I just sleep in my car in walmart parking lots. Saves money, and there's almost always a walmart within a reasonable distance.
‘No Vacancy’ Signs Are Vanishing from America’s Highways
41–50 of 60 posts
Re: ‘No Vacancy’ Signs Are Vanishing from America’s Highways
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
> many hotels started using drop in guests as people to be hustled It all depends on the approach. Instead of saying "do you have any rooms available?" you could just say "I only have $AMOUNT and quite frankly I'd rather stay here than at my old Uncle's place down the road" (or a variation of which indicates 'price does not matter'. [1] Disclosure: I am somewhat of a paid professional negotiator so techniques like th…
Hotel FD/Auditor here, we get to deal with all sorts of backflips for lower rates late at night. We used to have rates as low as employee pricing but these were being abused and had all sorts walking in over making proper reservations. I don't negotiate, or match. Quite frankly I don't give two shits what rooms at Motel 6 are supposedly going for. If it's past AAA you're not getting it. >Our last road trip, I booked…
Yup, the guy adhering to hotel policy.
Re: ‘No Vacancy’ Signs Are Vanishing from America’s Highways
#43I've never been able to find a room last minute by stopping in a hotel and asking to stay the night. They always say they're full.
I used to work at a hotel. 100% of late-night bookings meant trouble in one way or another.
Really? As a younger man, with more stamina and less money, I'd drive as far as possible each day and check in very late, crash for seven or eight hours, tidy up the room, check out, and go. Can't imagine the hotel people weren't thrilled to have that kind of guest.
Re: ‘No Vacancy’ Signs Are Vanishing from America’s Highways
#44I did the Chicago to San Francisco (and back) run fairly regularly in the 1990s, and we didn't depend on vacancy signs. Our solution was basically brand loyalty -- the Motel 6 people published a book with addresses and phone numbers of all their motels in the US. The scheme is, you get on the road, and some time around 7pm, you stop for dinner, and make a reservation (from the payphone) at the Motel 6 that's about 10…
I travelled that route (and back) with my parents a couple of times around the same time, as tourists. I think I was 13 the first time, and 15 the second time. Although we had a mobile phone, we didn't phone ahead, we simply turned up somewhere. Perhaps once we had to drive further than we wanted (until midnight or so), and a couple of times I think the cost was a little higher than we wanted, but considering this wa…
I've seen it. They have signs for it like 500 miles before in either direction, no, like Wall Drug?
Re: ‘No Vacancy’ Signs Are Vanishing from America’s Highways
#45> “The chains [...] want you to walk in not knowing whether a room is available. So if they’re full, they can send you to another one of their properties in the vicinity and keep the business in-house. It’s a strategic decision.” In addition, Rogers said, omitting vacancy indicators allows for overbooking (“If it’s late and you’re fully booked, but someone with a reservation hasn’t shown up, you can sell the same room twice”) and gives managers wiggle room when sizing up questionable customers. [...] “Without the sign, you can just say, ‘Sorry, we’re full,’ even if you’re not.”
It's weird to me how blasé Rogers and the article writer are about this abusive, anti-customer behavior.
Re: ‘No Vacancy’ Signs Are Vanishing from America’s Highways
#46My parents used to do this all if the time. Sometime in the late 90s, many hotels started using drop in guests as people to be hustled. These days, you're better off finding a way to get "status" from a chain so you can cancel without penalty and book a bunch of rooms. Our last road trip, I booked 4 rooms over 300 miles and cancelled in the afternoon before stopping in.
How do you know that's true? There's no shortage of mo/hotels, and you can just try another one down the street if you don't like the price. Last time I took a road trip, the room prices were all very cheap, and I didn't book ahead. I was surprised at how cheap it was.
Most typically I drive the i95 corridor, and in the zone that's approximately the halfway point to/from Florida and the Northeast cities, it's really difficult to score a room if there's any kind of weather, a traffic apocalypse in DC or similar. Once you pass Richmond, rates creep up until D.C. and stay high.
I also limit myself to newer nice motels.
Re: ‘No Vacancy’ Signs Are Vanishing from America’s Highways
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
> many hotels started using drop in guests as people to be hustled It all depends on the approach. Instead of saying "do you have any rooms available?" you could just say "I only have $AMOUNT and quite frankly I'd rather stay here than at my old Uncle's place down the road" (or a variation of which indicates 'price does not matter'. [1] Disclosure: I am somewhat of a paid professional negotiator so techniques like th…
Hotel FD/Auditor here, we get to deal with all sorts of backflips for lower rates late at night. We used to have rates as low as employee pricing but these were being abused and had all sorts walking in over making proper reservations. I don't negotiate, or match. Quite frankly I don't give two shits what rooms at Motel 6 are supposedly going for. If it's past AAA you're not getting it. >Our last road trip, I booked…
> Oh, you're /that/ guy.
I'm following the rules.
Its obnoxious behavior, but what am I supposed to do?
If I arrive late, the hotel will happily give my room to the platinum member who rolls in or some random person, and leave my family stuck in the room designed for wheelchair bound chain smokers with pets suffering from shedding disorders.
If I book same day, the $99 motel turns into a $139 hotel. If I just show up, I roll the dice.
Re: ‘No Vacancy’ Signs Are Vanishing from America’s Highways
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's an industry term for that. It's called the Fade Rate, and it's offered at a large portion of hotels if you arrive very late and ask about it.
Fade rates, or manager's rates, are becoming a problem. Some big online booking schemes require "best available rates" be given to online bookings. Ad-hoc discounts to late night walk-ins are thought a violation of that agreement unless they are also made available to the online scheme. A manager's ability to turn away horrible bookings is also undermined. That group of drunken fratboys have now booked through a smar…
> A manager's ability to turn away horrible bookings is also undermined. That group of drunken fratboys have now booked through a smartphone app. Try to pull the "we are overbooked" routine with them and you will be downrated very quickly, likely triggering action from your chain.
Why not go with "we don't want you here", instead of something they know is a lie?
Re: ‘No Vacancy’ Signs Are Vanishing from America’s Highways
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd be curious to know the difference between your experience and mine. U. S. here, and its rare that a motel turns me away. Now, there are several distinguishing characteristics of my travel. First, mostly by motorcycle, and second is that because I'm on the bike I'm probably in some out-of-the-way place and not downtown SF. My mode of travel is important, I think, because sometimes I think they feel sorry for me (e…
>(Never mind that I'm perfectly content to put my tent up if I don't find a room.) Just curious: where exactly do you pitch a tent in a situation like that? It doesn't seem like it's that easy to find some open ground where some cop won't harass you for trespassing or something.
There are several phone apps that will tell you where the campgrounds are. Personally, I've never tried to camp where I'm not allowed (I don't count sleeping on a picnic table at a rest stop). One can often (usually?) find a campground either actually in town, or a few miles down the road. To my knowledge, I've never been turned away with a tent; there's always a 10x10' spot of grass to rent me.
Alternatively, if you're in a U. S. National Forest and can find a spot off the road, you can camp anywhere you want. It's how we do the majority of our camping in our VW Westfalia, where in Washington there are a plethora of spots 90 minutes from our house (no, I'm not telling ).
But that's for my mode of travel, which is usually off the beaten path. If you're looking for a place to stay in SF during WWDC, my advice will do you no good. OTOH, I rode to a conference in San Diego, had some room trouble and found a campground smack in the middle of SD a few miles from the hotel. So, I dunno, there might even be a campground in SOMA I don't know about. :-) (EDIT: curiosity got me: there's one out by Candlestick Recreation Area, if you don't mind paying $89/night!)
Re: ‘No Vacancy’ Signs Are Vanishing from America’s Highways
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fade rates, or manager's rates, are becoming a problem. Some big online booking schemes require "best available rates" be given to online bookings. Ad-hoc discounts to late night walk-ins are thought a violation of that agreement unless they are also made available to the online scheme. A manager's ability to turn away horrible bookings is also undermined. That group of drunken fratboys have now booked through a smar…
> A manager's ability to turn away horrible bookings is also undermined. That group of drunken fratboys have now booked through a smartphone app. Try to pull the "we are overbooked" routine with them and you will be downrated very quickly, likely triggering action from your chain. Why not go with "we don't want you here", instead of something they know is a lie?
[deleted]