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First let's talk about hotel rooms. Lodging in many cities is getting more expensive. When you call and book the room, I've found you are not always told about the extra charges. There are often taxes and fees.

Runzheimer International, a Wisconsin-based travel consulting firm, says lodging taxes are up 17 percent in some cities.

Houston is one of those cities. It's the most expensive in the latest Runzheimer survey. Columbus, Ohio, and Seattle come in close behind, with a 16-percent lodging tax.

You'll find a 15-percent tax in cities like Cleveland, Milwaukee, Chicago and San Antonio.

Once again, when booking your reservations make sure you ask for the total cost, including all taxes and fees. There's a Website that will help steer you in the money-saving direction at www.runzheimer.com. It lists cities and lodging costs and the company tells me it's available to all of us.

The room taxes, which are rarely quoted to potential customers, go directly to local governments and are used for local services. These services rarely benefit the traveler. The traveler can't do much except complain and perhaps book a trip to another city, but that's not always an option.

If you're looking for places to visit with the lowest lodging taxes, try Billings, Mont.; Harrisburg, Pa., or Trenton, N.J. You'll find taxes of 6 percent or lower in these cities.

These aren't the most popular vacation cities, but a check with the tourism bureau in these low-tax cities might lead you to an unexpected surprise. We once vacationed near Lancaster, Pa., which has one of the lowest lodging taxes. There was plenty to do, plenty to see and, yes, we had a great time.