I looked at the entire list of options and thought to myself "been there, done that." I've stayed at the swankiest places imaginable and I've slept on a beach somewhere with no more than a tarp to keep the rain off my head (sucks when it rains and that's all you got) and just about everything in between.

I used to have a 27 foot (8.3M) 7000 pound (2613Kg) travel trailer and used to "dry camp" with it when traveling to distant dog agility trials. My favorite outing was up in Maine close to a largish pond being serenaded by loons. Not using A/C or heat we left the windows open and even the light rain we had that night was a very comforting experience

I take credit for starting the camping at a dog agility trial thing when my wife and I used to stay at the show grounds in a five person tent with seven dogs for the weekend. Tents and dogs don't necessarily work too well.

On a business trip to Denver back in 1982 I stayed at the Brown Palace Hotel http://www.brownpalace.com/ which was pretty swanky. On our 25th wedding anniversary I picked out a five star hotel in NYC to stay for the night. Both were great to get on the "bucket list" but when you close your eyes at night hotels pretty much look alike

The caveat to that last statement is there is such a thing as some places you don't want to stay. Motel 6 is a good example (please keep the light off). At a dog agility trial where using our travel trailer was not feasible (winter, bad time to dry camp) we stayed in one in southern New Jersey. Seems there were some entrepreneurs holding office hours well into the wee hours of the morning. Constant foot traffic and noise in the hallways.

My favorite place to stay ever were the cabins at Moody's Diner in Nobloboro Maine. Simple accommodations and they were not very expensive. Those type of accomodations were common in the USA way back when and have all but disappeared. Too bad. Corporate America has screwed things up for the "little guy" and family run hotels and motels are getting harder and harder to find.