Should you plan your hotel room choices before you leave or book the day of, what about walking in without a reservation?
I asked a bunch of experienced road trippers what they do and I found the answer.
When visiting an event or popular attraction, always book ahead. When traveling in off season, or to smaller towns and cities reservations are most likely not necessary, but be sure to secure accommodations by 2pm. You may not know if there is a large event happening in a town or city where you are visiting, so if you have pets, young kids or important medical needs, reserve hotel rooms ahead.
Many of the road trippers that I surveyed had been burned by not booking ahead, but they had some tips to make sure that does not happen again.
Know When To Plan
14 of the 83 people I surveyed had been in a situation where they had to spend the night in the car because they could not find a hotel room.
That might be fine for you and your travel companion, but if you are not comfortable spending the night in the car, know when to plan:
Popular Locations
Popular tourist locations tend to have plenty of hotels available, but during peak seasons they may all be booked!
National Parks, often in more remote locations, have more limited accommodation choices. This should be booked in advance. One of the road trippers I surveyed said they had to book a cabin a year in advance!
Make sure your once-in-a-lifetime trip is flawless by booking accommodations in advance. If you prefer to go where the road leads you, plan the nights where you will be in popular locations and wing the rest of them.
Peak Travel Times
If you are traveling during peak travel times, so is everyone else.
Summer vacation, Christmas, Thanksgiving, these are times to book that room or be prepared to camp.
If plans change and you find you need a last minute hotel room, be sure to secure something by 2pm.
Events
When a big festival or convention is in town, it will take up most of the hotel room. You may not even be aware of the event when you pull into town.
If you are attending a:
- Concert
- Sporting Event
- Festival
- Convention
- Local Tourist Attraction
- Parade
Plan your accommodations ahead of time.
Quite a few of the survey participants had found themselves without a place to sleep because of an unexpected event in a town they were visiting. You can search local convention centers and find their schedule if you are concerned.
Pets and Kids
Traveling with kids and pets makes it more important to find a hotel room or other comfortable place to sleep.
Pack an extra air mattress or other camping supplies just in case you need to be flexible with your lodging. I have heard of families sharing camp sites and families of 5 sharing a hotel room with the air mattress on the floor!
If this does not sound like vacation to you, be sure to book ahead.
One road tripper said, “a vacancy sign means nothing” when traveling with pets. BringFido.com is one way to find pet friendly hotels, but it is still more work than just pulling into the nearest hotel!
Amenities
Do you need free breakfast? Wifi for work? A pool?
If there are things that are non-negotiables for your hotel stay you will need to book ahead. These things are desirable for many people and the hotels that offer these things may book faster than those that don’t.
You may find that there is a specific brand of hotels that you and your travel party prefer, join their loyalty program and book these rooms ahead of time.
If you know that you will be staying at Marriotts then you can plan your trip loosely around the locations available. I think making a decision like this will really simplify trip planning. No discussion about where to stay, just looking up the closest Marriott.
Know When to Wing It
Epic road trips are often only loosely planned. If you want to be able to follow the road where it leads, follow these rules.
Outside of Major Cities
There are two sides to this coin, but finding a hotel room in a more suburban area can be easier than in the heart of the city.
While there are fewer hotel rooms available, the demand tends to be smaller. (Unless there is a major event going on, or it is a holiday weekend.)
Book Before 2pm
Experienced travelers agree that as long as you have something booked by 2pm you are probably going to sleep comfortably.
By 2 you usually know if you are staying in town to roll down the road and there are generally vacancies at that time.
Grab the Deals
Priceline, Expedia and hotel loyalty programs all offer last minute savings. We find a line of hotels that we like and we tend to stay with them, but if one is not available we usually head to Priceline.
These sites are the most often recommended for finding those last minute deals.
When Should I Book My Hotel Rooms For a Road Trip?
In my survey 57% of people said they plan their hotel rooms in advance. However, they planned a different amount of time in advance.
Those who planned in advance had often had the experience of not being able to find a room. 14 respondents had been there. Never again!
Depending on where you are traveling you will need to book your rooms when rooms are available.
Some locations require 2-12 months ahead of time, while others are easily booked the same day.
The best rule of thumb is that you should have a room secured by 2pm.
If you would like to remain flexible you can follow this rule and it is unlikely you will need to sleep in your car or share a campsite with strangers. (Yikes)
Can you Stay in a Hotel Without Reservations?
Hotels can book you a room as long as one is available. If you turn up to the front desk without a reservation and there are rooms available they can put you in the room.
You will only have the choice of any rooms that are not booked when you arrive. If you need first floor rooms, handicap accessible or smoking rooms you may find that these options are not available.
Some travelers report being able to negotiate a lower rate when they book a last minute room, but in my experience we have always found the best deals on the actual hotel website, or a discount site like Priceline.
There are generally rates that can only be secured by booking online.
Booking Hotels on a Road Trip
It is possible to book rooms as you go on a road trip. Choose a hotel brand that you like and join their loyalty program to find some of the best deals available for hotel rooms.
You can also use Google Maps to find hotels that are along your route. This is the simplest way to find a hotel when you are still on the road.
It is recommended that you book your hotel rooms by 2pm to ensure that you will have a bed that night, but if you are traveling off season or you are in a fairly rural location you may be able to find a room later in the day.
What if I can’t find a room?
Out of the 83 participants in my survey 14 of them had found themselves without a room. That is about 17%.
There are several options if you find yourself without a room:
Try AirBnB
If the traditional hotels are booked, see what AirBnB has to offer. If you have never tried it you may find that you are surprised by the offerings.
Choose a room with plenty of reviews and tuck in for the night.
Drive Out of Town
You may be able to find a room just 10-15 minutes down the road. I suggest that you use Google Maps to get a bird’s eye view of your location and see if there are other hotels outside of town.
Give them a call, you may find a nice room at a lower price.
Follow the instructions below to use Google Maps to find hotels.
Camp
Campgrounds may have cabins available. Be sure to ask plenty of questions:
Are sheets provided?
Do your cabins have heat/AC?
Can I park by my cabin?
Check in/Check out times?
Amenities?
My kids love Jellystone and the rates were incredible off season. There were so many fun amenities for my kids to enjoy. It was one of the highlights of our trip.
Sleep in the Car
When all else fails you can sleep in your car. If you feel uncomfortable parked in a Walmart, Craker Barrel or other parking lot, you can try to find a campsite to pull into.
While this may not be your most comfortable night of sleep, it is much safer than driving while tired.I recommend that you grab some blankets if you are not traveling with them, it makes it much more comfortable to sleep.
If you can only manage a few hours of sleep, you can wake up and book your hotel room for the next night!
Check in early and take a nap!
Using Google Maps to Find Hotels On a Road Trip
Google Maps is a very popular way to navigate while on a road trip, and you can use it to find Hotels.
I like to use the features within Google Maps to help me find a hotel room.
I have been watching a bunch of My 600 Pound Life and Dr. Now lives in Houston.
So, let’s try to find a hotel in Houston.
Start by searching your destination city.
Select “Hotels” and see what pops up. You may zoom in or out to find hotels in a larger area.
Use the slider to adjust for your price range or use the other filters to narrow down your choices.
I like to use the “Guest Rating” filter. Reading reviews is the biggest advantage to searching with Google Maps.
On mobile your steps will look just a bit different.
You can book your hotels right through Google Maps and you can search your precise location while you are navigating.
Final Thoughts
When we travel we do not book our hotel room in advance most of the time. We are not sight see-ers and we are pretty flexible with our brand preferences and room preferences.
We have 4 young kids so we do try to find a pool when we stay in a hotel.
If our trip is for the purpose of staying in a hotel, then we always book ahead and we find a hotel with breakfast and a pool. Those breakfast dollars really add up in a family of 6!
So, what do you do? Do you have any no vacancy horror stories?
