Discover the perfect meeting of luxury, comfort, location, and, surprisingly, value, at the 5-star boutique Hotel Vernet. This Paris hotel is located on a quiet street near the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysee. The rooms are plush and comfortable, the food is excellent, and the staff is knowledgeable and helpful.

The Palace Hotel in San Francisco is indeed San Francisco’s first luxury hotel, iconic, with gorgeous architectural details. But iconic luxury can come at the sacrifice of comfort. We stayed here and can share the good and the not-so-good about staying here.

We recommend San Diego’s Marriott Marquis. It provides a resort-type experience in a downtown convention center hotel, and we’ve found it’s a great choice as a vacation home base for families. It’s also an easy place to bring your spouse and kids if you’ve got an event at the convention center to sneak in some family time while you’re not working.

A roundup of the best family-friendly activities downtown San Diego has to offer. Balance out the lines and crowds at Sea World, the Zoo, and Legoland with our tried and recommended suggestions, from biking to kite flying.

One of the best things to do, should you find yourself in Anchorage, Alaska with a pair of comfortable shoes and a moderate sense of adventure, is to head downtown, rent a bike, and head out on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail to see forests, wetlands, and maybe a moose or two. Don’t forget to stop for a reindeer sausage on your way back to your hotel.

A day of discovering Coronado’s Silver Strand bike trail: wetlands, wildlife, sailboats, and friendly strangers all around.

Red and green pickleweed grows from cappuccino colord mud flats at Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing on the Monterey Bay. At low tide, when the murky green water pulls back to the sea, walk out over that rickety wooden boardwalk traversing an old oyster bed. Look down. How many animals were here before you? The raccoons and herons must be heavy – they leave deep tracks. That milky gelatinous blob with the indigo stripe really is a jellyfish, or at least, it was. If you are there early in the morning, at low tide, you may get very lucky and see a mountain lion track, or maybe it’s a bobcat?

If you have one chance for a quintessential Parisian lunch, head directly to L’Ecluse François 1er in the 8th. Sink into a rich butterscotch leather banquette, sip a glass of wine or l’eau avec gas, order the lunch special of the day, whatever that may be, and listen to Ray Charles playing softly from the hidden speakers and enjoy.

Discover the super-hidden and quite delicious Secret Pizza in Las Vegas’s Cosmopolitan Hotel. Take a slice or three back to your room and watch the Bellagio fountains dance in the dark while you nosh. It’s the best dinner and a show you can find in town!