Looking for a place just to lay our heads after a 10-11 hour drive before checking in to BLT on Monday 10/3. We were never able to get the night of arrival at BLT, so we just need a place to sleep that would give us a decent room with a short drive to BLT. Any suggestions? We will need two rooms, so the lower the cost, the better.
I'm not sure where you're coming from but I'd use priceline and look for somewhere in an area that works for you on the trip route or in the area. You might consider somewhere not quite in the Orlando area or at least something that you don't have to go out of the way to get to. We travel I 75 often and we usually use priceline for Ocala or Gainesville (usually Ocala). We've also gotten things in Daytona, St. Augustine and Jacksonville. If we're an hour away we can get up early, get breakfast and get to WDW to check in fairly early then if using the DP we have our credits ready to use.
The next is a little technically about our experiences with priceline and maybe some rambling so those not specifically interested might want to skip it.
Before using priceline I look at bidding for travel and use my own experience to get an idea of the prices to expect. Then I look at the area I'm interested in at see how many "areas" are included. For example Ocala has 6 (Ocala, Ocala South, Tavares, Silver Springs, Crystal River and Homossasas Springs). I normally target 2.5 star options as they are usually the sweet spot for us in terms of quality and price. 2 star (one priceline at least) can be iffy and 3 stars usually are usually quite a bit more AND less likely to include breakfast. Of those 6 noted, 2 are OK for me (Ocala and South) and one does not have anything above 2 stars. So that gives me 3 chances to bid and keep raising the price by $1 per. I usually get something between $34 & $50 before fees and taxes so rarely at $60 total. I think look at priceline's regular options and prices as well as they're express deal prices to get an idea.
But for Orlando one can often get higher to very high end for a moderate price, say $100 a night at the Gaylord for example. BFT also has lists of the usual hotels to expect in an area as well. There's a listing for the Swan for $72.50 and the Hilton for $76 from earlier this year. Priceline only guarantees sleep 2 so if I need more I may use reward points for Marriott instead and look for somewhere that has 2 queens instead of 2 full beds or just get 2 rooms depending not he breakdown. You can bid as often as every 24 hours if you're unsuccessful the first try. If you're bidding you have to either add an area drop a level in rating overtime you bid and/or wait 24 hours to try again. I'd be surprised if you couldn't get a 3 star for around $40-45 (plus tax/fees) and a 3.5-4 star for under $70. You could get 2 rooms then call and request the room type needed once you have the reservation. There are 2.5 and 3 star places in the area on express deals that would get you under $100 for 2 rooms and with bidding you could likely get 3 rooms for around $100 or just over with all fees and taxes for a 2.5 or 3 star.
I've actually been working on Ocala for a Friday night coming up but haven't been successful so far. I've been denied at my usual prices but it's a football Friday so that may be why. It's looking like I'll have to go up to about $56 plus tax/fees for the 1 night and if I do, I'll use my Marriott rewards instead for the reservation already booked in backup. I've had a lot of luck getting things in South GA and around the Jacksonville airport off I 95 as well.
Another option that can work well for a non Weekday night is renting Bluegreen points and saying at the World Golf Village between Jacksonville and St. Augustine. It's a min of 2 nights but weekdays the total can be under $100 for a 1 BR or $200 for a 2 BR, it's not financially feasible for weekends that involve Fri through Sun nights though.
