Personally, if you're staying in your own town.. I would rather spend the $ that I would spend on an expensive hotel room and doll up my bedroom to be hotel-like. Fluffy pillows, new soft sheets, candles, breakfast-in-bed trays. I like this because you get to keep your experience and remember the night whenever you use it or see it. With some planning it can be a great thing... choose music ahead of time, set the atmosphere, plan an outfit, make a day of shopping for food and cooking together.
Cooking at home together can be REALLY romantic and much more economical. Especially if you drink a little while you cook =)
My bf and I do this at-home date thing often. We just set rules. We have to dress up, we eat at the dinner table (small apartment so we bought a card table and put pretty linen on it.. that way we can store it), we talk and drink like we are on a date, no computer, no phone, and we don't turn on the TV unless we chose a movie together to watch. It makes it more enjoyable and I still get the thing I love about going out- which is uninterrupted time with my bf.