Nice Hotels as we get older?

[Koolau]

This can be a risky approach in modern times...we usually have some idea of where we want to stop for the night. Then around 3 pm or so start checking close towns on our cells..that way if the place we choose first has nothing decent open we can stop sooner or drive a little longer to find a decent room Cause the last thing you want to do on a long road trip is drive backwards to find a place to sleep.

I understand this approach. When we travel, we usually are "going someplace" and just want to get there. In my youth, I drove 18 hours per day. Now, I'd likely do 12 hours. In any case, to make real distance, no way would I be thinking about quitting by 3PM. I've never truly been shut out while traveling. We've occasionally been someplace and wanted to stop, only to find that some tourney game is playing or it's "Fall Leaves Color Week" someplace. Two more hours gets us to where they may have never heard of the "event" that jammed all the hotels.

I guess it's a difference in our views of "travel" so YMMV.

 

[ivinsfan]

I understand this approach. When we travel, we usually are "going someplace" and just want to get there. In my youth, I drove 18 hours per day. Now, I'd likely do 12 hours. In any case, to make real distance, no way would I be thinking about quitting by 3PM. I've never truly been shut out while traveling. We've occasionally been someplace and wanted to stop, only to find that some tourney game is playing or it's "Fall Leaves Color Week" someplace. Two more hours gets us to where they may have never heard of the "event" that jammed all the hotels.

I guess it's a difference in our views of "travel" so YMMV.

up
By 3pm I'm scanning my phone for a place to book,not actually stopping.. We know our options and prices and make a tentative plan for the rest of
of the day. A town an extra 30 miles from our preferred stop might be 50 bucks cheaper so we'll drive a little longer..we usually drive at least 10 hours a day

 

[mpeirce]

I understand this approach. When we travel, we usually are "going someplace" and just want to get there. In my youth, I drove 18 hours per day. Now, I'd likely do 12 hours.

One thing we plan for is not driving in the dark - especially in bad weather.

So for winter trips this does put a hard limit on how late we’re willing to drive. It helps to get moving early.

 

[Koolau]

One thing we plan for is not driving in the dark - especially in bad weather.

So for winter trips this does put a hard limit on how late we’re willing to drive. It helps to get moving early.

Since my cataract surgery, I don't really mind driving Interstates at night. I don't particularly like driving in heavy traffic at night, but usually traffic thins out. Oh, and we don't do winter any more. YMMV

 

[explanade]

I don't mind spending more but if it feels like a ripoff, it's hard for me to book it.

You have resorts where there are a ton of amenities and you will presumably spend a lot or even most of your time there.

So for instance a Hawaiian resort, which may have exclusive access to a beach.

Then you have resort fees on top of high room rates.

I'm not the type to spend a lot of time at resorts though. Never lounge around a pool for hours, ordering drinks.

So I've not looked at resorts as destinations.

In the past year, I've looked at visiting Hawaii, only for the second time. The prices were and probably still are crazy because of travel restrictions.

It's one thing to spend $500 a night for accommodations for 4 or 5 days. But the places are these condos from the '80s, with very little evidence of renovation. They all tend to get poor reviews because they're dilapidated, probably served a huge volume of guests over the years.

So I found some decent business class fares on planes with lie flat seats for the 5-hour flight from SFO but the lodging and rental car prices made me balk. Then Europe opened back up and while prices were elevated there too, it wasn't ridiculous like Hawaii.

Another place which has really inflated lodging prices, for what seems at best mediocre quality, is Banff and even nearby Canmore.

My understanding is, the Canadian parks service limits the supply of inventory and because everyone wants to visit in June, July and August, which are apparently the best chances to get some sunshine up there, prices are highly inflated, despite the CAD being like 80 cents to the dollar.

It reminds me of the concessions at US national parks, where there are lodges which are in optimum places but they're pricey and the place hasn't been renovated in 50 years. Looks like you're living in cabins for prices of 5-star hotels in some places.

 

[COcheesehead]

We use Hotwire and pick the three star hotels or above. If you run the query and take note of the picture of the room shown at the end, run the query two-three times more and see all the potential hotels, it becomes evident which hotel is being offered, though they do not disclose that until you pay. Haven’t been disappointed yet. We get a nice hotel, usually a Hilton property or similar quality for about $40-$50 a night less than advertised elsewhere.

 

[Jerry1]

One thing we plan for is not driving in the dark - especially in bad weather.

Agree, no night time driving. I use to pull out for a trip at night and let the kids sleep while we logged some miles. I would never do that now. If I’m coming home, where I know where I’m going, I’ll stretch it into the early evening, but no night driving where I don’t know the area well.

 

[Out of Steam]

Agree, no night time driving. I use to pull out for a trip at night and let the kids sleep while we logged some miles. I would never do that now. If I’m coming home, where I know where I’m going, I’ll stretch it into the early evening, but no night driving where I don’t know the area well.

I'm still willing to drive at night, but not between 12:30 and 5 AM. That's something I stopped doing quite young after being stopped by police on a two-lane road at 2 AM for weaving due to sleepiness. I might be willing to start earlier if it's within an hour or two of sunrise.

I used to drive 15, 16, even up to 18 hours in a day. Tried a few 12s and even a 15 once after I got married and DW put the kibosh on that. Now we look up our route on Google Maps and we only drive however many miles we could get in 6 hours.

The longest I've ever done in a day is 650 miles, in 13 hours or so with stops. Just haven't traveled anywhere further away by car.

 

[Lewis Clark]

Our experiences with regular Holiday Inn-branded properties has been very inconsistent. Some have been good and some have been awful.

On the other hand, our experiences with Holiday Inn Express-branded properties have generally been pretty good. Most properties have been either new or newly renovated. Not fancy by any means, but adequate for us.

 

[Koolau]

I'm still willing to drive at night, but not between 12:30 and 5 AM. That's something I stopped doing quite young after being stopped by police on a two-lane road at 2 AM for weaving due to sleepiness. I might be willing to start earlier if it's within an hour or two of sunrise.



The longest I've ever done in a day is 650 miles, in 13 hours or so with stops. Just haven't traveled anywhere further away by car.

DW and I were in northern Fl and headed home almost 900 miles. We were age 65. IIRC it took us from 12:30 PM to 3:30AM. My previous record is 1150 miles, but don't recall the time required. Yes, I did all the driving. Stops for gas and bathroom. YMMV

 

[Jerry1]

DW and I were in northern Fl and headed home almost 900 miles. We were age 65. IIRC it took us from 12:30 PM to 3:30AM. My previous record is 1150 miles, but don't recall the time required. Yes, I did all the driving. Stops for gas and bathroom. YMMV

I didn’t do it at 65 but in my 40’s, I did a trip straight through from Destin to Detroit. About 15 hours and 950 miles. Wouldn’t think about that again. Now I stop half way, which is around Nashville.

 

[Koolau]

I didn’t do it at 65 but in my 40’s, I did a trip straight through from Destin to Detroit. About 15 hours and 950 miles. Wouldn’t think about that again. Now I stop half way, which is around Nashville.

Yeah, to me, a lot of it is the car I'm using. Never would have guessed it, but my big old Buick is really comfortable. I got tired, but never sore during 14 hours. Who would think? YMMV

 

[jollystomper]

When folks here travel significant distances (so that you must find lodging along the way) do you make reservations either ahead of time or (say) early in the afternoon? We typically drive until we can't drive any more and then pick from the available places at a medium sized city along the Interstate. We've tried planning ahead, but road construction or other delays, etc. can interfere. What do most folks do on long trips?

For long trips I try to make reservations ahead of time. I make the stops as part of the trip. I usually drive no more than 6 hours a day these days, so I map out the area we will likely be in and book a hotel. I vary based on what is "around" the hotel - we make the stop part of the trip. For example, on one segment driving through Ohio I looked at the 6 hour marker, but a couple of hours before that we would be passing by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So we booked a hotel close to that attraction to have some time to tour it.

A few times we have run into issues, mainly due to weather, where we have had to adjust booking on a fly. Another reason I like Hilton is that when this has occurred, when I explained to customer service the issue, they have waived any cancellation fees if I rebooked at another Hilton chain hotel.

I am not a "thru the night" driver. I prepare to pace myself so that I arrive at the hotel stop sometime between 6 and 9 at night, to have time to eat and settle in for a good sleep. Then get up around 6 and get back on the road.

 

[jollystomper]

No, I don’t think I do. Maybe if hotels were full, but they generally are not and they compete with other hotels in the immediate area. It’s also easy to skip a busy area when you are driving.

And I’m not a walk-in or even calling around. I have memberships in a couple of brands and use their apps to look at availability plus use my AAA discount which is often significant. The apps each bring up prices and availability at several hotels in the vicinity.

We certainly don’t stand around in any check-in line hoping for a deal. I choose the accommodations from the app online before arriving and we have usually checked in online, picked our room, and have our digital key and go straight to the room upon arrival. If someone hasn’t experienced this type of “touch less” check-in and out experience I highly recommend it.

This is for road trips on the way to a destination where flexibility is valuable to us. If I’m flying somewhere which fixes the schedule it’s a different story. At destination I do plan ahead and it’s generally not a hotel.

I agree, particularly when having the loyalty memberships. Even more so when you have some status within the loyalty membership.

 

[explanade]

I've always booked at least weeks in advance.

Never considered looking for last-minute deals, or going somewhere without a reservation.

Because it seems like there's a good chance everything is booked and you can't find anything.

 

[SecondAttempt]

No, I don’t think I do. Maybe if hotels were full, but they generally are not and they compete with other hotels in the immediate area. It’s also easy to skip a busy area when you are driving.

Well I did not mean an attack. I get that using the app to get a last minute deal is different from walking in randomly. Apologies and glad you get good deals.

 

[SecondAttempt]

So for instance a Hawaiian resort, which may have exclusive access to a beach.

No resort in Hawaii has exclusive access to any beach. There are absolutely no private beaches in Hawaii except a few military reservations. This is actually true in most of the United States. Resorts cannot restrict access through their property to a beach. They are required by law to have an access easement and direct you to it. If they refuse, just tresspass and let the cops eductae their security and general manager at the jai.l

The same applies to private property owners. You cannot trespass on private property to access the ocean in Hawaii but you can knock on an oceanfront property owner's door and ask where the access is. If they do not answer or say there is no answer call the police. They can be arrested for resusing access. Every oceanfront property has a beach access easement whether they know it or not.

In the past year, I've looked at visiting Hawaii, only for the second time. The prices were and probably still are crazy because of travel restrictions.

Prices are high right now because we are overrun by tourists. Hotel prices are about 4x what they normally are. But please come. We want your money.

 

[explanade]

I booked for Australia instead of Hawaii and estimate that two weeks there for accommodations, food and rental cars would be less than a week in Hawaii.

Heard the crowds were crazy with long restaurant queues.

Some of the natives were already resentful of mainlanders throwing money around.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Heard the crowds were crazy with long restaurant queues.

Some of the natives were already resentful of mainlanders throwing money around.

I have not seen long restaurant queues but that is not to say they don't exist for the more popular places, especially on Oahu. I do know that hotel prices are sky high.

Attitudes toward tourism are very mixed here. You will find some people who are resentful but the vast majority of people have a family member whose job depends on tourism so they see the benefits as well. There is a move to close some areas to tourists a few days a week or charge tourists but let locals in free. Hanauma Bay for example is $25 per person per day but free with local ID.

 

[explanade]

I heard some of the hotels used the pandemic as an excuse to lay off a lot of housekeeping staff and never rehired him, even while getting these sky high prices.

So you pay all this money and they're not doing daily housekeeping apparently.

 

[rodi]

Airbnb, VRBO don't seem to be an option for us since we're not cell phone people. For most short (1-3) day trips I don't even bring a laptop so wi-fi or plenty of outlets in the rooms are not that important.

A disappointing trend lately is the elimination of alarm clocks, room phones and phone books in the drawers. DW likes to be able to see what time it is when she wakes up in the middle of the night. We use the room phones to call each other's rooms and also to order pizza or Chinese food delivery if we don't feel like fighting Friday or Saturday evening dinner crowds.

I guess I'm confused by the bolded part. When I book airbnb and vrbo, I do it from home, ahead of time, on my laptop on their website. I don't really like the cellphone apps (though I have them on my phone - I don't book with them.)

As I mentioned in my post (which you quoted) - I use airbnb/vrbo for destinations - places we are staying several days to a week. Not transitory stops on the way to the destination.

When DH did multiple cross country trips in 2021 he would call me (at home) mid morning and we'd figure out where he was likely to be - and I'd book the hotel for him. He called me the star trek enterprise computer - he'd ask the question, set the parameters - and I'd figure out what towns of a decent size he'd be ending in (google maps) and what hotels were available (expedia and kayak). It was like magic for him - no effort. Those trips taught me there are large stretches of New Mexico and Texas that don't have a lot of towns - so planning was absolutely necessary.

 

[audreyh1]

I heard some of the hotels used the pandemic as an excuse to lay off a lot of housekeeping staff and never rehired him, even while getting these sky high prices.

So you pay all this money and they're not doing daily housekeeping apparently.

That’s right, the housekeeping situation has changed. Another reason we don’t generally use hotels at destinations in the US anyway.

Hospitality is very short staffed these days, as are restaurants.

We haven’t even tried room service which used to be readily available. Many hotels have suspended or limited that too.

 

[rodi]

When I was travelling last year I noticed that housekeeping is completely skipped except during room changeovers. Even to get extra or fresh towels you often have to go to the front desk. I commented to my husband that the new reduced service was going to be permanent. Unfortunately, it appears I was right... same with resort fees (at places that don't have many amenities) and sky high parking fees.

 

[explanade]

In Europe I haven’t found that to be the case, skipping housekeeping.

 

[SecondAttempt]

I heard some of the hotels used the pandemic as an excuse to lay off a lot of housekeeping staff and never rehired him, even while getting these sky high prices.

So you pay all this money and they're not doing daily housekeeping apparently.

Completely true. We stayed in Waikiki in August 2021 and no housekeeping ormost other hotel services. But prices for still reasonable then, actually free with a certificate.

Stayed again in a different hotel in June this year and they had housekeeping and most services. We didn't pay since it was business trip for my partner. The rate was not bad since it was negotiated by her employer.