Staying Gay: Top Gay-friendly Hotel Companies

Avoid awkward questions at check in (you two gentlemen want one bed?). Discover the best gay-friendly hotel companies around.

For top-notch gay stays, we're beginning to be spoiled for choice. Attitude Hotels offers an extensive portfolio of hotels in three categories, Premium, Comfort, and Value, from the United Kingdom to Florida. Another excellent all-gay accommodation option is World's Foremost Gay and Lesbian Hotels, an intimate collection of some of the absolute best LGBT hotels, resorts, guesthouses and inns that includes The Cabana at Waikiki ; Fort Lauderdale's Royal Palms; Provincetown's Brass Key and the two top women's properties in the United States, the Highlands Inn in Bethlehem, N.H., and Pearl's Rainbow, Key West, Fla.

Some mainstream hotel companies trot eagerly out of their way to make LGBT travelers welcome at their properties, from putting together gay-specific websites and Pride packages to offering discounts and local scene advice to gay and lesbian travelers. These five homo-loving hotel companies deserve particular recognition for their efforts in making our overnights away from home a real treat.

1. Kimpton Hotels
www.kimptonhotels.com/programs/lgbt.aspx
With an impressive 100 percent score in the Human Rights Campaign's Equality Index for four years running for the way it treats its gay staff, Kimpton was always going to make this list. However, it doesn't stop there. The company wins extra points for advertising in LGBT media, donating to gay charitable causes and offering Pride discounts (10 percent when you type "PRI" into the rate code field) and packages, such as 70 Park Avenue's "Propose on Pride" package; from $249) in New York City.

2. W Hotels
www.welcometowhotels.com/pride
With innovative LGBT marketing campaigns and extra feathers in its cap for attention to detail, such as same-sex-inclusive wording in marketing efforts like the "Wow Vows" campaign, it's no wonder W wins so many gay admirers. The Pride 365 package includes hot rooms, cocktails and extras from subscriptions to Out and Out Traveler to a Puma travel wallet.

3. Hyatt
www.hyatt.com/hyatt/resorts/lgbt/index.jsp?icamp=HY_LGBT_BF
Another hotel collection with a perfect score from HRC, Hyatt also won 2006's PlanetOut Travel Award for Best Hotel Collection for LGBT Travelers. One of the first national hotel chains to advertise in LGBT media, Hyatt is also a sponsor of the GLAAD Media Awards.

4. Red Carnation
www.redcarnationhotels.com/gay_friendly_hotels
At Red Carnation's nine four- and five-star properties, all guests receive the same welcome. Concierges are ready to dispense insider tips on local gay scenes, and the hotels in London often host civil-partnership ceremonies. In addition to London, the group has hotels in Geneva, Palm Beach, Fla., and Cape Town, South Africa.

5. Joie de Vivre
www.jdvhotels.com
All of Joie de Vivre's 37 California hotels are gay-friendly, and LGBT occupancy ranges from 10 percent to 100 percent at San Francisco hotels during Pride, but the hip Phoenix and the sophisticated Hotel Rex are particularly gay-popular. The company, California's largest independent boutique hotelier, has a city guide, "The Gay Life: San Francisco Style," ready for guests at all its hotels.