How do you find good clean hotel rooms at a fair price?

[dabikerguy]

how do you go about finding a good clean hotel rooms at a fair price? more concerned with clean rooms. my wife and i took a long weekend trip to mt washington NH last month and our first hotewl was very nice and super clean, however our last hotel stay was not clean at all. what do you look for and what have you found that works for you??

[UtahPete]

how do you go about finding a good clean hotel rooms at a fair price? more concerned with clean rooms. my wife and i took a long weekend trip to mt washington NH last month and our first hotewl was very nice and super clean, however our last hotel stay was not clean at all. what do you look for and what have you found that works for you??

If it looks dicey, I ask to inspect the room first.

[ARtraveler]

A copy/paste from your similar thread.

I have been through the camping out mode. One morning when I needed help to get off the mat on the cold, cold ground, we decided to let someone else do the work for us. As in, clean up, make the beds, do the cooking.

We now use mostly motels, but have also had some very nice stays in five star hotels. The downside there, they are on the $$$$$ side. I have done the five star stuff in Vegas, and Hawaii.

Early on, we did the budget motel stuff. When Super 8 was NEW, that was our choice. Many years, later, places like that are hit or miss. Then we started going to Best Western. In most cases, we have found them to be very disappointing. Well used, not cleaned very well...etc. etc.

Now, we try to check out the newer and more expensive places. They usually appear to be more clean etc. Stay away from "trucker" motels, many, are in high crime areas, drugs, etc. You may come out in the morning and find your Spyder or trailer gone. Not making enough money any more for the five star stuff but try to go four stars if available.

When traveling from AK to AR in 2019, we drove for four days through Canada on the AK Highway system. There, we pretty much had to take what was available. When we got into the lower 48, we went to the medium price, name brand stuff, similar to the post #3 above. It can be hit & miss, but you have the right to inspect the room they are going to give you before putting your money down. I have done that a couple times.

Hitting the good ones can be a crap shoot. We look at every vacation as an adventure though. If we hit the occasional bad one, so be it. We have not died yet from the experience.

And...in Alaska, there are some real doozies (really, really, bad). Not cheap either...because they can, and they got you where they want you.

[MrMagicFingers]

As I mentioned in a similar post from you....

One of the things that come into play, for us anyway, is that we plan an itinerary. We know what town or area we are going to be in or want to stay in at the end of a travel day. That is key.... time to do your homework BEFORE you travel. Bed and Breakfasts are a great option too.

This leaves us time to research the Mom and Pop family run motels that are NOT part of the big chains. We really prefer to support quality, privately owned establishments. They are getting so rare. At one time they were the fabric of motor travel. I would have loved to have been around during the boom of Route 66. God I love those little motels and all that NEON!!

We choose places that are safe and clean and have good reviews. You can easily tell this as soon as you pull up to a place. Almost all of our travels are on back roads and small towns. In the absence of finding a quality family run place, we do resort to the Comfort Inn style places. They are usually clean and safe.

Remember, you can always ask to go see a room before you take possession to check things out. We have done this on both sides of the boarder. Our money is hard earned and usually in short supply... hahaha... we spend it wisely or try to at least.

Tim

[RICZ]

I you frequently do hotel/motel stays, it would be to your advantage to sign up for rewards with chain operations such as Choice, Best Western, Super 8, Rodeway Inn, Wyndham, which covers several motel brands. Just about all offer frequent flyer rewards. Our favorite is Choice, which has a variety of levels of quality and prices. Choice often offers up deals whereas you do 2 stays and you get a free one. Always request a discount for AAA, veteran, senior, AARP, etc.
The are magazine size coupon books at information centers, rest stops, and restaurants such as Denny's which are located near freeway exits. Many times I paid about $40 for the same type of room another guest at the counter was paying more than $80 for, just because I presented a coupon.

[Bfromla]

I you frequently do hotel/motel stays, it would be to your advantage to sign up for rewards with chain operations such as Choice, Best Western, Super 8, Rodeway Inn, Wyndham, which covers several motel brands. Just about all offer frequent flyer rewards. Our favorite is Choice, which has a variety of levels of quality and prices. Choice often offers up deals where as you do 2 stays and you get a free one. Always request a discount for AAA, veteran, senior, AARP, etc.
The are magazine size coupon books at information centers, rest stops, and restaurants such as Denny's which are located near freeway exits. Many times I paid about $40 for the same type of room another guest at the counter was paying more than $80 for, just because I presented a coupon.

Choice here as well ez reservations (great discounts if week+ in advance) & guaranteed within certain hours. Lucked out previous job as field service tech racked up sizable Member level rewards. Few years & then some later, member # still good.
Revamped the system, still good, just different ; reliable quality rooms, Most have continental breakfast, news paper if you like. Fairly flexible check out times. Usually can park under awning if ask desk clerk (please take the time to ask First). Rewards are varied & useful.
Note**Good #are pet friendly too, maybe extra deposit at some. **

[JohnRuckus]

In addition to what was already mentioned, Plan ahead and search online. Expedia, priceline, trivago, hotels.com, etc. You can find pricing, pics, and reviews.

[yellow peril]

careful of booking on line. some places have a no refund policy.

[MrMagicFingers]

careful of booking on line. some places have a no refund policy.

Agreed!

I we have found that cutting through all the confusion with cut rate sites like Expedia, Priceline, Trivago, Hotels.com, etc, we simply call the hotel that we're interested in directly and deal only with them. You have to make sure you really are talking to them and not some 3rd party.

They will very often give us the rate that the discount sites advertise and you know the money goes directly to them. You get all of the advantages of the late check in and check out and cancellation etc. They have already sold a block of rooms to those guys and are more than happy to sell one directly to you too.

Tim

[JohnRuckus]

Agreed!

I we have found that cutting through all the confusion with cut rate sites like Expedia, Priceline, Trivago, Hotels.com, etc, we simply call the hotel that we're interested in directly and deal only with them. You have to make sure you really are talking to them and not some 3rd party.

They will very often give us the rate that the discount sites advertise and you know the money goes directly to them. You get all of the advantages of the late check in and check out and cancellation etc. They have already sold a block of rooms to those guys and are more than happy to sell one directly to you too.

Tim

Definitely be careful booking or buying anything online. The sites are still useful to find a place even if you don't book through them.

[RayBJ]

Inspect the room before your commit.

[Navydad]

We do a bit of online research before a trip, but if you will be in a different area each night that doesn't work well. We ALWAYS do a room inspection before we ante up. I don't care if it is $20 or $500 we do an inspection. I have seen many high priced dumps in my near 50 years on the road. Paid $25 for a room a couple of years ago in Mississippi and it was amazingly clean. One thing to keep in mind is it's just a place to sleep for the night. Clean bed, hot shower, hit the road the next day.

[Big F]

I have been a Spyder owner for 10 years and have stayed at a lot of different hotels.. I also am a hotel owner and do what RICZ says to sign up for the various rewards programs most reputable chains offer.. I try to keep within my own franchise chain (Radisson) but many times that is not possible.. Look for the ratings on Tripadvisor and some of the other rating services..
tks
BIG F

[mecsw500]

I have a Marriott membership card.

Using the Marriott / Bonjour app or website, I can usually find a Marriott group hotel in the price range I'm looking for. Often, the difference between their sub brands is whether breakfast is included or extra, what type of room you need and so forth.

I must admit, I've always found them decent value for money, depending upon which of their brands, such as Fairfield Inn and Suites, takes your fancy or fits within your budget. I cannot remember having had a really poor experience, sometimes they are better value for money than other times, depending upon the location, but I can't say they we ever a bad place to stay. My days of camping or budget motels are over. Well, I might do budget motels myself but my wife overrules this decision, for her if it doesn't have a hair dryer and a king size bed, it's camping.

It's like flying Delta or renting cars from Avis, generally not the cheapest but usually the most consistent level of service.

Now I'm sure some of you may have had a negative experience with some of Marriott's hotels, but me personally I always try to use them and their free rooms for points system seems reasonable. Their beds are usually very comfy and their rooms are clean.

Your mileage may of course vary.

[pidjones]

Each hotel/motel is usually individually owned, and the overall brands have varying input to quality. Marriott however, had a data breach that spread our Bonvoy account around. They didn't alert me. I had to find out through bogus bookings. They denied, confessed, denied. Our ship's reunion was at a Marriott in Pigeon Forge. The whole group had problems with the hotel. That's on the owner. The Bonvoy thing was on Marriott. I now avoid them.

[mecsw500]

Well thanks for the info. I hadn't realized Bonvoy even had a data breach. I used their hotels for the entire summer, it would have been nice of them to tell me as a frequent customer.

I must be lucky, I know a lot of them are individually owned but they seemed to have a corporate quality control that must admit I have always been reasonably impressed with unlike Best Western. I've stayed in Marriott branded hotels for over 30 years in many countries and have always had at least a reasonable experience.

Now the data breach I'm going to look into as that would certainly change my opinion of using them into the future.

Thanks for the heads up.

[vito1943]

When my wife and I travel I do not care to wait until I arrive at a hotel/motel to first see if they have rooms and what the rates are, let alone what the quality is. I usually make a reservation around mid afternoon, estimating where we will be on the road by early evening. Sticking to good names of chains is usually a safe bet. I like Drury Inns (never encountered any of these that were not excellent), Embassy Suites, Hampton Inns (not as uniformly nice as the first two that I mentioned) and if out West, La Quinta Motor Inns which almost always were a really good value for a decent room. Some rules for even the best hotels/motels: don't walk barefoot on the carpeting, and never, ever use a non-disposable glass such as those in the bathroom or on the tray with the ice bucket.

[askitee]

how do you go about finding a good clean hotel rooms at a fair price? more concerned with clean rooms. my wife and i took a long weekend trip to mt washington NH last month and our first hotewl was very nice and super clean, however our last hotel stay was not clean at all. what do you look for and what have you found that works for you??

Tripadvisor App on my mobile

[teninospyder]

Just our experience here..............

Our experience this summer exposed very serious and potentially costly notes on ALL reservation sites: examples, not always clear on hotel site.
If you reserve and don't show......you will be billed for your complete reservation anyway.
If you arrive earlier than expected, you MIGHT be able to checkin.....if you pay an extra fee (for early room cleaning???)
If you leave earlier than booked, you pay any remaining reservation time - INCLUDING even if you left the next day, because of hotel conditions !

Etc, Etc, - these notes and others like it were on ALL the sites I looked at for planning our "short" trips this summer. Wasn't obvious on the first one, until I noticed the "read the fine print from the hotel on reservation booking and billing details".

[UtahPete]

We don't make reservations because we don't know where we'll be come nightfall. So far, we have always found somewhere acceptable to crash for the night.

We camp a lot, so dirt doesn't bother us.

[MrMagicFingers]

Our experience this summer exposed very serious and potentially costly notes on ALL reservation sites: examples, not always clear on hotel site.
If you reserve and don't show......you will be billed for your complete reservation anyway.
If you arrive earlier than expected, you MIGHT be able to checkin.....if you pay an extra fee (for early room cleaning???)
If you leave earlier than booked, you pay any remaining reservation time - INCLUDING even if you left the next day, because of hotel conditions !

Funny you should mention that...

We ran into all three of those condition this summer while on the road. These were new conditions that were introduced this year and at places that we have stayed at many many times over the years in/on PEI.

There were no exceptions at one of our regular spots. Even if you called to cancel but you were past their safe time, they were still going to charge us the full 3 days we would have stayed even though that room would have been booked with-in the hour of us canceling (PEI was booked solid this year - pretty well 0 vacancy).

We canceled out trip to PEI this year because of these rules until things calm down over there. I am sure it's due to the Covid the the uncertainty of travel and travel restrictions. We just stayed in NS this year.

Tim

[JohnRuckus]

Unfortunately, data breaches will continue to occur. That isn't necessarily a Marriott problem. As a customer that deals with any business that has an online footprint(including electronic based payments), you'll be at risk of having your personal info compromised. The same is true even with small businesses such as gas stations. I received an email from Marriott regarding the breach and I rarely use them. I did use starwood properties a lot prior to Marriott buying them.
You're entitled to spend your $ how you want and with whatever company you choose, but if you're basing it solely on their ability to not have your personal info compromised, you'd be searching hard. Heck, even one of the US credit bureaus, Equifax was hacked and it resulted in people's info being compromised.
I do agree though, if they didn't contact you, or you didn't see it in the news that's really messed up if it impacted you.

[pegasus1300]

Like Clement Salvadori I prefer older L shaped single story Mom and Pop type motels. They are usually old like watermelon pink bathrooms but clean and no frills cheap and full of very interesting people who like to visit. I don't know about finding these online, I usually find them in small towns on state routes and I start looking in the afternoon. One that comes to mind is little motel in Montecello,Ut. Very clean,but old(mint green bathroom tile). Cynthia and I have stayed there twice. No breakfast,no exercize room,no pool just a place to sleep at the end of the day. Restaurant across the street.

[teninospyder]

We don't make reservations because we don't know where we'll be come nightfall. So far, we have always found somewhere to crash for the night. We camp a lot, so dirt doesn't bother us.

Our Vet always told me he was up at 4:00 AM and always walked the kennel grounds with his shotgun, but had never been able to kill a Covid.......'cause he never saw one His Staff loved it when him and I went round and round in the lobby !

[BigLenny]

Like others on this thread, we use brand group memberships for discounts. Hilton Honors, Marriott, etc. But, the brand that we seem to use the most is Choice Hotels. However, we mainly stay at Choice's Comfort Suites brand of hotels. We will occasionally stay at a Comfort Inn and Suites. However, we have found that the Choice chains like Quality Inn, Comfort Inn, Rodeway, EconoLodge Are kind of edgy. Choice does offer a higher end collection called Ascend that we'll stay in, if the price isn't too high.

HERE'S A POINTER: Everybody knows to ask for AAA, AARP, Military, and member discounts. But, do you know what discount structure brings the most savings with Choice Hotels? The answer is, Farm Bureau. I had a fellow sales rep for the company I sell for give me this nugget years ago. If you have Farm Bureau Insurance, or just a simple Farm Bureau membership ($35.00 per yr.), you will save 10%-20% more than you will with the aforementioned discounts. But, the way to be sure and get this discount is you have to call the Choice Hotels reservations phone line to reserve your room/s. And, sometimes it's such a deep discount that they will tell it's not available for a certain hotel for a certain night, if the hotel is almost booked, or if it's a busy time of the year. I have been using Choice for 20 years, and I've only ran into that situation a few times.

Now, to completely answer your original question: I just explained to you the savings part. But, you also asked how we go about finding "good, clean" hotels? The answer for me is: I use the customer satisfaction ratings on the bookings websites. I DO NOT book a hotel that is rated less than an "Excellent" or a "Wonderful". I just don't do it. I don't do hotels that are rated "Good" or lower. This policy will avoid 99.9% of the unclean and riff raff.

Hope my babbling helped.

Big Lenny