We are doing the SF to SD drive in August.

Most of the hotels I've been looking at seem to be over $200 per night.

We are not overly fussy people, just want a decent location and a clean room.

Any hotel suggestions that are in the $100-$150 per night range? Is this even reasonable?

Place to visit

SF
Yosemite
Monterey/Carmel
Santa Barbara
LA
San Diego

Thanks!

La Quinta Inn & Suites are great hotels that are clean, free breakfast and free internet and they are usually less than $150.

Use Priceline or Hotwire.

Try Priceline for SF, San Diego and LA but don't stay in downtown LA. As far as the beach communities, there might be a few in your price range but availability may be scarce. Do a search on something like Expedia to see if any come up in your price range, then go to tripadvisor to check reviews or ask about a specific hotel here on Fodors.

Here on Fodors you can a search for budget hotels in each city. For example, search "budget hotel in San Francisco" and see what comes up. I know the subject has been discussed often here.

Actually I can recommend several hotels in SF that have free parking since I am assuming you will have your car in the city. Try Columbus Motor Inn, they have free parking. They also have several sister properties listed on their website. Parking in SF can run from $35-45 dollars a night.

There is a nice Residence Inn downtown.
It used to be an apartment building from the 1920's, and Marriott purchased it and has made the decor in the rooms art deco style. There is a commuter train that runs near the property, but it only runs during the day.

Harrowgirl, we stayed at the following and would so again. Columbus Inn in SF, Holiday Inn Express in Monterey, Holiday Inn Express in Old Town SD. All were nice, clean, reasonably priced and very convenient to seeing the sights. Have fun!

egret-What city are you talking about for the Residence Inn?

In Carmel we like the Cobblestone Inn-its part of the foursistersinn.com chain so they also have places in Monterrey. In Santa Barbara we like the Franciscan Inn. In San Diego, try quikbooks.com or travelzoo.com I would make reservations right away, August is the busiest time of the year for the journey you are planning. Other chains mentioned by other posters are also good suggestions.

We used Priceline for a hotel in San Diego in August. We ended up with the Marriott La Jolla for $140/night - which was similar or less than what basic motels were going for.