TRAVEL CREATIVELY

The Hotel Poet

Poets experience life differently, absorbing teensy sensory details most folks miss. We see spigot sheens and smell the pillow’s floral perfume whiff. Appreciating minutiae transforms ordinary moments into extraordinary memories, and travel from an activity into an experience.

Travel Differently

See the world.

Travel Vicariously

Know everything before you go anywhere.

Travel Creatively

Roam like a poet.

Learn How to Stay, Away

Your New Home for Away from Home

The Hotel Poet is a written word tour guide that curates trip experiences. Like other hotel review sites, this one will help you decide where to go and where to stay. But unlike other sites, the Hotel Poet’s creative travel guides help you see the world – and thus, travel – differently.

Granular essays about travel destinations

Destinations

Like any good book, my travelogues will transport you from your lawn chair to your dream destination, all while showing you the sights from here to there.

Where to Go →

The Hotel Poet transportation guides

Transportation

Travel is all about the journey and I know how to get around. I’ll tell you about my road trips, my bus odysseys, my worst flights – every step of en route, so you can easily find your way.

How to Get There →

Whiskey Petes Hotel and Casino Closed Las Vegas Trip December 2024

Hotels

Hotels, motels, the Chelsea Motor Inn. Read granular, essay-style reviews that range from the hotel lobby lighting to the evening gym aroma at places I’ve stayed.

Where to Stay →

Neon horse and cowboy sign near Fremont Street in Las Vegas

Things to Do

Experiences transform spaces into places. I share mine, so you can discover uncommon things to do, along with entertainment ideas to make the most of your time elsewhere.

What to Do →

Featured Travel Guide

Ah, Las Vegas, that permanent circus settled between the Red Rocks and the sunrise and the big sky and the fragile lake that quenches the thirst of the entire West.

  • The Vegas Trip: From SoCal to Paradise

    The Vegas Trip: From SoCal to Paradise

    In deep winter, my restlessness fully fledged, I started planning my biannual trip to Vegas, that geode of a city that sparkles amid the Mojave’s thick dark. At about four hours driving time from Southern California, Las Vegas, NV is the ideal long weekend road trip destination – and not just to gawk at…

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  • The Signature Las Vegas is a Suite Deal, But Bring a Fork

    The Signature Las Vegas is a Suite Deal, But Bring a Fork

    The three towers of the Signature at MGM Grand All Suites rise up near The Strip’s southern end like a trio of Art Deco cheese graters. These 38-story-tall vanilla and gold triplets glitter a block east of The Strip’s main action. Despite its name, The Signature at MGM Grand isn’t actually at its parent…

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  • How to Get Around Las Vegas Without Looking Like a Tourist

    How to Get Around Las Vegas Without Looking Like a Tourist

    In deep winter, my restlessness fully fledged, I started planning my biannual trip to Vegas, that geode of a city that sparkles amid the Mojave’s thick dark. At about four hours driving time from Southern California, Las Vegas, NV is the ideal long weekend road trip destination – and not just to gawk at…

    Read More…

This is Travel Minutiae

The Hotel Poet focuses on overlooked travel details.