Food find: Ghirardelli cookies

I don't know how you travel, but usually, my standard for choosing hotels is that they are clean and safe. I typically end up at a budget hotel because chances are, I'm just going to sleep there.

But Katie and I found a deal. When we got off the turnpike in Oklahoma, we were concerned; all the hotels we saw were beyond seedy and offering specials as low as $22. I'm usually not that picky, but I'm not going to stay in a motel that needs to advertise "Rattlesnake free since 2003."

So we kept driving until we got to Seventh in downtown Tulsa. The first thing I saw was the Doubletree, which looked like it was out of our budget. They had a palatial lobby and it was something like 12 stories high. There was even a wedding going on Sunday night, so I doubted we could get anything reasonable. To my surprise and delight, it was only $99 per night weekends.

I was sold.

Then there were the cookies. It's a Doubletree thing that they give you a cookie when you check in and the history is interesting. Katie and I were thrilled. They were ghirardelli chocolate chip cookies with walnuts and they were delicious. Moist, chocolately and full of a variety of texture. You can get the recipe here, but I can't vouch for it's authenticity (although I hope to try it later in the week).

Plus, the room was fabulous. Neither Katie nor I had ever stayed in a place this posh. Our beds had all kinds of goose down and high-thread count linens. We each got four down pillows and it was all set up quite nice. My only complaints was that although there were some really nice Neutrogena toiletries, when I took a shower the tub didn't drain. Kind of icky.

I don't know when I'll find a budget deal like this again, but I sure did enjoy their cookies and accommodations.