What is the best way to search for and book motel reservations?

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Oct 8, 2006
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Last week my wife and I traveled to WI to visit her family. We normally stay with one of the family members when we go there, but this trip we took our dog with us, so we had to stay at a motel. My wife booked a room about a month before the trip using one of those sites like Priceline or Trivago, I don't remember which one. About two weeks ago something came up and we had to push the trip back a week. Of course once you book a room using one of these sites, any changes made thereafter has to be done through them. The staff at the motel can do absolutely nothing to make any changes to the booking. They also cannot apply any discounts that you may otherwise be eligible for. The cost of the room for 4 nights was originally $465, but after we pushed the date back a week, the price went up to $757. The name of the motel was Quality Inn. The room seemed to be fairly clean, and the general appearance of the motel was a bit dumpy, but not too bad. However, this was NOT what I would consider an almost $200 a night room. I could see maybe a $100 a night with all of the additional fees and taxes included, but the price we paid was way too high in my opinion. The problem is motel rooms are never available at the advertised price. The additional fees and taxes are never included in the advertised price, and they also don't list the increased price of the rooms if the stay includes weekends, which many places jack up the prices over the weekends. This was the case where we stayed. The room price was almost double the advertised price on the weekend. One the problems is trying to locate motels in a particular area, and be able to compare ACTUAL rates. I don't how to do it without using a site like Priceline, which I will never use again. I would rather book directly with the motel so it's easier to make changes if necessary, and to also be able to take advantage of any discounts I may be eligible for, I just know of any way to accomplish this. Any ideas?
 
Grampi,

#1 Sign up for an account with Marriott Bonvoi
#2 get the Marriott Bonvoi app for your phone
#3 input search selections in your phone app

This will allow you to search every Marriott Hotel within 50 miles of your destination. You will have the option to see the three lowest prices for that hotel (such as senior citizen, AAA, etc). Prices will be displayed in total cost, not cost before taxes. You can cancel and revise right from the smart phone. Marriott guarantees they offer the lowest price for their hotel.

Some of the hotel under Marriott include: Marriott, Fairfield Inn, Courtyard, Springhill Suites, Resident Inn, Delta Hotels, TownPlace Suites, Renaissance, Ritz Carlton, etc.

Marriott has more lodging in North America than any other hotel chain. They have a ton.

This is a way to go... and very sorry you have to pay $200 a night for a Quality Inn....
 
Use a site like Hotels.com and find a couple hotels you like, say it's a Best Western that seems like it's a good deal.

Then go to BestWestern.com and find the room, sometimes it's the same price or within a couple bucks, book through them directly if the price is reasonably close. Then your reservation is directly with them and not a 3rd party.

IHG.com is the parent company of lots of hotels, their site is good. So is Wyndham.
 
Grampi,

#1 Sign up for an account with Marriott Bonvoi
#2 get the Marriott Bonvoi app for your phone
#3 input search selections in your phone app

This will allow you to search every Marriott Hotel within 50 miles of your destination. You will have the option to see the three lowest prices for that hotel (such as senior citizen, AAA, etc). Prices will be displayed in total cost, not cost before taxes. You can cancel and revise right from the smart phone. Marriott guarantees they offer the lowest price for their hotel.

Some of the hotel under Marriott include: Marriott, Fairfield Inn, Courtyard, Springhill Suites, Resident Inn, Delta Hotels, TownPlace Suites, Renaissance, Ritz Carlton, etc.

Marriott has more lodging in North America than any other hotel chain. They have a ton.

This is a way to go... and very sorry you have to pay $200 a night for a Quality Inn....
Do you know if Marriott offers military discounts?
 
Do you know if Marriott offers military discounts?
Yes, they absolutely do. They don't call it a discount, it is called a military and/ or government rate. Same with Senior citizen, it is not called a discount, it is called SR Citizen rate.

Note with the android app via Bonvoy, you will get the lowest rate for that hotel to see first, be it military, senior citizen, AAA, etc. You will not have to work to see the very lowest rate- it is displayed by default.
 
For more basic hotels, you might try the Choice Hotels Chain. Www.choicehotels.com. If you plan to use them a lot join their Choice Privileges frequent user program.

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Book direct with the hotel chain in question.

Quality Inn is part of the Choice Hotel group, and is considered a value tier. (In my family we will stay at Comfort Inns, but not at Quality Inns based on past experiences on the quality of said which may vary widely based on the property. Comfort seems to guarantee the level we find acceptable).

I'm also in the IHG program and Hilton. For us that opens up preferred locations like Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn, etc...

Booking direct on the hotel chain website seems to give the highest level of flexibility and I've always gotten the advertised price for the dates I've looked at.

And yes, moving the dates at all can have a huge impact on price. A recent vacation if we wanted to extend by one night, the hotel room price was 2.5 times what we paid the night before. Local events can make a huge difference in going rates.
 
Yes, they absolutely do. They don't call it a discount, it is called a military and/ or government rate. Same with Senior citizen, it is not called a discount, it is called SR Citizen rate.

Note with the android app via Bonvoy, you will get the lowest rate for that hotel to see first, be it military, senior citizen, AAA, etc. You will not have to work to see the very lowest rate- it is displayed by default.
Now when you say "android app", I hope that doesn't mean my phone needs to be an android...I have an iphone...
 
Now when you say "android app", I hope that doesn't mean my phone needs to be an android...I have an iphone...
Iphone app works equally as well. You will be amazed how well it works.

My experience is you can get a Marriott family branded hotel for the same price, and sometimes lower, than that of lower tier lodging options. This app is key to doing it easy..... and effortless.
 
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Use a site like Hotels.com and find a couple hotels you like, say it's a Best Western that seems like it's a good deal.

Then go to BestWestern.com and find the room, sometimes it's the same price or within a couple bucks, book through them directly if the price is reasonably close. Then your reservation is directly with them and not a 3rd party.

IHG.com is the parent company of lots of hotels, their site is good. So is Wyndham.
^This. When I was able to travel I always booked directly with the chain vs through a third-party. I've heard too many stories about problems with rebooking if things change. Never had an issue if I booked directly with the chain itself.
 
I use the IHG app for booking rooms. Never an issue and I can use my company discount as well. Cancelation up to a couple hours before with no issues.

just my $0.02
 
I downloaded the Marriott app, but I have to sign up to use it. When trying to sign up I keep getting an error message saying the email address I listed is already in use. That isn't possible as I have never signed up with them before. I went to Marriott.com to try and sign up there, but it won't let me do so without a member number, which I don't have. I seem to be stuck in an endless loop with no way out. Their site doesn't list a contact for help with this either. How do I rectify this situation?
 
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I downloaded the Marriott app, but I have to sign up to use it. When trying to sign up I keep getting an error message saying the email address I listed is already in use. That isn't possible as I have never signed up with them before. I went to Marriott.com to try and sign up there, but it won't let me do so without a member number, which I don't have. I seem to be stuck in an endless loop with no way out. Their site doesn't list a contact for help with this either. How do I rectify this situation?

Call customer service 1-800 number.
 
^This. When I was able to travel I always booked directly with the chain vs through a third-party. I've heard too many stories about problems with rebooking if things change. Never had an issue if I booked directly with the chain itself.

Yep. I always book directly with hotel, not through a third-party.
 
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