although this is a corner guestroom, it has only one window over the desk. The view faces town. I am not sure if the park or water is visible from the guestrooms on the north side of the building. There are train tracks next to the hotel on that side, which may be a distraction. We did not have any problems with train noise in our guestroom.

Guestroom 422 in CityFlatsHotel Holland, Tapestry Collection by Hilton

Kalamazoo, Michigan: Home2Suites

 October 2021, weekday, 1-night, 1-bedroom suite 830

Home2Suites and Hilton Garden Inn in Kalamazoo, Michigan

This hotel has eight floors, and is in the same building with Hilton Garden Inn. When I made the reservation, I had a difficult time deciding which hotel to choose. I ended up choosing Home2Suites, and was very happy with this decision. Home2Suites is the building section facing away from the parking garage, and that section of the building is taller than Hilton Garden Inn. This is a longer walk from the parking garage than Hilton Garden Inn, which I thought was worth it.

View looking west from suite 830 in Home2Suites Kalamazoo, Michigan

Arrival and check-in

The first time I tried to check-in on the app, I was assigned a guestroom on floor 2, and the app was not showing any available guestrooms on the top floor. When I checked again a few hours before arrival, room 830 was available. Even though I did not have a hotel floor plan on the app to see exactly where the room was located, I decided to take my chances, so I chose it to complete check-in. After we got to our room, I realized it was a slight upgrade. It was not clear where to park when we arrived, so we stopped in front of the hotel on N. Rose Street, and went inside to ask. The entrance on this road is actually for Hilton Garden Inn. Home2Suites entrance door is on Eleanor Street; however, that road was under construction. The person at the front desk told me to park in the city lot across N. Rose Street and take the walkway over. The walkway comes over on level 2, and there are absolutely no signs in the walkways or at the elevators for either hotel. I was using the guestroom entrance key on the app, so we got on the elevator intending to go to floor 8. The first elevator we got on only had 6 floors, so we got off without going up. I decided to walk down the hallway, away from the parking garage, rather than go down a floor to street level and the lobby. We found another elevator, which had 8 floors, so we went up to the 8th floor where we easily found our suite.

Suite 830 in Home2Suites Kalamazoo, Michigan

Guestroom 830 and diamond perks

We both loved this guestroom! The view is amazing, and it is very soundproof. If the weather had cooperated, we would have had a fabulous sunset view. Some people may have thought the construction was a view obstruction; however, in our case, it was a bonus. It kept my husband entertained while I worked! 😁

I could not get the bathroom light to turn on when we arrived, and there was no welcome letter or information in the suite, so I went down to the front desk. The person I spoke with told me there is a fuse panel in each suite. After I inquired about breakfast and wifi, he provided an information/welcome letter, and an extra key in a packet with the wifi password. I also received two welcome bags containing water and a snack. The front desk agent told me they do not do put the items in the guestroom, because entering guests' rooms is limited due to COVID. Although I did not reply, I thought: Before I arrive--huh? How is me coming to the front desk, face-to-face with someone to get items directly from their hands, safer than someone entering my room before I arrive? Going to the front desk was not a big deal; I just thought the reasoning did not make sense.

Suite 830 in Home2Suites Kalamazoo, Michigan

Back to the guestroom - As I said, this is a fabulous room! The kitchen/living area contained a dishwasher, full size fridge, microwave, limited dishes, coffeemaker with supplies, sofa, footstool, end tables, flatscreen TV on an armoire, and kitchen table with 4 chairs. 

Suite 830 in Home2Suites Kalamazoo, Michigan
Bathroom on right; bedroom behind closed door

A work area with chair was located next to the TV and across from the bathroom.

Suite 830 in Home2Suites Kalamazoo, Michigan

Lafayette, Indiana: Staybridge Suites

October 2021, 2-nights, weekdays, 1-bedroom king guestroom 419

Sunrise through bedroom window in suite 419 in Staybridge Suites Lafayette, Indiana

Arrival and check-in

I did not check-in on the app before we arrived, because when I did this before, hotel staff told me they are unable to assign or change the room assigned. The expressway noise is extremely loud in the parking lot in front of this building. We could not hear the noise after we entered on that side of the building, so I am not sure if the noise is loud in the guestrooms on that side of the hotel. During check-in, I asked if the rooms are well soundproofed, or if we were on the back side of the building. The agent said we were on the back side of the building. We were initially assigned guestroom 219. When I asked if there was a room available on the top floor, the agent checked, and reassigned us guestroom 419. I had requested a top floor room in my reservation notes, which apparently were not read before our arrival.

Patio view from living room window in suite 419 in Staybridge Suites Lafayette, Indiana

King 1-bedroom suite 419

This suite is near the elevator and overlooks the courtyard. We did not hear any noise from the elevator, and hallway noise was minimal.

Suite 419 in Staybridge Suites Lafayette, Indiana

Suite 419 was comfortable and clean. It is a typical 1-bedroom suite with [almost] full kitchen, bar seating area, living room, bedroom, and bathroom. 

Suite 419 in Staybridge Suites Lafayette, Indiana

The only thing missing in the kitchen was an oven, which most Staybridge Suites do not have.  There were two microwaves in this guestroom. I assume the countertop one was brought in because the glass tray was missing from the larger one mounted above the burners. The dishwasher and coffeepot are on the left of the sink and are not visible in the photo above.

Suite 419 in Staybridge Suites Lafayette, Indiana

Northern Michigan Color and Brew Tour: West Branch, Harrisville, Alpena, Mackinaw City, Cheboygan, Afton

 October 2021, three days, weekday - weekend

View of Pigeon River
Bridge in the distance goes to Andreae Cabin and Nature Preserve parking lot

We decided to combine our HopPassports with a northern Michigan color and hiking tour. Although we visited a bit past peak colors, this was still a great trip! I am sharing info about some of the places we visited. See my two posts before this one for lodging information.

Hiking, trails, parks, rivers, colors...

We recently learned about Nature Megaphone in Boyd B. Banwell Nature Preserve in Afton, Michigan. This is a structure designed to magnify the sounds of nature. Unfortunately, it was raining lightly when we visited, and there was not much activity in the forest. It was still very cool! The rain in the video above sounds louder than it actually was. There is a bird chirping about 14 seconds in that is also magnified. We did not see any birds during our entire hike, and I am not sure how far away this bird was. I suggest playing the video on full screen with the volume up.

Nature Megaphone

The structure is about 5½' tall at the widest point. I am 5'2" tall, and I could easily stand up inside. The hike from Agnes S. Andreae Nature Preserve parking lot at the end of Riverwoods Trail was under 2 miles round-trip, and it was pretty easy. The only hill was on the way back up to the parking lot after crossing the river, and there are a couple of small hills, if you take the longer path along the river.

View from inside Nature Megaphone above
Trail map in parking lot below

The hike from Boyd B. Banwell Family Nature Preserve parking lot on M-68 is a longer hike. We would have hiked from this area, if the weather had been better, because the roads back to Agnes S. Andreae Nature Preserve are dirt.

Downtown Cheboygan above
Thunder Bay River looking toward Rotary Island Mill Park in Alpena below

In Alpena and Cheboygan, there are riverwalk trails along Thunder Bay River and Cheboygan River, parks, locks in Cheboygan, preserves, and more. In Alpena, you can get to Lake Huron walking most of the way along the river, and in Cheboygan the route has more sidewalk/town walking. 

Tawas Bay

The bay was beautiful the day we drove by Tawas Bay! There are great trails in Tawas Bay that we biked when we camped at the state park here a few years ago.

Entrance door into Alocona Brew Haus below

Breweries and dining

Our favorite brewery this trip was Alcona Brew Haus in Harrisville, MI. I was impressed with the building preservation from the moment we entered. We got a building tour from the owner, and I took way more photos than I am able to post here. I am sharing a couple more below.

Cheboygan, Michigan: Best Western River Terrace

October 2021, weekend, one-night, king guestroom 229

Arrival and check-in 

Check-in was very efficient and quick. I was using gift cards for part of our stay cost, so the agent provided an email address for me to forward the cards to. When I checked out the next day, the card values had not yet been applied. Staff took care of it and emailed my receipt.

View from guestroom 229 in Best Western River Terrace in Cheboygan, Michigan

Guestroom 229

This guestroom is on the top floor near the center of the hotel. It has a private balcony overlooking the river. The room was nice, other than the building is somewhat old, and the room had a sightly damp odor. At least the window and balcony door both had a screen so we could let the fresh air in.

Guestroom 229 in Best Western River Terrace in Cheboygan, Michigan

The bedding, pillows, and mattress were all merely okay. Nothing special, and nothing to really complain about either. I thought the mattress was too hard, although my husband did not think that was a problem.

Refreshment center in guestroom 229 in
Best Western River Terrace in Cheboygan, Michigan