Shae and her mom's birthdays are a day apart, so her mom and stepdad came to visit us in Illinois so that they could celebrate their birthdays together. One of the things they'd planned for their birthdays was an introduction to mermaid swimming class - tails and all! One of … [Read more...] about Review: TownePlace Suites Chicago Naperville, IL
Hotels
Review: Kimpton Gray Hotel, Chicago IL
To celebrate our 14th anniversary, Shae and I decided to book a three night stay at the Kimpton Gray Hotel in Chicago. We had three free night certificates from renewing our IHG credit cards and the Kimpton Gray seemed to offer the best value based on the room rate during our … [Read more...] about Review: Kimpton Gray Hotel, Chicago IL
Review: Country Inn & Suites Manteno, Illinois
When exploring our options for using hotel points in Illinois, I noticed that the Country Inn & Suites Manteno would be good value. Neither of us had heard of Manteno before, but when checking Google Maps could see that it was near Kankakee State Park, so there was at … [Read more...] about Review: Country Inn & Suites Manteno, Illinois
Review: Candlewood Suites Peoria At Grand Prairie, Illinois
We decided to stay six nights in Peoria on our 50 state road trip as we got a great deal at the Candlewood Suites Peoria at Grand Prairie using our points. It turns out that six nights was about five nights too long as Peoria was pretty boring. Still, that's not the fault of … [Read more...] about Review: Candlewood Suites Peoria At Grand Prairie, Illinois
2.5 Million Hotel Points: Here’s How We Earned Them
A couple of weeks ago, I shared how we planned to use the 2.5 million hotel points we'd saved up before leaving on our 50 state road trip. After publishing that post, I realized it might be helpful to explain how we did that. After all, 2.5 million points is a significant … [Read more...] about 2.5 Million Hotel Points: Here’s How We Earned Them
Review: Crowne Plaza Madison, Wisconsin
The seventh and final city we visited in Wisconsin on our 50 state road trip was the state capital - Madison. Several months before our visit, the Crowne Plaza Madison had been included on IHG's PointBreaks list. That's a list IHG releases every three months with dozens of … [Read more...] about Review: Crowne Plaza Madison, Wisconsin
Review: Quality Inn Eau Claire, Wisconsin
When looking for somewhere to stay in Eau Claire WI, there weren't any good options for using our points. There were a couple of nice-looking properties on Airbnb, but they were pretty far outside the city. In the end, we found a fairly good rate at the Quality Inn Eau … [Read more...] about Review: Quality Inn Eau Claire, Wisconsin
2.5 Million Hotel Points: Here’s How Many Free Nights We’ll Get
If you've been following along with our road trip stats each month, you'll have seen that we have a ton of hotel points. After publishing our stats for June 2018, I totaled them up out of interest and was surprised by quite how many we have. 2,580,279. More than 2.5 … [Read more...] about 2.5 Million Hotel Points: Here’s How Many Free Nights We’ll Get
Review: Super 8 Wausau, Wisconsin
During our six weeks in Wisconsin as part of our 50 state road trip, we stayed for five nights at the Super 8 Wausau. We'd never stayed at a Super 8 before and from the reviews I've seen of the brand in the past, they've often been mixed. Some Super 8s have had fairly good … [Read more...] about Review: Super 8 Wausau, Wisconsin
Review: Candlewood Suites La Crosse, Wisconsin
After spending a week in Green Bay on our 50 state road trip, our next stop was La Crosse. Hotel prices seemed pretty expensive, so we decided to use points to stay at the Candlewood Suites La Crosse. The hotel's pet-friendly (we're traveling with our dog Truffles), it's close … [Read more...] about Review: Candlewood Suites La Crosse, Wisconsin