Accommodation Books

Amazon entitles this "America's Best Motel & Restaurants", which is rather misleading, as it's actually entitled "America's Best Hotels & Restaurants". If you're expecting to receive a guide of top motels, like I did, you'd be disappointed. Unless of course you consider the Ritz Carlton a motel.

Ever since the mountain bike was invented two decades ago, fat tire aficionados have dreamed of an endless summer of endless downhill riding.

Two years ago, Robert M. Immler, a Vermont freelance writer and mountain bike enthusiast, pursued this dream, spending the summer bombing down Alpine slopes on his Specialized Rockhopper at 20 downhill ski resorts in the Northeast that cater to cyclists.

Immler wrote up his findings and distilled his experiences and observations in a book published this month. "The Mountain Biker's Guide to Ski Resorts is a long awaited compendium of downhill riding in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Quebec.

This enticing volume deserves a place on he bookshelf of any serious mountain biker, and rates a read even by armchair adventurers who've only dreamed of hanging their wheels on a ski lift and riding into the clouds.

The guide is easy to read, close to comprehensive in scope and excruciatingly thorough in attention to any details. Although the book's principal strengths in the area by area information, much of its appeal lies in the opportunities it offers for planning a fat-tire vacation this summer.

There are only two major faults. Despite its title, the guide's scope is strictly limited to downhill ski areas and omits much fine off-road cycling available at cross-country centers.

The second is really beyond the author's control: the ski-cum-cycle market is changing so quickly that several of the book's 20 detailed chapters - averaging nine pages per ski resort - will be seriously out-of-date by this summer.

Some high points:

In addition to hours, opening dates and costs, each chapter includes several suggested itineraries with best viewpoints, difficulty ratings, explicit directions and distances computed to hundredths of a mile.

Other information for each resort includes rentals, bike shops, major cycling events and related attractions - such as water slides to cool off sweaty cyclists.

Added information includes daycare facilities, on-mountain restaurants and even places to wash off mud-encrusted bikes. Secondary info directs vacationers to nearby accommodations, campgrounds, restaurants and nightlife.

Only a handful of ski mountains provide lift service directly to the summit. Because most high elevation expert ski slopes are too steep and rocky for cyclists to handle, most resorts carry bikes only mid-mountain lifts.

Vermont's 4,211 foot Killington Peak, is the highest lift-served summit in the Northeast. Other ski mountains with lift service to the to include Loon in New Hampshire and Jay, Stratton and Snow in Vermont.

Several mounts operate an off-mountain shuttle service for cyclists. Among the most appealing is Loon's bike van, which carries riders to the height-of-land of Franconia Notch and allows them to cruise downhill along the famed Franconia Recreation Path.

Along this graded, paved off-road path, riders can visit sites and sights such as the Old Man of the Mountain, Profile Lake, the Flume and the Basin. Before returning to Loon's cycle center, riders pass half a dozen ice cream shops in Lincoln.

Before visiting any ski mountain, call ahead. Because of the changes in the ski industry, much of this book will be out of date this summer. Here are some notable updates:

Add Sugarloaf to the lift-served list this season, while Shawnee Peak started serving cyclists last summer. In New Hampshire, add Attitash Bear Peak and delete Bretton Woods and Cranmore.

Scott Andrews

Traditional hotels defy the reality of transience, offering a reassurance to weary travelers that they'll enjoy the familiar comforts of home. One pities anyone whose idea of domestic bliss is a Ramada Inn. This catalogue of an exhibition running through March 2 at the Cooper-Hewitt in New York, celebrates a fresh approach that puts chic ahead of comfort, and makes every guest realize she isn't in Kansas anymore. It intersperses W Hotels and the properties of Ian Schraeger and Andre Balasz with blue-sky projects that--if realized--might make you wish you had stayed home. That's especially true of one that was built--Jean Nouvel's hotel in Lucerne--where every ceiling is silkscreened with a movie still that could inspire nightmares. Maybe that Ramada wasn't so bad, after all. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)

I rate this book a 4 mainly be the guide has no photos or detailed maps. While most of the places in this book we have visited were in fairly well-populated areas and can probably be google-mapped or mapquested at this point, it would still be nice to see a photo or two.

Otherwise the book is well organized and detailed enough. It divides California into different regions, gives recommendations in different price ranges, and gives enough detail about the amenities of each place like style of breakfast, Internet access, free wine tastings, and a few things to do near by.

One thing I wish would be addressed (and I do not have a more recent edition) is how "commercial" the bed and breakfast is. There are some places run by a management company. They are well taken care of, clean, and wonderful - buy they lack a little bit of charm and individuality, in my opinion. It that information was in the book, I do not remember.

I really wanted to plan the perfect summer honeymoon and couldn't find a resource for romantic destinations other than Hawaii. Special Honeymoon Hotels provides Where & When to go. Luxury resorts and hotels are listed from around the world including a page long description and Honeymoon specials offered by the hotel. My only criticism is that prices are sometimes listed in the local currency. How much is 700,000 Lira!

This book was selected to give as a Christmas gift to our daughter and son-in-law since they are planning to retire in New Zealand as owners/operators of a unique Bed & Breakfast inn. Our daughter wrote recently to say: "I am really glad you got me the book on running B&Bs, but I know it is just the beginning of what I need to study to make this career change what I want it to be."

A friend and I planned a trip to Houston around this book. The whole weekend was devoted to haunted places--so why eat in a regular, non-haunted restaurant? You get a nice history of the building and its previous uses (if any), the folks who used it while in the flesh, and those (in spirit) who are purported to inhabit it now.

If you enjoy this kind of thing (and I do), use this very handy book to add some interest and variety to a trip or just find new ''haunts'' in your own city. Most haunted places are also historic or older buildings, so you get an extra treat in seeing some unique architecture. So even if haunted isn't your thing, but historic is, this is a great book.

Be sure to call first to verify hours and if the building is still standing. Unfortunately, one highly haunted tavern in Houston was bulldozed to make room for a modern bookstore. When traveling to any city in Texas, I will always consult this book for unique and special places to enjoy food or a beer.

We have traveled in Scotland and England for 6 years. We never fly over with reservations. Scotish and British Tourist Boards have a presence in all the Airports You can depend on receiving good housing. They each publish several different accommodation directories. We use them as guides

Woodalls delivers a great book for anyone that is planning a tenting vacation. Each state has a section full of information beginning with a grid type map. You can look for different camping locations based on your exact destination within each grid block. There is also a handy quick-reference guide listing activity types and if these activities are on-site or nearby. Climate info, calendar of events, topography, as well as travel info sources are all included with phone numbers, addresses, and websites. Each camping area has a brief description and contact numbers for getting more info directly from the sites. The rather large section at the beginning of the book is divided by activities and where they are offered in each state. If your only interest is fishing, for example, you can go to that section and flip through some 30 pages of specific information. Bicycling, hiking, canoeing, and other varying adventures also have special sections. With all 50 states included, as well as Canada, I found this book to be a great resource.

This is a good guide to have if you want to be pampered. It will consistently send you toward the best accommodations and resorts (spas too) that America has to offer. The reviews are not done by professional, independent evaluators, but rather by a consensus of the common populace (8,000) who have gone to experience and rate the hotels, resorts and spa..

The writing in the Zagat guide is a bit bland and can be uninspiring. Take the Inn of the Anasazi (NM), they write, "This first rate adobe inn with a great location is a magical experiences, mixing Southern Charm with high-end-class." Where as the "Mobil Travel Guide: America's Best Hotel and Restaurants" paints a picture for you when you read about a property: "The Anasazi Inn is mesmerizing, with timber ceilings, creamy sandstone walls , cactus in terr-cotta pots and New Mexican art.".

The indexes are a very helpful (All-Inclusive Price, B&B, Beach Settings, Destinations Spas etc.) but the one index that is missing is "Bargains". You will find the average per night fare costing $200 - $400 per night. It should be stated that Zagat started as a patrician's guide to restaurants. But not here, for you will be disappointed to find that this guide had no reviews of the restaurants that are found in the hotel and resorts

However, I have used the guide various times to search out the "Top" places to stay in the U.S. and I am always pleased with the recommendations. So, if you travel a lot, and have the money to get the best you will be well served by this guide.