Lodging Books

I read this book thinking that I might gain a few ideas that might work. I later learned I totally underestimated its powers! Being a young person I don't have a lot of money, and the money I do have has to be stretched, and this book had excellent ideas on how to do just that. I went to Europe last summer for three months and only spent $3000 (including airfare). If you enjoy traveling and aren't afraid for a little adventure, you should definately look into this book, it's a traveler's greatest companion!

An honest book with good tips but then it is not doable for everybody. Who can travel as a courier with a family. It is a very good book if you are single with unlimited vacation!
we are going to try to stay with locals which is definitely more rewarding than staying in an isolated grand-chain-hotel!

Most of us like "freebies" especially when it comes to travel. However, how do you travel for free or for very little money?
Robert Wm Kirk's guidebook, You can Travel Free, is an extremely comprehensive and fact filled guidebook presenting useful strategies and methods that have been employed by those who roam far and frequently-without paying.

The book is divided into seventeen chapters featuring tips, ideas, reference sources, experiences, and guidance. Within these chapters we are introduced to such topics as free accommodations, free ship cruising, hosting group tours, free land transportation, airline freebies, volunteering, working vacations, sightseeing for free, and how to receive scholarships and grants to travel free.
Each chapter begins with a brief quotation that the author appropriately refers to as, "McCheap's" laws.

The author's first law of travel is "the less money you spend at any destination, the more enjoyable the experience." If you think about this rule for a moment you will probably immediately remember that your most enjoyable vacations were those you had incurred the least expense.
The second law introducing the "Free Accommodations" chapter states, "if you paid anything at all for your last vacation you may have paid too much."

Reading these rules, you pretty much get the idea of the book's major theme. A combination of ingenuity, information and the right strategy are all that is required to travel the globe without having to go into debt.
As a concrete example, in the chapter dealing with free accommodations we are informed as to how we can vacation without paying for the cost of a hotel or motel. Immediately the reader is hooked? Is there such a thing as a "free lunch" when it comes to accommodations?

We are not only informed of the possibility of house swapping that many of us are aware of, but we are also provided with a very extensive list of sources where we may be able to find individuals willing to swap their houses with us.
Did you know that there are empty farmhouses, fishermen's dwellings, and deserted boathouses available for public use in Norway? Are you aware of an organization named Seniors Abroad and by joining, travelers who are 50 and over can be guests of seniors in other countries? These are a tiny miniscule of the invaluable tips and secrets found throughout the book.

Apart from free or low cost accommodations, we are also informed of the many free or inexpensive attractions scattered throughout the world. Have you ever heard of free bikes? The author tells us that in Copenhagen bikes can be used without paying. One thousand "city bikes" are available.

Finally, an added feature is the last chapter entitled "A Wealth of Free Information" where we are presented with over twenty five pages of names, addresses, phone numbers, and web addresses of many organizations as well as publications that reinforce McCheap's seventeenth law of travel: "learning as much as you can about your destinations costs nothing, and can make your free travels a success." The book is well worth its money for anyone who is desirous of knowing how to travel on a very low budget. You Can Travel Free

Norm Goldman Editor of Bookpleasures.com

Almost 500 pages of mostly unconventional methods for securing free or nearly free travel. Topics include home exchange, house and boat sitting, tour hosting, auto driveaway, hitchhiking, bicycling, volunteering, working, scholarships and awards, travel careers, and much more. Excellent section on free travel resources. Air strategies are frequent flyer benefits, bumping, contests, and asking (and perhaps find a private pilot that will let you hitch). Highly recommended.

Reviewed October 2001 by Charles McCool on LowerAirfares.com

My favorite Inspector Appleby mysteries take place in an academic setting. This subset of his mystery novels is undoubtedly a byproduct of the many years that Michael Innes (whose real name was John Innes Mackintosh Stewart) spent laboring in the halls of academia. Among the seats of learning where he taught are Queen's University in Belfast, and the universities of Oxford, Adelaide, and Leeds.

The author could not help but involve a legion of eccentric, pompous, and even murderous professors in the death of the president of St. Anthony's College (modeled after the colleges at Oxford University). Their academic spats and bumblings are a good part of what makes this book readable. Innes is wickedly funny when it comes to poking fun at the habits of his donnish colleagues and undergraduates.

"Death at the President's Lodging" starts out as a locked room mystery where the only suspects are locked into the college grounds for the night. The president's body is found in his own library, but we gradually learn that the corpse was subject to a great deal of postmortem perambulation as his colleagues try to establish their own alibis and manufacture evidence that points to their academic enemies. Nothing is as it first seems, not even time of death.

A trio of undergraduates provides the comic relief as they chase one of the suspects (supposedly at an archeological dig in the Middle East) across the English countryside and finally deliver him to Inspector Appleby in a large wicker clothes basket (shades of Falstaff!).

As Inspector Appleby winds his way through the skeins of plot and counter-plot created by great intellects gone murderously askew, his intuition is played off against the rather unimaginative plodding of local Constable Dodd. Dodd is a bit of a dry stick compared to the irrepressible Appleby, who in his very first appearance in this mystery (published in 1936), is already showing signs of what his successor at Scotland Yard refers to as his 'waywardness.'

Enjoy Inspector John Appleby's literary debut for the hijinks of the undergraduates, the plots and counter-plots of their devious professors, and the erudite style of their donnish creator. The plot is overly complex, but it is brilliantly resolved and a lot of fun to read.

Had Borges ever read this classic detective novel? I'm not suggesting Innes bursts the boundaries of his form like Borges or Chesterton. On its most obvious level, this is a typical product of Golden Age detective fiction - conservative, obviously ideological, a puzzle-like mystery solved by a socially and intellectually superior detective, archly written, set in a socially acceptable milieu (an Oxbridge college) full of the right people, with amusing instances of outright snobbery. But if he doesn't burst his genre's limits, Innes certainly seems to nag at them. Because, in his almost complete abstraction of plot to the exclusion of meaningful character or locale ; in his filtering of third person objective narration with the voices of the narrated; in his continual self-referentiality; in his meaningful allusinism which both focuses on the genre, but also well away from it; in, most importantly, casting doubt on his detective hero and offering a very unsatisfactory solution, Innes seems to be edging towards a position that would allow Borges to launch his metaphysical fantasies, thus undermining the very fundamentals of the genre he's working in.

Very good if specifically looking for info on Hotel Industry Marketing Research

Pricey Yes, but has some good essential info. Not just abstract and philosophical advice on methods like in some self help type marketing books, but also has some real detailed info. For instance it has industry figures and percentages on some obscure items such as how many guests order movies in their rooms, and what types of movies they order (yes it's porn). Also other detailed figures on margins etc.

Definitely a good book to have in your resource library if you are focusing on hotel/hospitality/travel marketing research (if not save your money). As I said, it's a bit pricey. Must be somewhere to get it cheaper?

Tom Anderson
Anderson Analytics, LLC

Full of information on all aspects of lodging security. Very easy to read, to the point, and practical. I personally have used much of it's content to share with upper management for re-enforcement to why we need to improve in certain areas. This is a must read for ownwers,directors, and officers alike. My hat is of to Mr. Beaudry! Looking forward to more on Lodging Security....

I compared this book to every other travel book in the store and it by far had more information (500 pages of text). The format is easy to follow by region and it lists many of the smaller cities in each region. The maps offer are clear and the descriptions accurate. I've used this book to prepare for several trips to France (all in the outskirts of small towns) and have found it helpful each time.

This is the 2nd edition of her book and I just found out there is a new edition dated Feb., 2000, which I plan to buy immediately. An excellent starting point - this book will save you a lot of research time when planning a trip and will help you immediately pinpoint the best dining and accomodation choices. It's one of the first books I turn to when planning a trip or where to eat and has given me ideas for other trips (e.g. Brandywine Valley and Wilmington). The writeups are accurate and give a sense of the foods and surroundings. My only criticism is that the photography could be better. But then, the reader can always follow up by visiting an establishment's web site (if they have one).

This is most useful listing of budget accomodations I have encountered. The listings are comprehensive even though some entries are outdated (e.g. some hostels are out of business but that's due to publication deadlines.) I like it because it's thin and easily carried around in my backpack. Other hostel guides are loaded with reviews and other fluff that adds pages (and weight) to the book. This could be a benefit or a hazard depending on how you look at it but generally I like to travel light and Jim's guide always has a place in my backpack!

Rayner's story of Tilly's progress from sheltered child to a woman who must make her own way in London is an interesting episodic pilgrimage. The characters in the book ring true from Tilly's dominant father Austen, to her maid and nemesis Dorcus. As a period piece which tells the story of a woman in the late 1850's and early 1860's, it is an interesting study on the roles of women. When the fundamentalist lawyer visits and offers the opinion that women should never be allowed to own property or handle their own finances, it puts us in touch with how far society has progressed in the 140 years since. While a bit plodding in places, I kept opening the book to read the next chapter and usually was surprised by the next development. Tilly did seem to be a bit icy as a love interest, but the tale is engagingly told. I found the book to be well worth the read!

ACF Competencies for Business and Math Skills, as outlined in the Apprenticeship Operations Manual v1.3 can be met with successful completion of this workbook. Great resources that chefs can use for many years. A few errors found: temperatures need to be updated to agree with ServSafe guidelines and Food Code of 1998.

Sharon McCone, RD ACF Central Arkansas Culinary School of Apprenticeship

Very few servers really WORK at their trade. I have yet to meet a server who practices this simple technique to increase tips.