CAPH52

Earlier today I made reservations to stay at a Microtel Inn near my in-laws in southern Illinois. It's a fairly rural area. There really are not a lot of lodging choices. We haven't been all that happy with the other places we've tried. As the Microtel looks out on a lake (the largest man-made lake in Illinois!), we thought we'd give them a try.

Because we planned to stay two nights, go elsewhere, and then stay another two nights, I thought it would be better to make the reservations by phone rather than online. At one point, I asked whether they had AARP rates. I was told that they did, but I was cautioned at least twice that I would have to show my card upon check-in. The young woman who was assisting me told me that the regular rate would be $69.95 per night. The AARP rate is $69.50 per night! When I said that it hardly seemed worth it, she said "It's 45 cents!"

Has anyone ever heard of a "discount rate" that was such a small discount? Also, anyone have any comments on Microtels?

bookhall

We stayed at a Microtel a couple of years ago out near Dayton. We were quite pleased.

My recollection is that they're all new-construction (no renaming of existing structures,) have excellent rates and are wired for tbe business traveler.

I agree--it's a small AARP discount, and may be specific to the one you've reserved. I'd ignore it, and just be pleased you've found very nice lodgings at a great price!

mamajo

Have you tried any 'on-line' reservation sites? Sometimes those will be lower priced...and then sometimes not.
If you've never stayed in a Microtel be prepared for a VERY small room...small closet, TV on top of that, window seat is the only chair (?) in the room.

BeachBoi

CAPH52....."Regular Rates" vary,according to season and even day of the week.I'm assuming you are speaking of the location @ Carlyle, which is a "resort" area,where seasonal fluctuations are the rule.At most hotels,motels,inns,etc, which offer any sort of discount--AARP, AAA,even government rates:these discounts are nearly always negotiated annually, and thus are set in stone.It has been my experience that hotels these days like to refer to ANY of their regular rates as a "discounted" rate, as part of their marketing strategy.At a different time of year,the AARP rate might indeed reperesent a significant reduction over the "regu;ar" rate.I hope this helps.

Patrick

Here's an even better one. Once when checking on the phone, I asked about an AARP rate and was given a quote. Then I remembered by partner had dropped his AARP membership (over a disagreement about how they spend their funds lobbying for certain things), and asked "or a regular senior rate". Guess what. The "senior rate" was $10 less than the "AARP" rate!

Another story involves friends who stopped without reservations at an interstate motel. When checking in, he pulled out what he thought was his AARP card and asked if it was good for a discount. They said it was and took off $10 or so. As he put it in his wallet, he realized he had showed them his local bridge club membership card!

FainaAgain

AARP rate is normally lower then the rack rate, also I don't believe the difference can be less then $5. Senior and AAA rates are normally lower.

Sometimes you can get the same Internet and AARP rate, the difference will be that the Internet rate you can't cancel, while the AARP you can cancel, usually 48 hours before arrival.

CAPH52

Just in case anyone pulls this up looking for info on Microtels, I wanted to post to say that our Microtel experience was quite pleasant.

Our first two nights were on the 2nd floor, our second two nights on the 3rd floor. In both cases, we had a very nice view of Carlyle Lake. And we were close enough that I was able to take a nice walk down to the beach.

While our room wasn't big, it was quite adequate. It was very clean and comfortable. And we enjoyed the outdoor swimming pool.

My only complaint (perhaps "suggestion" would be a better word), is that it would be nice to have a table in the room. Most hotel rooms do have one. And, while Microtel offers a continental breakfast (not outstanding, but better than the Super 8 down the road), they have only one table in the lobby. If you're going to be forced to take your breakfast back to your room, it would be nice to have a comfortable place to eat it.

On the whole, our experience was definitely positive.