I am typically a Hilton Hotels guy – this is also the reason why most of the hotels I visited on my October 2022 trip to Florida have been driven by this brand. However, for the very last night in Tampa, I went for a Choice Hotel stay. The Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South has been actually the very first time I spent a night in that brand of the hotel group. Quite exciting for a travel-addict like me – here are my thoughts about the stay.
Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South – Location
The hotel is in fact located on the Southern part of the city of Tampa. The Gandy Bridge (route 92), some Port Tampa facilities and the MacDill Air Force Base are likely the key landmarks of the area, which is a rather basic residential one. However, I did not feel unsafe – the people around felt very friendly.
There are some basic hotels and stores around. A Dollar Tree is more or less across the road. In front of that store, there is also a bus stop, which might not really be of touristic value. The hotel offers free parking though. There are a bunch of car services and petrol stations around, as well as some basic hotels and restaurants. Britton Plaza is a basic shopping mall.
Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South- Room
I honestly did not even know that Sleep Inn is a Choice Hotels brand, so that I booked the hotel on booking.com. The one night stay in mid-October 2022, Monday to Tuesday, was 95.45 USD, including tax – which has been a really unbeatable price for a comparably central location. Sleep Inn & Suites Hotel stays generally include breakfast.
Already the first steps into the room strongly reminded me of Hampton Inn stays on the Hilton Group side. The hotel room was maybe a bit more spacious and definitely more modern than the average Hampton stay on my trip. The large stool (or table to the sofa, depending on you finally use it) had some significant marks from previous guests, though. The room also had a large work desk, a coffee machine, a fridge, TV set and a microwave oven – so you just cannot decline that there is some competition with the peer provider of global accommodation solutions.
The bathroom with US-style bathtub felt really warm and nice and was absolutely clean (as well as the whole room). There was also sufficient space for my bathroom stuff. You had all you need in the bathroom, including the necessary basic amenities.
Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South – Breakfast
The breakfast was nice as well and featured some good items. Again, I would strongly compare it to Hampton Inn level breakfast – I would even rate the Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South experience above my general Hampton experience.
However, the breakfast staff was a bit too rude. I strongly felt that the lady who cared for the buffet did not like her job. What I especially disliked was that she was conspicuously watching each and every guest when they got some new food from the buffet. Rather a German habit than a US-American one. The refill of the buffet was also a mess. Filling up a half-filled bowl of scrambled eggs instead of the bread and pastry, which was practically empty, gave a doubt on her attitude. Very sad, finally that experience is the only really negative experience I will report in this review.
Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South – Service
Especially the check-in, but also the check-out was very friendly. I liked the atmosphere in the hotel, even though there were rather simple people and you just could not deny a slight touch of weed in the elevator in the evening. The hotel also drives a nice little gym and an outdoor pool (typical US hotel pool, I forgot to take some snaps), which is a nice feature for a Florida stay.
Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South – My View
The Sleep Inn & Suites Tampa South is not luxurious. It is not posh. But it has good staff (apart from one person I ran into), nice rooms and provides you a nice stay. I felt that they did an absolutely good job. I highly appreciate the performance, which is a straight and clear Top Pick!.
Hotel Reviews (without Hilton Hotels)
Here are all my hotel reviews, apart from Hilton Group locations:

Hrafnavellir Guest House (Hornafirdi, Iceland)
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Comfort Hotel Malmö
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Mercure Hotel Tilburg Centrum
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Adagio Hotel Bremen
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Quality Lodge (Best Western Premium Collection) Larnaca
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Even Hotel Pittsburgh Downtown
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IntercityHotel Hannover Hauptbahnhof Ost
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Quality Inn Pittsburgh Airport
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Premier Inn Hamburg St. Pauli
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Holiday Inn Express Glasgow Airport
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Comfort Inn Blackpool Gresham
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H+ Hotel Köln Brühl
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hub by Premier Inn London Soho
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Premier Inn Peterborough City Centre
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Acta Arthotel (Andorra La Vella)
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Premier Inn Saarbruecken City Centre
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Sofitel London Heathrow (Terminal 5)
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Regiohotel Schanzenhaus Wernigerode
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Clarion Collection Hotel Hammer (Lillehammer)
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Hotel Fürst Bismarck (Hamburg)
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Novotel Krakow Centrum
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ibis Hamburg St. Pauli Messe
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Premier Inn London Southwark (Southwark Station)
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Lillehammer Turistsenter Budget Hotel
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Holiday Inn Washington (near Newcastle UK)
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MAP Boutique Hotel Nicosia
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Hotel Hubertushof (Anif near Salzburg)
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Radisson Red Oslo Airport
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Premier Inn Inverness Centre River Ness
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INNSIDE Dusseldorf Derendorf
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Holiday Home Wonderland (Ralingen)
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Red Roof Plus+ Nashville Airport
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Paola Inn and Suites (Paola, KS)
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Premier Inn Portsmouth City Centre
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easyHotel Frankfurt City Centre
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IntercityHotel Hamburg-Altona
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Courtyard by Marriott London City Airport
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Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura
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Premier Inn London Paddington Basin
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Comfort Inn Nashville – Opryland Area
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Epsilon Hotel London-Stratford
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Microtel Inn by Wyndham Long Island City
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Holiday Inn Helsinki City Centre
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Premier Inn London Gatwick Airport South
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Falkensteiner Hotel Bratislava
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OYO Hotel St. Louis Downtown City Center
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Adria Hotel & Conference Center (Queens, NY)
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Premier Inn Hamburg City Millerntor
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The Cockpit Suite at Jumbo Stay Stockholm
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Premier Inn Cologne City South
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Holiday Inn Express Oberhausen
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Airport Hotel Grasteinn (Keflavik)
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Road Stop Motel Dortmund
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TownePlace Suites Mississauga-Airport Corporate Center
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The Retreat Palm Dubai – MGallery by Sofitel
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Avani Ibn Battuta Dubai Hotel
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Albergo delle Alpi (Airolo)
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Delta Hotels by Marriott Toronto
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Hotel Kjarnalundur (Akureyri, Iceland)
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The Wellness Loft at Romantik Hotel Reichshof (Norden)
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Hotel Sunset (Kelsterbach)
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ME Hotel Dubai
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Hotel Restaurant Lewald (Bolzano, Italy)
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Mercure Gloucester Bowden Hall Hotel
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Hotel Laxarbakki (Akranes, Iceland)
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Holiday Inn Helsinki Vantaa Airport
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Hotel Duus (Keflavik)
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H+ Hotel Lübeck
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Hotel Alpina Wellness & Spa (Kössen)
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Leonardo Hotel Düsseldorf Airport (Ratingen)
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Radisson Blu Espoo (Finland)
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InterContinental Toronto Centre
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Litli Geysir Hotel
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IntercityHotel Munich
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Hotel Maranello Village
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Nordseehotel Wilhelmshaven
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Hyatt Regency Cologne
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Hotel Nord (Guardamiglio, Lombardy)
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Mercure Hotel Hannover City
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IntercityHotel Hamburg Main Station
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Novapark Airplane Hotel Graz
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Moxy Cologne Bonn Airport
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InterContinental Dubai Festival City – One Bedroom Suite
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Melia Calvia Beach (Mallorca)
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Novotel Suites Hannover City
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Hotel Marina Wellness & Spa Port Soller
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IntercityHotel Saarbruecken
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TRYP Hotel Celle
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Pullman Sharjah
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INNSIDE by Melia Palma Center
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Hotel Massimo D’Azeglio (Rome)
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Hotel Abbazia (Venice)
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NH Rijnhotel Arnhem
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Santa Catalina (Royal Hideaway Hotel) Las Palmas, Grand Canary
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Babylon Hotel The Hague (Den Haag)
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Leonardo Hotel Munich City Center
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Fleming’s Express Hotel Frankfurt
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Motel One Salzburg – Mirabell
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Park Inn by Radisson Papenburg
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Hotel Flora (Milan)
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NH Collection Munich Bavaria
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Maritim Hotel Cologne
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Voss Chocolate Hotel (Schokoladenhotel) Westerstede
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Hotel Grossfeld Bad Bentheim
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The Fair Play Suite at the Kameha Grand Hotel Bonn
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Pullman London St Pancras
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Bonn Marriott Hotel
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ibis Dusseldorf Main Station
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Novotel London Canary Wharf
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INNSIDE Hotel Dusseldorf Hafen
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NH Collection Eindhoven Centre
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IntercityHotel Nuremberg
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1st Creatif Hotel Elephant Munich
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Mövenpick Hotel ‘s-Hertogenbosch
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ibis Styles Amsterdam Central Station
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Avalon Hotel Bad Reichenhall
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Golfhotel Bodensee (Weißensberg)
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ibis Styles Konstanz (Constance)
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Serways Hotel Weiskirchen Nord (A3 Autobahn, Rodgau)
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Vliegtuigsuite Teuge (NED) – Sleeping in an Ilyushin IL-18
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Novotel Paris 17
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OYO Hotel & Casino Las Vegas
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Hotel Korpilampi (Espoo, Finland)
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Motel One Zurich
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Marriott Hotel Al Forsan (Abu Dhabi)
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Crowne Plaza Madrid Airport
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Hotel St. Gotthard (Zurich, Switzerland)
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Toyoko Inn Frankfurt Main Station
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Hotel “Zum Goldenen Ochsen”, Aschaffenburg
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Melia Hacienda Del Conde (Tenerife)
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Johanniter Gästehaus Münster
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Motel One Glasgow
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Fairfield Inn & Suites Indianapolis Downtown
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Premier Inn Sunderland City Centre
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ibis Madrid Centro
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Premier Inn London Stratford
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ibis Luxembourg Airport
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So/ Sofitel Singapore
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ibis Styles London ExCeL
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Cotswold Lodge Hotel Oxford
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ibis London City – Shoreditch
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ibis Amsterdam Centre
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Holiday Inn Express Memphis Airport Elvis Presley Blvd
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Hotel du Bois (Paris)
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One Farrer Hotel Singapore (Review)
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Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi Yas Island (Review)
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ibis London Canning Town (Review)
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Best Western Premier Parkhotel Kronsberg Hanover
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Hotel Allegra (Kloten, Switzerland)
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Novotel Sheffield Centre
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Novotel Glasgow Centre (Review)
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Novotel Zurich Airport Messe (Review)
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ibis Madrid Aeropuerto Barajas (Review)
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Scandic Hotel Gävle Väst
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Alexander Thomson Hotel Glasgow (Review)
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Gran Hotel La Laguna (Tenerife)
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Melia Hotel Barajas Madrid (Review)
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Hotel Olympia (Thessaloniki) – Hotel Review
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Novotel Dubai Al Barsha (Hotel Review)
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B&B Hotel Aschaffenburg – The No-Thrill Hotel
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Garni Hotel Crystal Kraljevo (Hotel Review)
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John Hotel (Flushing, New York City)
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Novotel Toronto Center (Hotel Review)
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Blue Bay Lodges Curacao (Hotel Review)
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A touch of Orient in a Munich Hotel Room
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Hotel Glärnischhof Zurich (Hotel Review)
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Azor Hotels Ponta Delgada (Review)
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Germany’s Largest Hotel – Staying at the Estrel Berlin
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Sercotel Malaga (Hotel Review)
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Novotel Suites Mall of the Emirates Dubai (Hotel Review)
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The Riddle Room for Geeks
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Free Entry Locations (USA)
Here are all my free admission reviews, which are related to the USA:

Big Mac Museum (North Huntingdon PA, Pictured Story)
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Riding the TECO Line Streetcar in Tampa
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Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame (Nashville)
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Riding the Kansas City Streetcar
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Tennessee State Capitol (Nashville)
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World Chess Hall of Fame & Museum (St. Louis)
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Cooter’s Place Nashville
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Tennessee Judiciary Museum Nashville
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Smithsonian’s National Zoo (Washington)
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Nelson, Nevada – A Ghost Town
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Pittsburgh Light Rail – It’s (partially) for free!
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Pittsburgh Christmas Market and Ice Rink
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National Postal Museum (Washington)
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Tina Turner Museum (West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center)
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Science History Institute Philadelphia
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ICON Park Orlando – A new Entertainment District
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Atlanta 1996 – 22 Years later
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