Dear Dave -
My husband and I were in the Oldenburg area this past September
(Cloppenburg, to be specific). You will probably want to spend some time at
the records center in Vechta where you can go through the various registers.
These records have been transcribed from the original church registers into
a typed format. Even though the records are in German, they are much easier
to read in a typed format than are the films. If you know the town(s) where
your relatives lived, the staff can point you to the correct volumes.
For hotels, I suggest an on-line search to find one that is closest to the
area you will be visiting and then check out the forums in TripAdvisor to
obtain a fairly unbiased review. We stayed at the Park Hotel in Cloppenburg
and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
Hope this helps.
Jan King