DURHAM HOTEL INFO

[Guest guest]

HI Friends,

Well, I have been on a hotel-checking adventure for about a week now- LOL!

I figure we will be in Durham for a week, so I wanted to have a comfy place

to call home. My mission was to find the very best hotel for the cheapest

price. I had a list of 11 possibles and then visited all the websites (most

had one) before whittling it down to the " finalists. "

What did I want in a hotel? First of all I had to have a true " suite. " Many

of the hotels call themselves " suites " but in fact are just bigger rooms with

the sofa near the beds, and a " kitchen " that's not what I call a kitchen!

(Many have just a micro and mini fridge). To me this is not a suite. I

wanted a bedroom with a door, so that we would have a place to " escape " as

needed! lol! If it were just me and my hubby, a single room would be fine,

and we could maybe even make out with just a small fridge and micro. But we

have the 2 teens, and 2 of us are having the surgery, so the space is a must.

So, I had to have a separate bedroom, with a door. The 4 hotels fitting this

bill are the Homestead Suites, Hawthorn Suites, Homewood Suites, and Duke

Towers. Next I made up a huge grid of amenities and started calling to

compare.

The second thing I had to have was a pool, as that was the ONLY thing

13-yr-old daughter wanted. (And I thought my hubby would

appreciate it, too.) That eliminated the Homestead Suites, (NO POOL).

Next on my list was age of facility. We all wanted a place that was modern,

(hey this is our only family vacation this summer, lol). This eliminated

Duke Towers, as it was built in the 50's, and as the lady there told me, " We

are an older style hotel. " Not for us, (though I hear they have a nice

pool), as we like MODERN and new.

So, that left the Hawthorn Suites and the Homewood Suites. Here is what they

both have: separate bedroom with king sized bed or 2 doubles, sofa sleeper in

living room and chair (but no recliner-- though you can rent one locally),

full kitchen (stocked, including kitchen towels, table and chairs, but no

blender, you might want to bring for smoothies, etc. The kitchens have

everything else--micro, fridge, cabinets, dishes...), computer data ports, 2

phone lines, personal voice mail, 2 TV's, full breakfast buffet 7 days a

week, M-Th " cocktail and hors'doeurves reception, " coin-op laundry room with

multiple machines, oudoor pool (both have pool towels), and

shopping/restaurants within walking distance.

The main differences are these:

The Homewood is a top of the line hotel, built in '98. It has an exercise

center, a gift shop, a lodge room, and a full business center where you can

work (fax available). My hubby likes this feature. It offers free 1-800

calls and free local calls. (The Hawthorn offers free 1-800, but charges 75

cents for every local call.) Our laptop accesses the net using a 1-800#, not

a local #. The hotel is in Chapel Hill, 12.4 miles from Dr R, at 3600 Mt.

Moriah Rd. ph# or 1-800-CALL-HOME.

The Hawthorn is an older bldg that was completely renovated in '95. It will

not be as nice as the Homewood but sounds very nice. Its exercise facility

is off-property, though. Other than that, they appear to be pretty " even "

except for the charge for the local calls and the fact that the Homewood is

more of a " I'm on vacation " hotel. The Hawthorn is 14.6 miles from Dr R, at

300 Meredith Dr. ph# or 1-800- 527-1133.

Now for price. Both quote the same basic prices, but upon digging I found

out that you can get a heck of a deal at the Hawthorn if you call

1-877-MED_STAY. They can actually get you a 1-BR suite for $55 a night, or a

2-BR suite (2 BR's with doors that close and 2 baths) for $75 a night! The

Homewood cannot be reserved through the Medstay# but they offer a medical

stay rate of $79 a night. They say this is their absolute lowest rate to

stay in their hotel. Their 2 BR suites they do not discount and they are

majorly expensive at $199 a night.

Bottom line, I would love to stay at the Homewood, but do I think it is worth

$20 more a night to stay there? (I say $20 because I have a feeling we would

make at least 4 or 5 local calls a day and the Hawthorn charges for these.)

Well, we still haven't decided that! Tom is calling the manager at the

Homewood today and will say, " Look, we love your hotel, but we can stay at

the Hawthorn for $55 a night. We will be there on Aug 7th and will be

staying for at least a week. Can you come down on your rate? " We'll see

what happens. Tom says if they have a lot of availability they might just

agree. (Can you tell my hubby works as a negotiator? You should be with him

when he buys a car! lol! I love the savings, but am too embarrased to go

with him. Haha.) So, if they come down to even $65, we will most likely

stay there, as it is really beautiful. (If you pull up the Homewood on your

computer you can see what all the rooms look like, as well as the rest of the

hotel.)

Anyway, I will post later on how he made out. Hope this helps those who are

bringing families and need more room!

Regards,

Debbie in IL

MGB 8/10 Cigna (1st appeal)--BMI 40

Daughter (age 16) MGB 8/9 Cigna (3rd appeal)--BMI 45