Does anyone "wing it" with overnight accomodations on drive down??

[The Duchess]

We're driving from Southeastern Mass with DS (6) and staying over two nights.
Previously, we have always made hotel reservations in advance, plotting out mileage.
Thinking about "winging it" and either just stopping at a hotel when we get tired, or calling a few hours ahead for reservations.
Anyone ever done this? What's the likelihood of a Hampton Inn or Sheraton being sold out on I95? We will have printouts of all I95 Exit Numbers and available lodgings at each exit.

 

[allshookup]

We always just wing it and look for a Hampton Inn along the way. We never make reservations and we've never had a problem getting a room. We also never drive I95 anymore. We avoid it like the plague, because there is way too much traffic thru all those cities. We take the mass pike to 84 to 81 to 77 to 26 to 95 in Columbia, SC. We leave here (north of Boston) at 5am and usually stop at the Hampton Inn in Hillsville, VA at appx. 7pm. We are back on the road at about 7am and we hit Florida at appx. 3pm. We pack a cooler so we eat in the car but we do stop for a bathroom break appx. every 3 hrs. So as you can see...it seems longer but actually takes less time to go what we like to call "the back way". Just another idea for you to think about.

 

[mickeymousefan]

Hi, We are planning to wing it this January. We did walk into an Amerisuites on the way home from our last trip, at midnight, and got a $59.00 rate. The room was a suite and huge!!! This was not off 95 because we made a side trip to western NC, but I think we will have the same luck this time too. We are leaving from South Jersey at 4:00 am and plan on driving until we are tired.
I plan to print the coupons from www.travelcoupons.com and pick a few hotels out in different cities so we at least know our options and what rate we can get. We really hope to make it all the way to Orlando, grab a cheap hotel and then check into Disney first thing the next morning. Good luck!!!

 

[tmli]

We always wing it when we make an overnight stop. We usually stop in the tourist info booth when we enter the state where we will spend the night. We have gotten some great coupons this way!

 

[Cruisin]

We never make reservations on the trip to Florida and back and so far have not had any trouble getting rooms.

 

[The Duchess]

Thank you! That's reassuring.

The past three trips we have also done the non-I95 route, but DH is bound and determined to do I95 this time

 

[Uncleromulus]

Have done it both ways--but when we "winged it" , several times we were unable to get our first choice in motels. Last time we winged it, we could only find a "suite" at a Holiday Inn. And only that after spending almost an hour going from exit to exit along I95.
Now we ALWAYS have a reservation--.

 

[dbogen]

We Winged it lst Nov. as someone stated we just stopped at the visitors center and looked for a hotel with an indoor pool. I called about an hour in advance and had no problem getting our first choice. Best of luck with the drive, we did it from CT and stayed in Georgia on the way down and I think South Carolina on the way back.

Deanna

 

[Harligirl]

Hi

We are seasoned drivers to Florida from MA! We usually leave at some awful hour - like 3:00 in the morning or so to get through the NY traffic. Then my husband does this crazy drive not stopping until we go over the FL border!! He is nuts! We usually stop at a rest area for a couple hours to sleep (we have a conversion van- so kids are comfy!). When we do stop for a room, we wing it and never have trouble.

The only thing I dont like is the ride home Never any fun having to leave!!

Good luck!

 

[The Duchess]

The ride home is the worst!!

I think we will also leave about 3-4am.
Last trip when we left near the end of October and went by way of Rt84. It was snowing!!

 

[BuzzMe]

"Winged" it down to Florida last year and had no trouble getting Hampton Inn Christmas eve and Christmas, as well as on the way back Jan 2 and 3.

 

[twoeeyy]

We also live outside Boston and we do take 95 ( not sure why just old habit ) We never have a reservation we usually stop somewhere around South of the Border.

The only time we had a problem with NOT having reservations was one time on the way home, we did not realize it was Bike Week and there were no rooms.

We have been known to go without even reservations for in Florida, we always ended up on International drive and never had a problem getting a room for a good price, this was of course in Sept. or Oct. not the summer.

 

[magsmom]

I always wing it. I also take the trip to Myrtle Beach - make that in a day bu leaving MA around 2:30. The only time we have had problems getting a room was right after Christmas when the Snowbirds are on their way to FL.

Yes, the WORST is the drive home. Especially the second day.

 

[toystorymom]

You may want to take into consideration what day of the week you will be travelling. We decided to just wing it one time and had a horrible time finding a room. We stopped at every hotel we could find for I don't know how many exits and everything was booked solid. I was on the phone with AAA and even they were having a hard time. Maybe there was some big convention or something, I'm not sure, but it was awful! This was a Saturday night in June a few years ago. I wouldn't take that chance again but it sounds like so many others have had such great experiences.

And I agree, the ride home is the worst!!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

We've always made reservations, except the trip a year ago when 5 out of the 6 of us got a stomach virus coming home and we weren't able to drive as far as we'd planned. We didn't have a problem getting a room and that was during spring break. We had our AAA book with us so had a good idea where hotels along the way were located.

T&B