Nominate Your Favorite Digs
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"Darn Good Digs Reveals Outstanding Accommodations with Budget Prices" - Arthur Frommer 
Darn Good Digs are the world's best independently owned accommodations with rooms under (and often way under!) US$150. Budget-minded travelers nominate their all-time favorite places to stay, and our editors carefully research each nomination to determine which hotels are the most extraordinary. Hotels cannot pay to be included.
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Lemon Tree Inn: great place for a budget traveler
Lemon Tree Inn is less a guesthouse and more of a bed-and-breakfast, minus the breakfast. I first found this gem on the website lemon-tree-inn-91768.los-angeles-metropolitan-area.com for "cheap places to stay in LA area" when I was booking my accommodations for a business conference several years ago. Unlike most of the hotels, which were booked up, Lemon Tree still had rooms available, mostly due to the location. Situated in the tree-lined streets of Pomona, it’s a 5-minute subway ride and additional 5-minute walk from the Business Centre, where the convention was being held. Oh well, a little walk never hurt anyone.
Check-in is inside the Coffee House, a small café owned by the Inn. There you can check in, grab a bite to eat, and sit with a crossword puzzle while you wait for your room to be made up. Or, if you're more adventurous, you can leave your bags with the friendly hostess and bar staff and wander around the adorable shops, bakeries, and restaurants that make up the artisan quarter of the city.
The Lemontree Inn, like all other parts of Pomona, prides itself on being quirky and unique, and this kind of charm it has in spades. The rooms are themed, from the mint green, leafy garden room (with garden terrace) to the bright red, stately ambassador room. For price and availability, not to mention cuteness, I chose the Landau room for my boyfriend and I, and the room was gorgeous. Small but cozy, it featured a fake fireplace, a large wooden bed, and all the charm of an Old West room done in soft pastels. The best part, of course, is the price. The most expensive room, the Ambassador, is $170 single/$180 double per night, while the least expensive, the single Perrin room, is $89/night (according to roadtrippers.com/us/pomona-ca/accommodation/lemon-tree-motel). Of course, this may seem a bit steep, until you find that even a youth hostel is going to set you back 50 bucks, and at least the Lemon Tree rooms are all yours, including a private bath, and come with a cleaning staff and safe.
The hotel is constructed from two buildings which have been combined into one. As a result, you’ll have a half-flight of steps up to some of the rooms. If stairs will cause you difficulty, be sure to say so when you make your reservation, so they can reserve you a room on the elevator level.
This hotel also states it is “pet-friendly”; still, your pet will cost you $30 extra per day - orbitz.com/Los-Angeles-Hotels-Lemon-Tree-Inn.h7750931.Hotel-Information. There are many shops which line 2 of the corridors featuring jewelry, a ticket booth where you can get theater and game seating, a Victoria's Secret shop which is not yet open, a gift shop and other services.