Glad I Checked

Part of our multi-way trip to Worldcon in Chicago next year (Emeryville - Chicago - Los Angeles - San Jose) involves using my Holiday Inn points for free nights along the way. While setting up other travel plans, I've just twigged to the fact that the San Jose Crowne Plaza hotel (ex-Holiday Inn, across the street from the Hilton downtown) is no longer part of the Intercontinental Hotels Group (it's currently independent, being remodeled, and will become a Hyatt Place next year), and the former Holiday Inn in downtown Los Angeles (near the Staples Center) where we stayed on our return from Montreal is now the Luxe Hotel. It turns out that there don't appear to be convenient IC Hotels near LA Union Station or San Jose Diridon Station. This will require reworking some plans; for instance, instead of spending the night before the trip at the Emeryville Hilton Garden Inn (walking distance to Emeryville Station) on Hilton points, we might have to stay at the Berkeley Holiday Inn Express (perhaps 3 miles away; probably a taxi ride what with luggage), so that I can use the Hilton points at LA or San Jose.

I'm glad I realized this now rather than months from now when the need to make a decision was more critical. It's going to be annoying to not be able to rely on the various Holiday Inn-chain hotels that were so convenient to where we wanted to stay, though. I've been trying to make the plans so that we can get where we want to go by train or transit, and by "transit" I don't mean "meandering city buses."