GreasyGuide: Charlotte

Murrells Inlet,SC

Okay so it’s summer, gas prices are “off the chain” and everybody is trying to figure out how to have a little fun without going BANKRUPT! It is going to be a challenge this year but thank goodness for internet and phone ‘cause a sistah’s not going ANYWHERE unless it is to make some money or have a little fun.

If you’re in the QC, you’ve experienced some 99 degree heat ALREADY and if you’ve got kids around, you know that at some point, you’re gonna need a little R&R. I mean I’ve already started checking out Travelocity and sites like hotels.com for rates in some nearby cities – for those quick week-end getaways. Anywho, I’m thinking Murells Inlet (near Myrtle Beach), Asheville or maybe Charleston. Now, the rule for this year’s travel plans will have strict requirements: quick, pretty, near some water and most definitely AFFORDABLE.

With limited time right now, I can’t always go to every single travel site to compare hotel rates, so somebody sent me information on this great new site called HOTELS COMBINED. What happens here is every possible hotel in the world has been placed on one website supposedly at the lowest prices. So all you need to do is plug in your dates (you want to travel), pick the city or country you’re headed to, put in the number of guests (staying in the hotel room) with you, hit search and it returns all the possible options. I’m diggin’ this ease of use because it puts it all in one place.

For an example, when I hit Murrells Inlet,SC for July 10 - 13, this is the result I got back. Then, I checked Charleston, SC and this information came back. Finally, I looked into one of my favorite mountain cities - Asheville,NC and this is what things are looking like up there.

The cool thing about the HOTELS COMBINED site is that while searching it updates me about how many resources it has pulled from to get me the final results. That’s a nice touch because I feel like I’m really comparing all possible hotel and 800,000 or so travel websites making me feel like my search was complete - since I am one who does ALOT of comparison shopping, that’s a good touch. Anyway, I’m really looking forward to playing around with this new site as well as the local classics like AAA of the Carolinas to find some discounts and get some “hook-ups.”

Holla - Let me know if you’ve got some travel sites that you use and enjoy!

Grove Park Inn & Spa, Asheville, NC