Utah offers a variety of lodging options, from typical American chain motels to luxury hotels -- primarily in Salt Lake City, Park City, and Deer Valley -- plus delightful bed-and-breakfasts, rustic cabins, and some pleasant and inexpensive mom-and-pop independent motels.
The chains here are the same ones you see everywhere else in America: Best Western, Comfort, Days Inn, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Motel 6, Quality Inn, Sheraton, Sleep Inn, Super 8, Travelodge, and so on. They look about the same as those found elsewhere, and have the same levels of service. In most cases, their rooms are little more than boring boxes of various sizes, with beds and the appropriate plumbing and heating fixtures. If you're lucky, you'll get a decent view out the window. Since enjoying the magnificent indoors is probably not one of the main reasons you've come to Utah, these chains might be just what the doctor ordered.
On the other hand, if you are exploring Temple Square and enjoying the numerous cultural offerings in Salt Lake City, our choice for lodging would be the Inn at Temple Square. At Bryce Canyon National Park, we love to stay in one of their delightful Bryce Lodge cabins. And if you really want to be pampered after a hard day on the slopes, you can't beat the upscale properties at Park City and Deer Valley.
Another option is a B&B. There are numerous bed-and-breakfast inns discussed in the following pages, and when you take into consideration the delicious breakfasts prepared at most of them, the rates are fairly reasonable. Why spend $90 for a boring motel room and then another $10 to $15 for breakfast when for just a bit more you can instead sleep in a handsome home, often uniquely decorated, and be served a delightful home-cooked breakfast?
Other lodging choices in Utah include cabins and a handful of small independent motels. Both are usually fairly inexpensive, although they often lack the facilities, such as pools, spas, exercise equipment, and so on, that you'll find in most chains. We still prefer the cabins and independents, though, because they're often a very good value and the rooms usually have at least some personality (can anybody actually describe the decor of the last Super 8 or Days Inn they stayed at?), and cabins, although sometimes a bit primitive, are often in beautiful settings.
House-Swapping--House-swapping is becoming a more popular and viable means of travel; you stay in their place, they stay in yours; and you both get an authentic and personal view of the area. Try HomeLink International (Homelink.org), the largest and oldest home-swapping organization, founded in 1952, with over 11,000 listings worldwide ($75 for a yearly membership). HomeExchange.com ($50 for 6,000 listings) and InterVac.com ($69 for over 10,000 listings) are also reliable.
