Yes/No Detroit

*Disclosure: I was treated to a 2-night stay at the Kensington Hotel in exchange for this post. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. This past weekend, I was in Ann Arbor for the Cinetopia Film Festival , which continues this week in both Ann Arbor and Royal Oak, and was fortunate to stay at The Kensington Hotel. The Kensington is located near I-94 and is right near Briarwood Mall, which meant it was a quick 10-minute drive to UM's campus. The hotel has been recently renovated, I believe in 2016, and you can tell: its lobby is bright and modern, and my pictures don't do it justice as to how pretty it is. I arrived in Ann Arbor on a Friday afternoon, after an exhausting 1 hour and 45 minute drive from Clawson—normally it only takes about 50-60 minutes to get to Ann Arbor, but between 4pm rush hour traffic and a few accidents along the way, it took FOREVER. Upon check-in, I was offered water and/or a glass of champagne, which was a thoughtful gestu...

*Disclosure: I received a complimentary stay in exchange for this post. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. I am a huge fan of the west side of the state: from Grand Haven (one of my all-time favorite Michigan towns), to Saugatuck, to Fennville, there is a ton to do and see there, and it's a quick 3-hour drive from the Detroit area. I was very excited to spend a night at the Hop & Vine Inn in Fennville this past weekend. Before you ask me, "Where is Fennville?", you should know that it's about a 10-minute drive away from Saugatuck, and has its own small-town charm. I was very familiar with Fennville before my visit—some friends and I do a girls trip every year, to the west side of the state, and two summers ago, a friend and I stayed at an Airbnb house in Fennville. Hop & Vine Inn is located right off the Blue Star Highway in Fennville, and is only about a 5-minute drive to downtown Saugatuck. Amber and Dan are the inn owners; th...

*Disclosure: I received a hotel stay in exchange for this post. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. This past weekend, I was in Ann Arbor all weekend for the Cinetopia Film Festival , and from Friday through Sunday, I was able to stay at the Red Roof PLUS+ near UM's North Campus. I'll be honest and say that I've never stayed at a Red Roof before. This Red Roof has a great location: it's about a 10-minute drive from downtown Ann Arbor (8 minutes if you're coming from the Kerrytown area, according to my GPS) and conveniently located near US-23, as well. I checked in on Friday morning and was tired from driving all day - I had stayed in Ann Arbor the previous night for Cinetopia, at a friend's place, then had driven back to the Farmington/Walled Lake area for a doctor's appointment and to see my parents. Check-in was easy and the front desk staff was very friendly. I stayed in room 106, which was on the back side of the building ...

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. As long-time readers of this blog surely know, I travel quite a lot. A few years ago, I only took about 2-3 trips per year, not including trips in the state of Michigan (Grand Haven weekends, etc.), but this past year, I was fortunate in that I was able to travel very frequently. I recently heard about a new travel site, DirectHotels.com , which is similar to Kayak.com, in that it searches all of the other travel sites (Orbitz, Expedia, etc.) to find the best deals for you. I gave it a bit of a test run to see if that is indeed true. About the site: DirectHotels.com is a new hotel comparison tool that challenges the big brands. Travelers can easily compare all the travel sites in one place to find the cheapest hotel. DirectHotels.com compares over 200 bookings sites, so users can be sure about its accuracy. Using DirectHotels.com means that you will never overpay. I did a few sample ...

*Disclosure: Hyatt Place provided me with a one-night stay in exchange for this post. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own. This past Saturday, I went to a friend's wedding in Clarklake, MI, and then was able to spend the night at the new Hyatt Place in Ann Arbor. Clarklake was about an hour and a half drive from my house, but is only 45 minutes from Ann Arbor, so I was definitely grateful to have a hotel room for the night. Hyatt Place opened on October 3rd in Ann Arbor, and it's located on State St. near Briarwood Mall and I-94. I'm very familiar with Ann Arbor as I'm a UM alum, so I was excited to try out the new hotel and also have the chance to hang out in downtown Ann Arbor the next day. The first thing you'll notice as you walk into the hotel is that the lobby is very open. The area pictured above is technically its Gallery, where you can grab a bite 24/7, but you can sit and hang out there even if you're not eating, too. There a...