How to stay safe on our trip

[Freyja]

Travelling with 5 children, safety is one our our main concerns. What scares me is the thought of driving through or accidentally stopping in dangerous neighbourhoods. Maybe even spending the night in a "eerie" place, without even knowing.

Any tips on how to avoid such situations when travelling in new territories in the US? We´ll be driving from coast to coast (NYC to LA) so it´s not like we´ll just be in one city and can easily do our research beforehand.
Should we stick to the cities instead of taking our chances on small towns? I´m afraid we might miss out of a lot of fun that way. Any particular hotel/motel brands to avoid?

 

[DMickey28]

Why not ask us on here?

When you have an idea of your route, ask on here about the towns and stuff? I am sure that someone would be able to help you with the areas!

Have a great trip!

 

[Freyja]

Thanks

 

[weregoingtodw]

I tend to look up all my hotels on TripAdvisor.com. Usually if a hotel is unsafe, a reviewer will have noted that at some point. You can generally sift through the comments to separate the unreasonable folks relatively easily.

Other than that, I am assuming with that many children, you'll have adjoining rooms? I would really advise getting hotels that have interior corridors with limited access (i.e., you need your room key to get in). Certainly not foolproof, but an added sense of security. Determine beforehand a few hotel brands whose properties seem trustworthy, and pick up their directories to take with you, if you're not planning your route beforehand.

Use common sense. If it doesn't feel right, chances are that it's not. Don't be afraid to tell a desk clerk you've changed your mind if you arrive at your destination for the evening and feel unsafe.

When the desk clerk is giving you your room assignments, insist on new rooms if he/she announces your room numbers out loud or you feel that another person may be watching you. There's nothing wrong with accepting a room assignment, waiting for the person behind you to leave, then walking back into the office and requesting a new one. Just let the desk person know you feel uncomfortable.

I was a single mom for several years and even now travel at times with just my DD and me. I've found that keeping a great awareness of my surroundings goes a long way, but you'd be surprised at how easily you can let your guard down, especially when you're exhausted and have your hands full.

I don't know the age ranges of your children, but I would be very, very hesitant to leave children of any age in a hotel alone. There are just too many things that could go wrong. If you do plan to do so, be sure that the oldest child left in charge feels very confident about how to handle him/herself in various situations (fire alarms, uniformed worker at the door, etc.).

I hope that helps!

 

[freckles and boo]

It is so hard to generalize something like that. Typically chain hotels/motels are a better bet than a mom & pop roadside motel. There are some cheaper chains like Motel 6 and Super 8 and those I would have to decide on a case by case basis. I prefer staying someplace with doors that open onto an inside hallway with kids. Also, while I wouldn't avoid small towns for safety reasons, they typically have a much smaller selection of hotels.

If I recall correctly, you are driving a southern route to LA?

 

[dimimi]

Wow! What an exciting trip! I would have to sit down and decide what I would want to see from NYC to the Pacific. I like the idea of asking people here and checking with Trip Advisor. I don't know the route I would take! You will have seen more of our country than I have! Enjoy!

 

[SandraVB79]

We stayed in a not-so-safe part of Hollywood. While using public transportation. So we had to walk through a couple of "eek"-streets between underground and hotel. (we = me and mom)

What we did: mind our own business, not stare at what other people were doing (basically selling all kinds of weird stuff out fo their cars), not linger in thise streets (just keep on going without running), don't show that you're a tourist (so not speak in your own language or look very confused) end keep a trial-sized hairspray bottle in your hand (works just as well as pepperspray! pepper spray is illegal in Belgium, so the police gave me the hairspray tip!)

Really, of all parts where we have been (I also went by myself on vacation), the only place where we felt weird was in that particular part of Hollywood.

I aksed for advice here on the boards about in what part of DC to get a hotel, and all ended well.
So, maybe post cities you would like to stay at and ask for each city advice on what part to avoid?

 

[Mkrop]

I agree with asking here once you have you itenierary.

Also how about getting a book from a company like Marriot and know where all their hotels are located. They have books by state. They also have one for Residence Inns and with your group this would give you more space, a full fridge and a stovetop at least.

When my BF was going to adopt domestically, she called and got this Residence Inn book bc she knew she would be required by most states to stay with the baby for two weeks in the state. She wasnt sure if she wanted to be in just a hotel room with a her, her DH and newborn, so she had this book available with all her adoption paperwork. Plus we talked about not having much time to research an area or it being a more rural area etc. She didnt need it as her son wass adopted in PA so she could take him home.

Anyway the book had listings all over the country.

 

[mill4023]

I highly recommend checking out TripAdvisor for each town you are thinking about staying in. If you stick to some of the higher end hotel chains, you probably won't have to worry much. For instance, you probably aren't going to find a Hilton or Marriott in a bad part of town. The cheaper chains aren't all bad, but they are more hit and miss. Howard Johnson is one example that comes to mind. There's a Howard Johnson near Disneyland that gets consistently great reviews, but I've also stayed in a couple that I would NEVER recommend to anyone. Places like Super8 are similar. They have some nice basic clean hotels and some that are bad.

That's all a way of saying "check TripAdvisor, especially if you are on a budget."

 

[barkley]

you could pull up local newspapers for the towns you are considering and do a search under the prospective hotel/motel's name and see if you get any hits for the past 6 months. this way you could see if there were any crime trends for a specific location.

trip advisor is a good resource, but often people that live localy know more about a particular location than trip advisor will reveal from a past disatisfied guest (there's a couple of hotels near our former home that get decent reviews on trip advisor but none of the locals would EVER reccommend that anyone esp. with kids stay in them-reason why? they have a history of being the 'protected' location some area parollees have been housed due to community outcry about where a released sexual offender can live ). same goes for some places i would have steered people away from when i worked for social services because i knew of their habit of doing long term lodging for my homeless clients and the kind of crime they encountered there.

if you post your proposed route you could probably get some good input from people here on this board-and don't totaly discount the smaller chains or 'mom and pops's' places-we stayed at a hotel with a very small 'chain' a year ago and found them to be awsome, and have subsequently stayed at an equaly awsome location in another state (and the people on trip advisor are just begining to get wind of these hotels so there are few comments to gain info. from).

as for additional safety-consider instead of doing adjoining rooms renting a 'suite'. we've done this at moderate priced places and we put the kids into the bedroom while dh and i sleep on the fold out couch in the 'living room'-that way we are in the only room with a door that exits into the hallway.

 

[PhotobearSam]

We like the Hampton Inn and Suites. We like the locations and they are part of the Hilton Family. They are along the interstates and they have a hot breakfast included in the price. I have yet to find one I did not like going from Canada to Florida on the East Coast.

GET a GPS unit. It saves a lot of time looking for a hotel.

 

[barkley]

I highly recommend checking out TripAdvisor for each town you are thinking about staying in. If you stick to some of the higher end hotel chains, you probably won't have to worry much. For instance, you probably aren't going to find a Hilton or Marriott in a bad part of town. The cheaper chains aren't all bad, but they are more hit and miss. Howard Johnson is one example that comes to mind. There's a Howard Johnson near Disneyland that gets consistently great reviews, but I've also stayed in a couple that I would NEVER recommend to anyone. Places like Super8 are similar. They have some nice basic clean hotels and some that are bad.

That's all a way of saying "check TripAdvisor, especially if you are on a budget."

i don't think you can always rely on the location a hotel chain chooses to build as a safety indicator. we had a marriott in our former town and it was in a nice location when originaly built, but over 10 years the neighborhood has changed and it's less than desireable now (the hotel drew in allot of restaurant/bars near by and there can be issues with loud drunks and fights, some vehical break ins and such). 1 exit earlier is a hampton inn that likely looks less desireable to people viewing it on trip advisor because it has'nt got a restaurant within a mile or so, but the upside is it's located among a block that houses a medical office and a credit union so it's quiet during the day, and once 6 p.m. hits it's downright tranquil.

 

[Freyja]

Wow. Thanks so much for all the great replies. I´ll definately be back asking a lot more questions once we get our itianary worked out.