Lake in St. James Park London showing Hotel Poet creative travel ideas

The Hotel Poet

Creative Travel Reviews

Dive In

Travel Differently

See the world.

Travel Vicariously

Know everything before you go anywhere.

Travel Creatively

Roam like a poet.

Hannah Huff creative travel blog writer at the Oval cricket stadium in London.

Meet the Hotel Poet

I’m Hannah, an underpaid poet enamored with traveling. Using my poet’s lens, I’ve learned how to make glimmering memories from thrifty trip itineraries. These Hotel Poet destination guides will help you do the same. Together, we’ll explore the itty-bitty, the nitty-gritty, the sun setting on the city you’re dreaming of visiting. Let’s go see the world.

About the Hotel Poet →

What’s New

Where to Go, Where to Stay

These are the lastest drops from the desk of the Hotel Poet. Visit London, fly from Long Beach, and never ever rent a car from Thrifty at the Atlanta airport.

Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall Review: Home is Here (and Free Beer)
Hotels

Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall Review: Home is Here (and Free Beer)

by Hannah Huff

We ignored the Staybridge Suites Vauxhall hotel in our initial London hotel search because it sits south of the Thames. We figured that any spot across the river's sloshing, silty body would put us inconveniently far from the action. We imagined slogs across wind-swept bridges covered in river spittle as cars whizzed by. Thankfully, our Kensington VRBO fell through, twice, and we had to book something the night before flying across the Atlantic.

Frontier Airlines window seat view over California desert
Travel Journal

Finding the Muse on Frontier Airlines

by Hannah Huff

Take-off is awe-some every time. The acceleration, faster than my little human body has ever felt, the ache to levitate, the feeling of floating when the wheels finally leave the tarmac, the astonishment that I'm no longer bound to ground, that me – little old me! — can defy gravity, and on a budget too!

Inside Long Beach Airport's atrium with palm trees
Transportation

10 Reasons to Fly From/To Long Beach Airport (LGB)

by Hannah Huff

Did you know that Long Beach Airport (LGB) is California's oldest airport? Neither did I. Once you visit though, you'll realize why this roost for restless planes has survived for more than a century. It makes 21st-century flying easy – like the good old days. And that's not just because the circa-1940 terminal still stands, Streamline Moderne-cool. Rather, it's because the whole pre-flight process is streamlined. Mellifluous. Flowing. As gentle as a California beach breeze. Some may see Long Be…

License plate from Atlanta Airport Thrifty Car Rental
Transportation

Never Ever Rent from Atlanta Airport Thrifty Car Rental

by Hannah Huff

On the cusp of Memorial Day weekend, "B" and I landed at the sprawling Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). Surprisingly, our Frontier flight screeched to a stop right on time. Even if we dawdled on the long haul through the world's busiest airport to the Thrifty at the rental car center, we'd still have enough daylight to explore Atlanta's smokin' barbecue scene later.

Learn How to Stay, Away

Your New Home for Away from Home

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

Fog over the Golden Gate bridge on a San Francisco vacation

Destinations

Like any good book, these 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 →

Airplane window seat view on a trip to Vegas

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 Pete's Hotel and Casino shuttered on Las Vegas road trip

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 →

Start Your Journey in Las Vegas

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…

    Read More…

  • 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…

    Read More…

  • 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…

Explore More

Forget Travel Essentials

This is Travel Minutiae

Hotel Poet travel guides cover what everyone else forgot to review. I’m talking granular, diagnostic, nook and cranny, gold-locket-in-sidewalk-crack kind of writing. You won’t find it anywhere else.

Ever gone sight-seeing inside your hotel room? Smell-smelling around a casino? Welcome to traveling creatively with the Hotel Poet. Even if you’re on a budget, both the beaten paths and the roads less taken gleam with potential adventure gems.

After all, poets don’t earn much, so I’ve learned how to extract the most out of traveling with very little. Like any good book, the landscape is just waiting to be read, so open the first page and get ready to roam like a poet.

When you journey vicariously via the Hotel Poet, you’ll find answers to questions you didn’t know you had about your destination. I’ll tell you everything about where I’ve been, so you know it all before you go.

Close-up of iron chain near the Golden Gate Bridge tourist destination

Spring 2026 Featured Hotel

License plate from Atlanta Airport Thrifty Car Rental
Transportation

Never Ever Rent from Atlanta Airport Thrifty Car Rental

On the cusp of Memorial Day weekend, "B" and I landed at the sprawling Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). Surprisingly, our Frontier flight screeched to a stop right on time. Even if we dawdled on the long haul through the world's busiest airport to the Thrifty at the rental car center, we'd still have enough daylight to explore Atlanta's smokin' barbecue scene later.

Visit Casa Palma Hotel with the Poet