Two questions:

1. Can a hero choose NOT to be escorted to a location?

2. It seems rather odd that there is a choice here of forfeiting one favour (in payment for the escort) or getting a 'free rest' (shuffling cards back into the life pool). Should the payment of a favour be compulsory and not an alternative: Pay one favour AND THEN shuffle the cards into your life pool in order to be escorted...? (This would mean that if the hero had no favours s/he could NOT be escorted to another location (unable to pay the fee). In the games we have played so far taking the 'free rest' option has given the hero player what seems to be unfair advantage (especially if the secret mission is to collect favours).

Elendil23 said:

#1: Pay attention to the wording, IIRC most of them do offer a choice. Last game I drew the Ranger (Yellow/Orange #6 I think) which gives you the option of spending 1 Favor to move to Fornost and then Encounter the Haven.

#2: Free rest is nice, but there are times when the free teleport comes in handy. Need to remove a Plot from Fornost (A Broken Line of Kings), but the way there is crammed with Sauron's forces? For 1 Favor you get a free ride, avoiding all the nasties. You can also heal in a Haven, so if your rest pool has only a few cards, but your damage pool quite a bit, might as well reach the Haven now, in order to heal next turn.