The Best Hotel Happy Hours (and Other Complimentary Amenities) In the USA - On US Route 6

 A hotel “Happy Hour” is usually a quiet scene.  You pour yourself a glass of Chardonnay or Merlot and make small talk with a few other guests. Generally billed as a “wine and cheese reception,” it’s a welcome prequel to a night out and I have to admit, very appreciated, especially because most hotels (by and large fancy ones with big names) make you shell out beaucoup bucks for sample-sized snacks and drinks from your guest-room “Honor Bar.” 

The following establishments however, are standouts. They elevate Happy Hour and other amenities to Royal Treatment; spoiling guests with complimentary afternoon libations, wi-fi and hot gourmet breakfasts. (Sure, it might reflect in the room rate, but we don’t feel nickel and dimed to extremes.)

FIRST PLACE

Happy Hour at Magnolia Hotel
Omaha, NE

The Magnolia Hotel in Omaha, NE takes top honors for an unabashed, complimentary free-flowing beer and wine (a succulent private labeled Cab Sav from Napa) fest.  For one hour each afternoon, you can drink to your heart’s content, chat up the bartender (yes there is one! Be sure to tip him or her), then wobble down the street to Old Market for dinner.  Upon your return, expect warm cookies and cool milk before bedtime and a nice hot buffet breakfast in the morning.  Wi-Fi is also FREE at this boutique hotel in the midst of a fun downtown, making the Magnolia the best bloomin’ place to stay in Omaha. Magnolia Hotel; 1615 Howard Street, Omaha, NE (888) 915-1110 www.magnoliahotels.com $90-$190.

RUNNERS UP

Afternoon Wine and Cheese Reception
Crowne Pointe Inn
Provincetown, MA

The Crowne Pointe Inn - a cozy-hip place two blocks from tourist mayhem in Provincetown, MA hosts a low-key but bountiful wine and cheese hour.  There’s an extensive selection of both reds and whites, and a beautiful spread of cheese, fruit, crackers and other nibbles. In one of the most jubilant, gay (in all ways) resort towns in America, rooms on or near crazy Commercial St. can hike up sky-high in the summer.  But Crowne Pointe Inn guests enjoy the satisfying “happy hour,” unlimited use of the saunas and mineral bath in its world-class Shui Spa, and a savory multi-course, cooked to order gourmet breakfast for two.  And FREE parking! For Route 6 explorers in the land-of-no-parking-spaces, this is the ultimate perk! www.crownepointe.com 82 Bradford St., Provincetown, MA, 877-276-9631, rates $99-$650 and vary by season.

Ruth and Larry Stoll with Fresh Baked Goods
Atwood House B&B, Lincoln, NE

No booze, but there’s plenty to eat at the Atwood House B&B in Lincoln, NE, especially if you’re a fan of sweets. Congenial owners Ruth and Larry Stoll coddle their guests with white chocolate-dipped strawberries upon arrival, unlimited baked goods throughout the day and movie-theater-sized boxes of candy and popcorn to accompany your choice of in-room flick (from a vast DVD and Video selection). In the morning, you’re treated to an irresistible freshly-cooked gourmet breakfast served on bone china with linen napkins and Waterford Crystal.  All this in an opulent Neo-Classical Georgian Revival mansion just steps from the imposing Nebraska State Capitol Building. Atwood House B&B, 740 South 17^th St., Lincoln, NE, 1-800-884-6544, www.atwoodhouse.com, $85-$199