THE RICH GET RICHER

January 05, 2009

CLEARWATER, FLA - I've been travelling in and around North America for quite a while, and it still kills me how the hotel business works.

I just finished staying at a posh resort (yeah, it's a tough life) in St. Petersburg, where rooms are several hundred dollars a night and then they stick you with a $22 per night "resort fee." As if paying the room rate isn't enough, you have to pay for things you might not even use. And if you want a cup of coffee during the day to wake you up, it's $3 for a simple Starbucks blend in the lobby. Breakfast likely will cost you $15 to $20.

On the other hand, if you stay at one of the cheaper chains - I was at a Fairfield Inn by Marriott last night - you get free breakfast with everything from belgian waffles and fresh bagels to yogurt, boiled eggs, five kinds of cereal, oatmeal, fresh fruit, coffee and tea and three kinds of juice. The high-speed internet is free. And the coffee is free all day in the lobby. And the room? Seventy eight bucks. There's a small pool and a hot tub but no resort fee. You gotta love it.

HOCKEY? WE DON'T WATCH NO STINKING HOCKEY

Hate to tell you folks, but I couldn't find a word about the world junior hockey tournament in the local papers down here. Of course, the Dolphins were in the NFL playoffs on Sunday (well, they were on the field, anyway; we're not sure what Chad Pennington was doing) and the University of Florida is in the NCAA/BCS number one playoff thingy on Thursday against Oklahoma. Plus it's college basketball season.

Still, if anyone in the city of Tampa Bay outside of the Lightning organization has ever heard of John Tavares I'd be shocked.

Posted by Jim Byers at 09:04:32 AM in canada, Current Affairs, florida, hotels, ontario, Sports, Travel, united states

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Travel Blog by Jim Byers

Jim Byers is the Star's Travel Editor. He has been writing travel stories for more than a decade, covered five Olympic Games and spent years covering the Blue Jays, the Toronto Raptors and the PGA Tour. He's been everywhere from Bonavista to Vancouver Island, as well as China, Hong Kong, Australia, the Caribbean, Thailand, Mexico, Tahiti, New Zealand, Vietnam, a dozen countries in Europe and just about every major city in the U.S. Okay, he was only in Liechtenstein for a couple hours in a rental car and his only visit to New Orleans was when he was 12, but you get the picture.

January 05, 2009