I use Yelp or Google maps. Usually there are highly rated, small family owned motels. Nothing fancy, but clean, wi-fi and in $55 to $80 range. In the Midwest.

My wifei s a wizard at using Priceline. many times she gets $200 rooms for $80. She travels a lot, I don't know how she does it.

 

I use Yelp or Google maps. Usually there are highly rated, small family owned motels. Nothing fancy, but clean, wi-fi and in $55 to $80 range. In the Midwest.

My wife is a wizard at using Priceline. many times she gets $200 rooms for $80. She travels a lot, I don't know how she does it.

 

After reading Horrell's post about booking.com I took a look at it for a ride coming up next week. Very nice, uncomplicated site with some good info and rates. Always nice to see a pic of the place to see if it's the kind where you can park your bike at the front door.

 

motel 6 usually has good prices-nothing fancy. offer a 10% discount for AARP. it doesn't hurt to book a day or two ahead. most motels will cancel a reservation up to 4 p.m. of the day you planned on arriving. by that time of day, you should have a good idea of where you will be stopping for the night.

 

Booking.com is a great site to use as already mentioned. I used them years ago while in Ireland to find a hostel. Used hotels.com a few weeks ago on 3000 mile trip.

 

Ive booked thru hotel.com about 1\2 dozen times. It will give you a good idea of the prices ranges at a patlicular location and supply pictures of the accomindations. If you find a place that appeals to you call them directly and you will get the same deal without the middle man. I Prefere a room with an outside entrance that I can park right outside the door

 

GenesseeGap has the best advice. Be flexible.....

Booking.com will never show you all your options for a few reasons. You have to pay to be on the site, and you have to give up 15% of your rate. To a small hotel, that is alot of money. Many places will bump up the rates to cover that 15%, and just pass it on to you. You also have to have a reservations system that they can tap into, again, a large expense for small operators, so they can complete the reservation request. Not
everyone has those systems.

While Tripadvisor can be a good option, you really need to be able to sift thru the reviews to get a good idea of what you are getting. We'll use tripadvisor to check out places, but only after we have a good idea of what/where we want.

The best option is to do 'day of' or 'walkin' bookings. Rooms a perishable commodity. If you don't sell them today, you can't leave it on a shelf and sell it tomorrow. The best answer is to negotiate on the spot, you would be surprised how much leeway a desk clerk has, or a what a small operator can do.

How do I know these things? I own a B&B in a large tourist area. We don't offer booking.com for the above reason, and, not many places here do. Of the 35+ B&B's here, there are three on booking.com, all by the same owner. And, they just raised
the rate to cover the cost. They fill up by people using the easiest way possible to get a room, go online to one site and 'book it' because of the marketing push. You can see all the large hotels and chains on the site for this area, so you can use it, but you limit your options.

If you call us up in April for a room in August, I'm not going to be flexible on rate. And that is what booking.com is, asking me to be flexible and offer a discount in advance so you can book a room cheaply. But if you show up as a walkin, and I have a room that night, I will negotiate a good rate for something I might not sell, and you might get
a great room (and maybe a great breakfast) at a good deal.

It works. We did a fly and ride to CA last year for two weeks, and all we booked in advance was our arrival night in LA, and a house for a few days halfway between the trip so we had laundry facilities, etc, and all others we just did walk ins.

Does it work perfectly? Not always. Did we get to stay at our first choice all the time? No. Did we get good rooms? Yes.

The one caveat to this advice is to do a bit of research prior to about festivals and such. One year on a long trip out west, there was a military reunion of some sort in town, and no rooms were available for miles. Oh well....

So, use booking.com if you want, or use it for researching an area, and use tripadvisor to, but I don't think you will get the best deals if that is all you use, and that is what you wanted to do, is save money.

If you want to save some cash, you will need to put in a little effort and be flexible. Use the wifi at the hotel you are in tonite to book, or at least research, the room for tomorrow. Plus, if you don't have a pre-planned itinerary, you can be flexible and enjoy the ride.

Enjoy your trip........! (Sorry for the long post)

 

double post

 

Thanks, Peculierboy! I really appreciate the "insider" advice. Your suggested methodology would work for me, as I plan my longer trips on the basis of covering only about 350 miles per day, so that I have time to "absorb" the feel of each area I pass through. I could probably readily set aside some time after each day's ride to do some of the local research and negotiation that you are suggesting. Thank-you!

Jim G

 

Peculier boy has good advice. Just make sure you check availability first. In 1988, I planned to stop driving across Iowa around midnight. Turned out there was a big race in the state that weekend, and I never found a room. Had to drive in a blinding rain until I got to Omaha, Nebraska. Had to check in, pay full rate and check out by10 a.m.

I always make sure I have a room booked in advance. Like I was going to book a room in St.Ignace MI this weekend. Turns out it is the Chicago-Mackinaw Race, and rooms are booked. Going to stay in Manistique instead.
Have a great trip.