We do it both ways, depending on the type of vacation and where we're going. The last time we went without one, we had to drive another two hours to find a room as there was a state high school basketball tournament that took every room for miles. My advice: if you're not going to make reservations, you should join AAA and have their books in the car with you so you can check out what hotels are in the area. If one hotel is full, you will at least know what others are in the area or in the next town. With a cell phone, you can always make a last minute reservation.

No, never. Half the fun of traveling is the anticipation, the planning!

Many, many years ago I traveled throughout Europe for a month without reservations. Only in Amsterdam did I have a problem finding a room; even then a hotel clerk took pity on me and called a neighbor who "put up visitors". Though she spoke no English and I no Dutch, she was very kind. She showed me a photo album of other people she had put up. She even served a huge breakfast! We traded Christmas cards for years. To this day, the Amsterdam portion of my trip remains a favorite memory.

We travel to Vegas every year and travel for about 10-12 days from there. We only ever get a room in Vegas off the strip then wing it when we head out on the road. We've been from Vegas to LA, SF, Reno and just gotten a room along the way. The only time we ever had trouble was about 10 years ago when we traveled with our two teenagers from Mt. Rushmore to Deadwood and they had a huge motorcylce rally in Sturgis and we had to drive all night into the early morning to find a room in Montana. Other than that we never know where we are exactly going to be but I do have bring some places with me with phone numbers depending upon the general area we end up. Have fun.

We did it in 1984 and will never do it again. We flew to the Midwest and were driving all over the Midwest and found everythign was full in every town/city we tried and it was scary. This was in about 5 states and it seems everyone had some kind of festival going on. We now make reservations and just make sure we get there that night.

We have traveled for two months throughout Fiji and New Zealand, a month in Finland, and a month in France, without ever having booked ahead. We find that we can then choose our hotel, when we see it, rather than hope that it will be as good as the ad says. Also, we get better rates by bargaining on the spot. We have only had a problem a couple of times in France when most places were booked, and we ended up at a holiday Inn rather than a nice resort, but all of the other risks were well worth it. We are going to Maui and Kauai for 6 weeks in Novemebr , and will try the same approach there. For us, it's all part of the adventure. Cheers, Al

Love this thread.

I am a planner, coupled with a non-planner, spur of the moment guy. We used to make a lot of reservations. On driving trips, we make next to none now.

We went to Biloxi and back from Chicago, just recently. We got marvelous places to stay without any reservations and stopped whenever we felt like it. If we wanted to stay more time in one place than previously planned (which we often do) then we are not rushed or "put out."

In all USA trips and some in Italy, I have never had the experience of not finding a decent place. I think it was dicey only one time in Memphis. I like to plan too, so sometimes I sneak a reservation in for a special place on a middle day or one or two towards the end- but I'll never reserve every night again on a driving trip.

You must plan to know the "season" and conventions levels of the stops you are making, as much as possible- though.

Judy24

I think you're missing the point so let me state it another way.

If I guarantee a reservation my credit card is going to be charged whether or not I show up. And in hotel parlance, doing that translates into "GLA" (Guaranteed Late Arrival) in hotel parlance; far, far, different from an "arrival by 6 PM reservation".

Now I've fulfilled my part of the bargain and because I've guaranteed the reservation that means I can show up when I want (and if I don't, I'm charged anyway whether or not the room I reserved is used by someone else).

Hotels play "yield management" and trying to sell every room to the extent that rooms sold = arriving guests w/reservations. (And when the latter outnumbers the former there's hell to pay.)

Airlines play the same game. Suppose I purchase a ticket, show up when I'm supposed to (whatever the time specified PRIOR to the flight for check-in, baggage checking, security, etc. etc.) and there's no seat for me.

If that's the case the airline is obligated to pay a penalty - denied boarding compensation (a punative action) and report it to the FAA.

All I'm saying is that in the case of a hotel, when I fulfill my part of the bargain and they choose to "gamble" and guarantee more reservations than rooms if everyone holding a guaranteed reservations shows up, then, quite rightly, they should pay a penalty (just like the airlines) if they can't provide what they've contracted to provide to me as the "GLA" guest. Sending the guest who's fulfilled their part of the bargain to some other place (with the guest having no choice in the matter) doesn't strike me as cricket.

There should be compensation for the inconvenience - same rule as the airlines.

BTW, guarantee a reservation for late arrival at a hotel (that's convenient with regards to your next morning's appointments) and show up and be denied a room and shuttled off someplace (might even be a dump), that's far away from where you planned to stay and see how you like it.

I've found that reservations are a must for our family. We can't even agree on where to eat lunch so I don't want to have a debate trying to pick a city or hotel as we travel. I do lots of on-line research and make reservations ahead of time. This lays out the time table for our trip. Sometimes we've wished we'd been more flexible in our schedule, but minimizing the opportunity for conflict or not wasting time making decisions has been worth it.