BudgetTravel

Marilyn& Pretty in pink

Marilyn Monroe fans will love the Ballantines Hotel in Palm Springs, California. After all, today you can stay in the very room that Marilyn used to love staying in from the late 1940's on. Each room here is cleverly (and elaborately) themed after celebrities, movies, etc. and Room #103 (The "Pretty in Pink" suite) was Marilyn's special hideaway in the desert. The poolside room is decorated with Marilyn images and even has its own 1000 piece Marilyn Monroe jigsaw puzzle.

The Babe slept here

If you're a baseball fan and you're travelling in New England, you'll want to make plans to stay at the charming Cranmore Mountain Lodge in North Conway, New Hampshire. In the 1940's, this charming bed and breakfast inn was owned and run by baseball legend Babe Ruth's daughter. Because of that connection, the Bambino spent many vacation days up here after his baseball career was finished. His favorite room, #2, has been maintained with all of the original furnishings that were there for the Babe and remains a popular stop for baseball fans the world over.

Red rum, anyone?

And on a last frightening note, Stephen King fans get ready. Late in the summer of 1973, author Stephen King, flush from success of his first novel Carrie (his second, Salem's Lot had been written by now as well) moved his family to Colorado. After discovering this hotel (about 70 miles north of Denver), he checked in to room #217 and was immediately inspired. While staying here in this room, he came up with the idea for The Shining. (Though in the chilling novel, the Stanley Hotel became a fictional hotel known as The Overlook, near a mountain town called Sidewinder.) The book would eventually go on to become a movie starring Jack Nicholson, Shelly Duvall, Danny Lloyd and Scatman Crothers, but it was not shot here. Director Stanley Kubrick had wanted to use the hotel but there was not enough snow, so he used exterior shots of Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood, Oregon. (All of the interiors were shot in England.)

These are a few of the hotel rooms you can stay in today that are not just affordable, but fascinating in their own right; each containing there own special brush with pop culture history.

Chris Epting has created many popular advertising campaigns over the last 20 years. He is also the author of six books including Roadside Baseball and James Dean Died Here, The Location's of America's Pop Culture Landmarks. Marilyn Monroe Dyed Here, More Locations of America's Pop Culture Landmarks comes out this May from Santa Monica Press.