Ever hear of Cambria Suites Hotels? No? Neither had I until a representative from their PR company contacted me a few months ago to offer me a free visit to one of about a dozen locations nationwide. I looked up the hotels, and although they looked fabulous, there were none close enough to drive to in California so I passed. When we decided to drive across the country from California to Ohio, I contacted them again. They generously offered us a free night in their Oklahoma City property, one of the stops on our Christmas Roadtrip.
The Oklahoma City Cambria Suites is conveniently located right off I-40, near the Oklahoma City airport. It’s on a row of hotels, motels, and restaurants, and is set back from the main drag, so it was easy to miss it. We were a little lost in the dark, but found it without much problem.
On entering the hotel, I was immediately wowed by the lobby decor, which had a tasteful, modern appeal, like many posh urban boutique hotels. It reminded me of the W Hotels, but without the annoying hipsters in the lobby. I checked the prices online for this particular Cambria Suites, and rooms start at around $89, which makes it both luxurious and affordable.
The desk clerk told us that there are meeting facilities in the hotel, and showed us the boardroom conference room, and a meeting room large enough to hold about fifty people. Just off the lobby area is a small indoor pool and jacuzzi, and a well-equipped fitness center that is open 24-hours.
We were treated to a two-bedroom suite with two large bedrooms, a living room with a desk, and ample bathroom. The room was decorated with art photos and prints on the walls and funky vases that matched the clean lines and muted tones of the room. I’d like to hire their decorator to come and work some magic on my house, but first, he or she would need to bulldoze away the clutter. Of course, about two minutes after I snapped this picture, all three rooms were filled with our family detritus. I just can’t win on that front.
Anyway, my 10 year old Alex was immediately entranced by the three flatscreen TVs–one in each bedroom and one in the living room. He immediatly proclaimed that one of the bedrooms was his alone, claiming that he need a respite from the stereo-snoring of both his parents sawing wood in tandem. We took the bedroom with the door and let him watch TV to his heart’s content. When he finally turned in for the night, he looked out at the twinkling lights of Oklahoma City and said, “Have I ever been to Paris?”
When I told him, no, he hasn’t been to Paris yet, he said, “Well, Oklahoma City is what I imagine Paris would look like, all lit up.”
I was happy to take advantage of the free wifi in the room, and was able to upload some pictures of our trip so far onto Flickr, and update my Facebook and Twitter status. Ah, civilization! For me, that was better than Paris.
The next morning, we were treated to a hot breakfast in the lobby restaurant, although Alex begged for room service. This was the first hotel we’ve stayed in on the trip that actually offered room service, so it was tempting. The breakfast buffet was not the usual bagels-and-cold-cereal fare that most hotels offer, but a full array of eggs, sausage, bacon, and biscuits and gravy like my Granny used to make. Cambria Suites features Wolfgang Puck coffees (who knew he made coffee? not me) and Numi Teas, and a full bar. All in all, yum.
When was the last time you went to a hotel with a Ferrari showroom in the lobby? I somehow missed this when we arrived, but eagle-eyed Frank and Alex did not. They were entranced by sight of a sleek, black Ferrari right next to the restaurant. I don’t know if this is something specific to the Oklahoma City location, or if this is something that they just do.
We really enjoyed our night of luxury at the Cambria Suites. I’ll definitely be looking for them in our future travels. If they would just open a location in Paris, we’re there!
Disclosure: Our family received a complimentary night’s stay at Cambria Suites, but no other compensation or incentive to write this post. Photos and opinions in this post are original and those of the author and do not reflect the policies or opinions of the Choice Hotels Corporation.
Glennia Campbell has been around the world and loved something about every part of it. She is interested in reading, photography, politics, reality television, food and travel and lives in the Bay Area of the U.S.
She blogs about family travel at The Silent I and is also the co-founder of MOMocrats Beth Blecherman and Stefania Pomponi Butler, which launched out of a desire to include the voices of progressive women, particularly mothers, in the political dialogue of the 2008 campaign.
She found her way to Democratic politics under the tutelage of the late Rev. Dr. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., Cora Weiss, and other anti-war activists and leaders in the anti-nuclear campaigns of the 1980’s. She has been a speaker at BlogHer, Netroots Nation, and Mom 2.0, and published print articles in KoreAm Journal.
Professionally, Glennia is a lawyer and lifelong volunteer. She has been a poverty lawyer in the South Bronx, a crisis counselor for a domestic violence shelter in Texas, President of a 3,000 member non-profit parent’s organization in California, and has worked in support of high-tech and medical research throughout her professional career.
