Must be a lot of backaches here. I usually call ahead to the hotel and ask for a firm mattress and then refuse the room if the mattress is not firm and if necessary a bed board. It is amazing how much a request can do, and then a polite refusal. They will find what you need. Nita KEn Becker wrote: > Helen, if you are traveling by car, you can carry a piece of plywood along to > put under the mattress. I am used to a hard mattress, and get a backache when > on vacation too. > Ken B