SandyBrit

Scarlet:

To be honest I do not want to stay in a room that has allowed a pet. Actually we have stayed at a La Quinta in NYC. The first time our flight home was cancelled and the hotel we had been at was fully booked. I remember some one on this board saying the China Town La Quinta was safe and good value for the money. We stayed there one other time on a quick weekend visit when other hotels were coming in for many more $'s. Did not see any pets! It was basic/clean/free breakfast and offered the senior discount.

Gail:

I am leaning to booking ahead and that's a good thought to get some thing that we can cancel by 6:00. Haven't mobile phones changed things? We were slow to get one but it has saved us a few times. Although these will be one night stays we'd like it to be nice after a day of driving.

Sandy

SamH

Hi Sandy. Unless you are wanting to stay in full service hotels I wouldn't bother booking ahead of time.

If you're like me and quite satisfied with HI Express or LaQuinta type places you will have no problem finding them along the way.

Do stop in the rest areas along the interstate to pick up the Motel discount booklets. Often these are older Comfort Inns or Days Inn, but you never know and if you're not picky you can get good deals.

I like to have flexibility when taking long trips.

bratsandbeer

We like to make our reservations ahead. Years ago we would find a motel along the way and ended up in some real dumps.

We determine about how far we will go and make a reservation. We tell the hotel it may be late when we arrive. So if we want to make stops along the way, we have extra time. Sometimes we stop along the way for dinner and then drive a couple hours to our hotel.

If we don't stop along the way, we get into the hotel early and go out for dinner.

This way you can review the hotels before making a reservation and weed out the truly bad places you wouldn't want to stay.

SandyBrit

SamH: Good tip about picking up one of those motel discount booklets at the rest stop.

bratsandbeer: Agree about weeding out the truly bad places so I do think I will be booking places ahead of time with the cancellation allowed prior to 6:00 pm

What a great response this question has received. Thank you all.

Sandy

Scarlett

<i>To be honest I do not want to stay in a room that has allowed a pet. Actually we have stayed at a La Quinta in NYC. The first time our flight home was cancelled and the hotel we had been at was fully booked. I remember some one on this board saying the China Town La Quinta was safe and good value for the money. We stayed there one other time on a quick weekend visit when other hotels were coming in for many more $'s. Did not see any pets! It was basic/clean/free breakfast and offered the senior discount.</i>

I don't blame you. If we were not traveling with him, we would not want that either. Generally speaking, most hotels keep a floor for pets and guests don't end up staying in one unless they have a pet with them.

NY is one of the few La Quintas that does charge for pets.. so that might discourage people.
I have stayed in 5 star Kimpton Hotels with my dog, I never see the other pets either..
And have never noticed any odors or signs of pets being there..

If you are not taking a pet, it doesn't matter anyway- I was just using our example of taking this trip without booking ahead, and the dog was secondary.
You will have more choices than we did.
Have a wonderful trip !

RedRock

In our 25 years of 'road tripin' we have never made a reservation nor have we ever had a problem finding a vacancy. About an hour before we want to stop we look at the map (AAA) and pick the area we would like to stay in. Last year on our 9.5K mile around the country r/trip we stayed in more than 30 different motels. The hardest part is the TV changer, no two are ever alike nor is the channel line up ever the same. We use the AAA Tour Books to determin what will be up ahead. Where there is one AAA motel there are many more that are not and in most cases just as good. Another thing we have found out. Always take a look at the room before checking in and paying. It is near impossible to determin the quality of the room from the outside. The biggest offenders are non-smoking rooms that have been smoke in or pet rooms. Have fun on your trip.

esm

Lots of good advice. I also like to take a couple of hotel directories with me on a road trip especially the chains with complementary breakfast.

Your question made me chuckle because of personal experience. Most of the time we don't make reservations ahead of time. We've only regretted this twice in 20+ years. The first time we were around Kenosha and all hotels were booked due to a show so we ended up driving until we found a roadside motel which was awful. The second time was somewhere in Indiana where all rooms were booked due to a KKK rally! Again we had to drive way past everyone's bedtime and found a room around 3 a.m. Have a safe trip

TxTravelPro

To me, part of the fun is planning what we will see along the way.
It's not hard to plan the drive on a trip like this... you will stop each night, no?
So what difference does flexibility make?
Plan out the route to maximize attractions and plan to stay in interesting places.
For this, I would make reservations just to make sure I am getting the best deal at the location that I prefer.

NeoPatrick

I too have usually done a combination of the above suggestions. Normally we make an estimate of where we think we'd like to end up and we make a reservation that can be canceled by 6. Then in the late afternoon if it starts looking like we want to get further than that or stop earlier, I'm already armed with a list of places an hour, two hours, and three hours beyond or before that. With a cell phone we can call ahead and see if they have room and the rates then either cancel the other one or keep it, depending on what we find.

esm, good thing you didn't stay where they were having that KKK rally. I'd have worried about holes in the sheets!!!

Rich

For us, flexibility means that if we happen on something we would like to see more of, we do . . the words &quot;planning&quot; and &quot;trips&quot; are never in the same sentence for us.

esm

Patrick, we didn't know what was going on but after the fourth or fifth motel we checked I asked the front desk if there was a special event and couldn't believe the answer. Needless to say, we got out as fast as we could!

ElendilPickle

Sandy, most motels these days have free Internet access using their computer in the lobby. If you want, you could prebook a room that way for the next night.

Do let us know if you plan to stop in Albuquerque!

Lee Ann

SandyBrit

Scarlet: Yes I did understand about your trip with your dog. I was not aware that quite a few hotels do allow pets to stay, learn something every day.

Red Rock, esm, TxTravelPro, Patrick - thanks so much for your comments.

LeeAnn: Yes I am now looking at finding somewhere for the night in Albuquerque. I am tired and reviews are all over the place. I just told my husband I must put this part off until tomorrow so was thankful to see you have joined in.

First night is booked: Best Western Inn Yukon, OK about 528 miles from where we live.

Sandy

starrs

I too book something with a 6 pm cancellation policy for &quot;just in case&quot;. If we decide we can drive further or are behind schedule because we stopped somewhere other arrangments can be made. I usually book with the 3 same groups so when I call to cancel I have them book a room at a different location at the same time.
When traveling with my pup, I stay at LaQuintas. We planned our route crosscountry last month based on LQs en route.
The rest of the time is either with Holiday Inn Express or Hampton Inns (ichotelsgroup or Hilton reservation #s)

ronkala

LeeAnn,
We will be in Albuquerque mid September for a ships reunion. Three nights at the Sheraton Uptown.

After that DW and I will spend two nights in Santa Fe at the Hol. Inn Exp, two nights in Taos and I'm thinking of either the Quality Inn or Best Western Kachina Lodge. Both got good reviews.

We also want to go to Chama for the train ride. Lodging doesn't look that great there. do you know of any places to stay between Chama and Taos?

Thanks, ronk

TxTravelPro

Rich,
Scheduling is not in my travel vocabulary... however research and planning IS.
It would be foolish to go somewhere without understanding and planning to some degree.
I do not believe anyone who says they do not plan anything for their trips.
Hooey.
You are on Fodors... you are planning.
You know there is a cool landmark you want to see... you are planning to see it.
You are not scheduling yourself, that's all.

Rich

We are in agreement . . other than the symantecs

Rich

. . and we do tend to just wander about sometimes

Scarlett

<i> and we do tend to just wander about sometimes</i>

And those are the times that some great discoveries are often made

cd

Sandy
When we do a road trip we never pre-book. As was stated above, we like the flexibility to continue driving if we want, sometimes it just does not feel right to stop. Or, stop if we're tired or we see something we like to visit for a hour or so.

What we do do is stop at the travel/welcome centers as you enter each state. They offer a green book with specials in many cities of the state you are in. We have picked up some good prices that way. Sometimes in the afternoon we decide where we think we will stop and call on our cell.

The freedom of a roadtrip is fun.