Comfort Inn, German Village in Columbus, Ohio

Understated elegance, quiet comfort, and reasonable rates. What more could an urban camper ask for? Breakfast, of course. If you're at a Choice Hotel, breakfast is part of the package. But there's something special about this Comfort Inn.

Maybe it's because this Comfort Inn is in my favorite neighborhood in the city. The quaint brick houses provide a fitting setting for the older hotel that has four floors and an elevator, thank God! The hotel is also close to the Greyhound bus station so I can go home to Toledo from my Choicecampsite.

My favorite thing about the suite that included an alcove for a mini-fridge, microwave, and a coffee pot with a shelf for food and paper goods on the opposite wall was the muted hues of the decor. The soft, warm colors made relaxing on the spacious king size bed easy.

The piece de resistance was the draped shower curtain in the bathroom. That and the other amenities provided made my suite the perfect setting for a Valentine's Day rendezvous with my sweetie. He enjoyed it as much as I did. And I enjoyed it a lot!

Urban camping solo

I started out camping solo and I'm solo again since my romance ended recently. But not my trips to Toledo's historic Lorraine hotel. Just spent a night there hoping to work on a companion workbook for my new book, Million $ Lemonade Stand.

I finished the table of contents.

But it wasn't a wasted trip once I got over the shock of being in the room where my ex and I spent our first night together.

Once I was over that I ordered some Chinese food, ate, relaxed and enjoyed my brief stay. I do want to give anyone planning to stay at the Lorraine list of things you'll need.

Lorraine Camping List

1. Towels, if you like thick ones. Theirs are thin.
2. A stopper if you like to take baths and you'll want to in the roomy tubs there.
3. A TV tray table to use as a table or nightstand.
4. A fan if it's hot, an electric heater if it's cold.
5. A portable DVD player and movies. The TVs usually only get 2/3 channels.
6. Soap, bath salts, etc. to have a spa experience.
7. A lamp. There aren't any and the overhead light can be harsh.
8. Hangers for your clothes.
9. A bath mat and a slip resistant mat for the tub. It'll be a little slippery.

Historic hotel worn with use now my new urban campsite

Despite my efforts to connect with Choice Hotels, contacting privately owned Comfort Inns and offering to hold my first Urban Campout at any hotel interested, I've concluded that I'm not going to get the company or any of its affiliates interested.

So, with that in mind and also due to economic considerations, I've chosen a historic hotel in downtown Toledo as my new urban campsite.

Often labeled as seedy, The Lorraine Hotel is actually a clean, quaint place that had its heyday back in the 1920s-1930s. Signs of its former glory still exist.

Evidence of The Lorraine's former elegance are evident in some of its fixtures, the tile on the floors of bathrooms, and old-fashioned bathtubs with the feet removed.

The Lorraine, despite its reputation, most likely to the clientele who are usually poor folks who can't afford the priceier hotels, is quite clean. It lacks frills, however.

You won't see paintings on the walls or little bottles of shampoo and lotion. There's a TV in every room, but no cable and probably no remote. But the linen is clean.

You do have to ask for an extra towel, but check in early - you can at The Lorrain - and a pleasant young man with mad customer service skills will give you one if you need it.

These days with a new love in my life, my urban camping trips are no longer solo.
My beau suggested The Lorrain for our first rendezvous and, I admit, I was apprehensive.

All my apprehensions were put to rest as was my tired body in the simple but
comfortable room like one you'd find in an old hotel in New York or Europe.

My guy and I go urban camping to get away from our individual domiciles and
daily routines. It's the perfect place with the perfect price for our lifestyle and
budget.

How much do we pay for our bare-bones urban camping experience in one of our
city's best kept secrets? Only $38 a night plus a $5 key deposit. Just $43 total!

Checkout time is at noon and once the heat is shut off at the end of the cold season, you'll have to ask for a blanket if you're there on an unseasonably chilly night.

If you're like me, you won't mind giving up amenities like toiletries, cable, and a
breakfast buffet for an affordable price. Hard times call for austerity.

The Lorraine Hotel offers more than amenities. There you get a clean place to
spend the night and have enough money left to buy your own toiletries and
breakfast.

You can also buy lunch and dinner with the money you save at The Lorraine.
Besides, if you go there with someone, you're not going to be watching much TV anyway.

So who needs cable? If you do go to The Lorraine alone to get a project done or
just relax, it's only $33 a night. Of course there's no wifi in this old hotel from
another era.

Even when my income increases, which it will, in the near future, I'll still go to The
Lorraine for a relaxing, initimate time with my sweetheart. We'll just stay longer!

Urban camping for two

My new love called me up shortly after met and had the requisite two dates to ask "How'd you like to do some budget urban camping?" Having learned of my "urban camping" concept during one the numerous phone conversations we had after meeting on dating site Plenty of Fish. Limited funds during the current recession wouldn't permit a night at my favorite campsite which I haven't visited in months for the same reason. So we chose a low-cost alernative for our first encounter.

Urban camping for two is a great time to make a choice. Chances are you're not going to be watching TV, so it doesn't matter if you have HBO or even cable, for that matter. We didn't. Just four local channels we barely watched except to see the news.

Amenities like wifi, breakfast buffets don't matter either if you're spending a your time in bed. We had a nice clean room in a vintage, downtown hotel with old fashioned bath features including a "de-clawed" claw foot tub.

We were just there one night, but are planning a return trip to commemorate our first night together by re-creating that initial encounter, complete with having the same Chinese food delivered on our first urban camping for two visit.

RELAXCATION at my favorite CHOICE campsite!

It's been a great weekend here at the Comfort Inn on Secor Road in Toledo, Ohio. Last night I relaxed watching Bill Maher's "Real Time" on HBO, then went to sleep in the newly decorated room that is often my room when I come here. Before retiring to watch cable and go to sleep, I informed the members of "Urban Campers on Tagged" that I'm urban camping this weekend to rest up before starting a five-day work week Monday for the first time in two years. Sure, they're only half-days, but the point is there are five of them!

This morning, I woke up early as usual. Watched television until seven, the took a quick shower and went to the breakfast buffet to make my waffle! I love that waffle machine. I can honestly say that I do more "cooking" while urban camping that I do any other time. Wonder if that waffle iron could make 'smores? Of course, I had coffee, and sausage (extracted from sausage biscuits) with my waffle. I also brought back a boiled egg, an apple, a banana, a roll, and some Frosted Mini-Wheats to my room for lunch and snacks later. But before I left the lobby, I talked to the hotel staff, all of whom know me well, "people watched" (and was also the object of a "people watch" of a shy lone man whom I swear I've seen on Tagged!), and just listened to CNN's quack doctor talking about some subjects even I had to admit were rather interesting - what sane man would turn down a cabinet post just because he makes more money being a "network" medical expert?

Back in the room, I went back to sleep for a few hours, then woke up, watched TV and checked my email and Tagged messages. One message inspired me to meditate. So, at 2:00, I went into deep meditation, plotting my next "self-help" book on spiritual ascendance. The next thing I knew, it was 5pm! So, I ordered my favorite steak burger from the Ramada next door and ate it while working on the computer. I'm finishing up my computer time now, so I can settle down to some more relaxing time with the television before retiring for the night. This is my idea of relaxing. In the morning, I'll wake up early, take a long, hot bath, have breakfast, then come back and pack up to go home. Monday morning, I'll be at work bright and early AND refreshed and rejuvenated!

Why I won't be blogging from Hometown Inn in Flint, Michigan

I thought it was a good idea. I saw the expertly laid out profile page promoting Hometown Inn in Flint, Michigan, on Tagged and, since I've had absolutely no response from ANY Choice Hotel to blog from any of their hotels, I decided to offer the owner, manager, or representative of Hometown Inn in Flint that opportunity. I sent several messages and thought perhaps I was making some headway when whomever joined Tagged to promote Hometown Inn in Flint joined my group, "Urban Campers on Tagged."

Then I got a message from the creator of that beautiful promotional profile asking me for over $6,000 to pay off his credit card debt. See, Tagged is a dating site and the underlying message in that request was, "I'd never date YOU and the only thing you can do for ME is give me money!" Had I approached this person as if interested in him as a love interest or even flirted with him, I'd understand the rebuff. But mine was merely a networking move trying to connect with someone to propose a mutually beneficially arrangement: invite me to your hotel for a weekend and I'll promote you in my blog.

Now, I wouldn't stay at Hometown Inn in Flint (or anywhere else, for that matter) unless someone paid me quite a hefty sum there. As I recently conveyed to the creator of the Tagged profile, if that's how he treats people on a site where he's trying to promote his hotel, I can only imagine how he treats CUSTOMERS he finds less than appealing! Besides, when I called the hotel to try to contact him directly when I got no replies to my initial messages, whoever answered the phone was so unprofessional, I thought I'd dialed the wrong number.

MY RECOMMENDATION: Avoid this hotel like the plague! So far, the only thing I've been impressed with from Hometown Inn in Flint is its profile page on Tagged.

Effortlessly Moving My Hotel Room from Crash Pad to Spa Retreat/Think Tank OR Going from “Stay”cating to Urban Camping in My Favorite Urban Campsite

[Excerpted from How I Became an Urban Camper available at lulu.com]

I love watching television, and cable TV and I are on really good terms. Due to financial considerations, I went from having every cable channel available to just basic cable as cable costs continue to soar. So, staying at a hotel where I can watch HBO is always a treat. There’s always at least one movie that I want to see while there, as well as some of HBO’s other programming and specials. However, when I first started actually staying in my hotel room instead of just using it as a place to sleep and change clothes, rest and relaxation were the main reasons for my stays. I’d bring all of my spa products – shower gels, lotions, nail care kit, shampoos – and favorite snacks and beverages.

I also stopped going out to the local restaurants in the area and getting food delivered so I could spend every minute possible in my hotel room. I have developed a relationship with my Cottage Inn delivery guy who gets my order to me in record time due to my generous tips. I’m partial to their hot wings, Greek salad, and subs. I know most of the hotel staff, also, and they seem to be glad to see me when I arrive. I started taking a class for work and found out I could get a lot more work done researching and writing papers at the Comfort Inn in a quiet room with no ringing telephone, street traffic from the busy thoroughfare where I live near downtown Toledo, and sounds of the neighborhood children playing, which I actually enjoy when I’m not trying to think.

I was at the Comfort Inn writing a paper for class on Valentine’s Day in 2007, when the whole city closed down due to a huge snow storm. I got an “A” in my class. The next year, I had to take another class and got a laptop to take an online course. Of course, I spent many hours at the hotel using its wireless network to participate in discussion threads and complete assignments for my marketing class at the University of Phoenix. When I retired in 2008, from both my week day and weekend jobs, I started working part time as a consultant and using my writing talent to re-write a play I’d written two decades earlier and to write a curriculum guide for professionals in my field.

I completed both the play re-write and the curriculum guide at the Secor Comfort Inn. I also used the wireless service to create a website, start several blogs, including one in OpenSalon on salon.com (I’m FrogTown Diva), and publish my curriculum guide on scribd.com. Finding my home away from home the perfect place to create and write, I finally did something I’d wanted to do for years. I wrote a novel New Year’s week 2009. It took only four days because I’d been plotting the story in my head for over twenty-five years. I also wrote a couple of inspirational books(“Finding God’s Secret Place: A Spiritual Journey,” published on scribd.com and “Ten Cent Faith,” published on lulu.com as is my novel, all under pen names).

While at breakfast in the lobby, I struck up a conversation with a guy from Mississippi who was in town on a work assignment and when he found out I’m a writer, he told me about an online publication that was looking for reporters. He had been unable to find the publication’s website, so I gave it a try since I have fierce googling skills. I found the site and submitted an application. I got a job with the publication and wrote my first half dozen or so articles at the Secor Comfort Inn. I also wrote more plays there, including some one-act dramas I submitted to a theatre festival for inclusion in a readers’ theatre series, and created some proposals for my consultant job.

Now, if I have work to do that requires time, focus, a quiet setting, and intense thought, I just check into the hotel. I’ve even used my ChoiceRewards points whenever I need to do a project. It works every time. Only sometimes I go to the hotel to work and end up just resting and relaxing because I’m so tired. Who knew retirement would be so busy? There are still times when I go to the hotel just to rest and relax, but either way I always enjoy my stay. I even stayed at a Comfort Inn when I visited my home state, Texas, to go to my 40th Class Reunion July Fourth weekend in 2009, and spent a couple of nights there while in Houston. Unfortunately, I didn’t pay for the room so I didn’t get any rewards points. But I did get some when I stayed in a Quality Inn in Winston-Salem, North Carolina the next month while attending a theatre festival there.