Nice Cheap Hotel On The Way & Back?

[Monroesmom]

We are driving this time, what is the best way to get the best price on a hotel on the way down and back? do you use a website on your phone? coupons from the rest areas??? We will be on the road, and won't know where we are stopping until we get tired! so no planning ahead! thanks.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

One thing we do is use Hilton Honors points and we plan our drive time to coincide with a nice stopping point in a town where the same Hampton Inn is lower tier than closer to town. And then it doesn't cost us anything.

Beyond that--I have a budget...and I start googling around for cities and then surrounding cities...because sometimes, the outskirts or just beyond is a wee bit cheaper than in town.

Same day booking is tough--but we just usually always stay in a Hampton Inn and shoot for $100 or less.

And since we like to know when the road trip is going to end...we do book ahead. But sometimes, due to changes in plans--like when I don't plan on stopping and was traveling by myself and was ready to throw in the towel, I call my husband and he goes on the big computer and searches around for me. I sit in a nice safe parking lot and he just finds hotels around me that have last minute booking deals available. And if they don't--he finds the cheapest one that meets my criteria: decent hotel with interior corridors. So if you have a computer with you--or a decent smart phone, you can do that when you start itching to stop. We usually stick with hotel websites. You can book for less on other websites, but I don't really know who all has the best deals.

 

[gk90]

We had good luck a couple of months ago using hotels.com on the phone--not the website (don't have a smartphone) but the phone customer service people. I told them what area we were looking for and they looked at what was available at what price. I also told them that I was looking for places with very good guest ratings in a decent area of Richmond VA, and they can tell you what kind of rating the neighborhood has as well and find you specials. They found us a Doubletree by Hilton right by Richmond airport for $76, reduced from $99.

 

[Praise2Him]

What we've done is when we get ready to stop, see which hotels are coming up at the next exit or so and call the hotel directly and ask for their best rate. After calling a few we call back the cheapest one and ask if they can do better. They usually come down a few dollars. We do have AAA also, so that's usually the best rate.

 

[eduk8r26]

I've used coupon books from rest stops, then check the reviews on my iphone before we stop.

 

[bearloch]

Did I miss where u are coming from? we drove from Mi and I too was unsure how far so I researched a few " chains" that offer free breakfast and pool etc. made a list of what was inportant to us (pool or not etc) and had phone numbers ready so I could call when we kinda had idea.. also as you stop at rest areas if they have a person working as them if they recomend anywhere. ! Durey inn were wonderfull along 75, nice free dinner and wonderfull breakfast. we them and loved it!.. la quinta... small rooms double beds: another thing is to get big enough beds so get good rest!! good luck and have fun!

 

[njmom47]

Driving home from Fl with my mom, we used her old TripTiks from AAA. We figured out what exits were coming up and she called AAA and had them search for a room for us and book it (my mom gave a top price she was comfortable with as well as certain amenities-we had a cat with us) and AAA booked the room for us.