When we travel, lodging can be one of the most expensive parts of the budget. We do love the convenience of the chain hotels. With our Hyatt credit card, we earn many free nights at some pretty great hotels. Hyatt has the best points system and the card also gives you a free night every year. Check out our referral link to get bonus points to get yourself started on free nights.
Sometimes it is fun to try something different. As a family we love to camp, but we often don’t have room when we have a car full of other traveling items or when we fly to a destination. We enjoy staying in historic inns or National Park lodges and cabins which can be unique on their own.
Sometimes, I like to search out even more unique places to stay on our road trips. One of the most unusual places we slept was in a covered wagon. Yes, you read that right, we slept in a covered wagon. While traveling in southern Utah, we stayed at the Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort in one of their western wagons. The resort provided the sleeping bags and they had very nice bathhouse facilities. Because it was a little cold overnight, our night was not the most pleasant, but it sure was a memorable experience.
Another memorable night was when we slept in a concrete wigwam. Before you call us crazy, we are big fans of the Pixar movie Cars. We knew we were going to be on Route 66 and had to find the hotel based on the Cozy Cone Motel in the movie. In Holbrook, Arizona, we reserved a night in the Wigwam Motel and enjoyed our stay. The town was an iconic Route 66 town with a great restaurant called Joe and Aggie’s Cafe which displays the inspirations behind the movie.
One of our favorite unique stays was when we slept in yurts on the Oregon coast. A yurt is a semi-permanent circular tent originating from Central Asia. They are becoming extremely popular in the United States. The state parks in Oregon have several types of yurts which include electricity, heat, wood floors, doors and windows. We did have to bring our own sleeping bags and towels. We felt like we were camping, but it was much easier than tent set-up.
Another fun night stay was at Yosemite National Park. We stayed in one of the Canvas Tent Cabins in what is now called Curry Village. It was such a great location and a fun way to “camp”.
Search for unique places to stay wherever you are going. It might be a lighthouse, old jail, treehouse, caboose, castle, houseboat, covered bridge, vintage trailer, cave, fire tower or even in something from a movie. Whatever you find, make memories.