About 20-30 minutes south of Kansas City and 15 minutes southeast of Hillsdale State Park and its miles of horse and walking trails and about 40 minutes northwest from La Cygne Lake with its winding horse trails is the city of Paola.

Tired from hiking for hours and occasionally getting lost in the winding trails of Hillsdale Lake (won’t be a problem for you with the guidebook!), I pulled into the Paola Inn & Suites, and to my surprise, I got a Jacuzzi Suite room. It means exactly what you think it does from the name – it features a large spa bathtub. For someone who’s been on the trail all day, it’s about as good as it gets.

Jacuzzi Suite

That’s not the only option for rooms. They have standard double queen rooms up to king suites with a separate living area with a fold out couch, seems like the best option for families or groups traveling together. They also have handicap accessible options with walk-in showers and handrails in the bathrooms.

Paola has a couple of bed and breakfasts, but this is the one full service hotel. All the 39 rooms (not just the ones with giant bathtubs) in the 3-story hotel have a microwave, mini-refrigerators, an iron and ironing board, and free WiFi. And in the morning, there’s a full, free! continental breakfast spread. During the summer, you can enjoy a dip in the pool outside, and if the trails nearby weren’t enough of a workout, there’s an exercise room at the hotel.

It’s on the east side of town, just off the Highway 169/7. It’s listed as two-star, and I stayed in some not so nice two-star hotels over the summer working on the book, but this is definitely one of the good ones! It’s clean, the beds are comfortable, and the staff seemed genuinely happy to help.

If you go:
Rooms from $107

1600 Hedge Lane Court
Paola, KS 66071
913-294-3700 or 877-402-3700