Say goodbye to USA TODAY's Hotsheet, hello to expanded hotel coverage headlined by a new Hotel Check-In community. After three years on the Hotsheet beat, I'm checking out to return to writing travel news, trends and destination stories full time....

Faithful Hotsheet reader Mike Josephson wrote in to say: "Just wanted to share with you an experience I had with the Sol Melia Resort in Puerto Vallarta and suggest others out there in the vacationing world do the same. Check,...

Odd. We're in a recession. Vegas is not on a tourist hot streak, to say the least, and hotel prices are flatlining there. But show prices have never been higher. The Las Vegas Advisor has just completed its annual survey,...

Just a note to say that after three years, I'll be checking out of Hotel Hotsheet next week to focus on writing and reporting hotel, spa, trend, destination and other travel stories for USA TODAY, in print and online. My...

It did at the Legado Mitico hotel in Buenos Aires last week. I and my significant other were in BA on vacation, staying at this 11-room boutique property in the city's hip Palermo Soho neighborhood. Each room is dedicated to...

Desires Hotels, with properties in South Beach, San Juan and elsewhere, is launching another boutique hotel in Manhattan, giving anyone the chance to vote on the name. The grand prize: a free stay at any Desires property and airfare. Here's...

Chocolates at bedtime? So yesterday. The Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa outside Scottsdale, Ariz., is offering guests a soothing good-night gift for troubled times. It's the book Life is Good: Simple Words from Jake and Rocket. Guests can read...

The new Julia Roberts-Clive Owen spy caper gets five stars for putting luxury hotels in the limelight. The camera caresses so many of the world's loveliest suites (where the courting/battling couple passionately bed down) that Duplicity might well be subtitled:...

That's the question on a survey e-mailed to those who've stayed at The Leading Hotels of the World lodgings. The recession-inspired survey asks respondents whether they'll continue to travel as much, whether they'll opt for cheaper hotels and so forth....

A glass tower called theWit Hotel is due in downtown Chicago in May. It's a 298-room Doubletree -- the most cutting-edge one -- with a different, hip boutique twist. There will be a rooftop lounge, a multi-level, digital screening room...

Are you tired of worrying and getting a frown line etched on your brow? Let's change the mood and have a laugh. I know I need one. Please feel free to share the strangest or funniest thing that ever happened...

In this doleful, dismal and otherwise doom-and-gloom economic atmosphere, I see hotel execs and publicists increasingly angst-filled and trying everything to raise occupancy rates. Deals. Whimsical promotions. Contests. Spa credits. Golf credits. Resort credits of $100 daily at posh resorts....

Did you know that up to 10,000 people are expected today to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at the "World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade" in Hot Springs, Ark.? John Ratzenberger (Cliff on the sitcom Cheers) has been named grand marshal....

I just heard from reader Theresa Jorgensen, who has a family travel-oriented website called SixSuitcaseTravel.com. "Finding hotels for families of five and six can be difficult." she wrote me. "One parent told me that someone usually ends up sleeping on...

It's a trend in these troubled economic times. The idea is to allow consumers to pay for a stay in installments, which presumably is easier on some by not having to come up with a lump sum all at once....

What becomes of the brokenhearted, who had love that's now departed, as the popular oldie goes? Well, if they have the bucks, they can pack their bags, take their cuddle-and-coo pictures off the wall and check into The Marmara Manhattan....

1, 2, Whee! That's the title of Country Inn & Suites by Carlson's Spring Break sale. You get 33% off per night on a 3-night stay, plus breakfasts, plus a coupon for a free entree (when you buy two) or...

If you have some money for a vacation (yay!) and like the lush life, some of Europe's top lodgings are dialing down their rates during the peak May-September period. Get as much as 30% off and free breakfast at five...

The Concept: Travelers who’ve been let go recently can still take the vacation they probably need. When they book at Recreo in Costa Rica, they get a free night if they and a guest book four nights; two free nights...

Hmm, it seems as if the legendary Oak Room of Manhattan's revamped The Plaza Hotel is still trying to find its niche. Its current incarnation, unveiled after the renovation that gutted and updated the century-old hotel, clearly has not worked...