When choosing a hotel, I have different preferences for different kinds of trips. If it’s a road trip where I’m rolling in late and out again early, cost, clean and convenient are the three C’s.

If it’s a longer trip and it’s possible to stay within walking distance of my activities, a downtown location is terrific. If looking for something quieter or will need the car a lot, I prefer to stay away from downtown city streets that can easily be congested and where parking costs add up quickly.

When we stayed in Cincinnati this last time, I wanted a convenient location in a quiet neighborhood with free parking. I have stayed in downtown a couple of times and that wasn’t the right setting this trip.

After a quick look at the area around Cincinnati proper, my eye wandered up the map to Blue Ash, a nice suburb with reasonable prices and convenient access to the highway. It was a 15 or 20 minute drive to our first destination each day but I didn’t mind since we had no reason to return to the room during the day and there were bookstores to visit on the way back both days.

We eventually chose to stay with Sonesta Suites. I don’t recall ever staying with this chain before but we couldn’t have been more pleased.

It’s set up like condos with a variety of room types. I had chosen a king suite so these two introverts could have a little space to stretch out. The suite was to have a living room and nice eat-in kitchen.

It was a full house when we checked in and we learned upon arrival that we had been upgraded to a deluxe suite. That meant we had a second bedroom and bathroom. Both were unneeded but it was fun to have!

It was all so light, airy and comfortably furnished, we hated to leave. Plus, we were able to park close so we could keep an eye on the car. Not that it mattered. The neighborhood seemed safe and it was so peaceful we awoke to the sound of chirping birds each day.

The eat-in kitchen has full sized appliances and is equipped well enough that I could have cooked a meal here. Of course, that didn’t happen but we did order food to enjoy here each evening.

You can tell they have taken some steps to cut costs and to reduce plastic waste. At breakfast they use big bowls of yogurt rather than disposable single serves. There are pitchers of cold drinks and a nice display of baked goods rather than prepackaged granola bars and bottled drinks. I liked that about them a lot. Plus, the hot food was decent too.

We won’t always have an upgraded room but I plan to make this hotel my go-to anytime I need a place to stay over there.

A quick look at their website confirmed that all Sonesta locations are not created equally but I will certainly consider them in future travels!