open road.jpg

Please don't use the "S" word in my presence. You know the one. Starts with "S" and ends with "taycation." It positively chills me to think about would-be travelers staying home. Like, in their houses. Watching TV and eating chips or something. When they don't have to! People, I don't know if you've heard, but a close friend of yours (me!) coined 2009 the "year of the travel deal." You see, I have insider information, so I'm allowed to make such statements.

photo courtesy of IgoUgo member RobAA

But let's face facts -- not all of us have the money to get on a plane and jet-set to an exotic locale. That doesn't mean that you shold stay home, blinds drawn, watching hour upon hour of Travel Channel programming wishing you too could take a vacation. You can! Hotel rates are down -- way down in some parts of the country -- and now's the time to jump in the car, hail a cab, or whatever it is you do to get from A to B and take advantage of the great hotel deals just down the road. You don't need no stinking flight!

Travelocity just named eight cities whose residents and neighbors should stay local this spring. These are places where hotel rates for spring are down more than the national average. You can read the details here, but if all you want is the list, here it is.

Cities with the best hotel discounts this spring:

1. Charlotte Hotels - average rate down 17 percent

2. Chicago Hotels - average rate down 20 percent

3. Honolulu Hotels - average rate down 15 percent

4. Las Vegas Hotels - average rate down 34 percent

5. New York City Hotels - average rate down 24 percent

6. Phoenix Hotels - average rate down 16 percent

7. San Diego Hotels - average rate down 17 percent

8. San Francisco Hotels - average rate down 15 percent