Hotels when Driving

[Mrs Potts]

This is going to be our first time driving instead of flying. Since we can't leave until mid-day, we're planning on stopping somewhere overnight. Same thing on the return trip - some park time early morning, then start the drive home.

For those of you who have done this, do you pre-book hotels along the way and plan when you're going to stop? Or do you just go until you poop out and then look for a place? I've already booked a hotel for the trip going there because I have a good idea of what time we will be leaving and how long it takes to get to certain stopping points. The trip home is a bit trickier. I'm not sure when we're going to hit the road, so I don't know how far we can expect to get the first part of the trip.

So I just thought I'd just see what others had to say.

 

[zurgandfriend]

Why not ?

Nothing but cheap trinkets for sale, it's very dirty and horrible the place made me "skive" the one time we stopped, and those are the good points.

 

[luv]

I have heard so much about South of the Border that I'm seriously considering going way out of my way to see it.

 

[zurgandfriend]

I have heard so much about South of the Border that I'm seriously considering going way out of my way to see it.

On a trip to North Carolina to see a relative graduate from Duke and get married. We had a day to ourselves so we took a trip and drove from there to South of the Border. My son had seen it on the Travel Channel and wanted to see it, let's just say he was disappointed, but if you do visit let me know your impression of the place. On the trip back to the Duke campus area we stopped at JR's. I used to buy cigars from them in my smoking days, they had a little of everything and my DW loved the place.

 

[luv]

On a trip to North Carolina to see a relative graduate from Duke and get married. We had a day to ourselves so we took a trip and drove from there to South of the Border. My son had seen it on the Travel Channel and wanted to see it, let's just say he was disappointed, but if you do visit let me know your impression of the place. On the trip back to the Duke campus area we stopped at JR's. I used to buy cigars from them in my smoking days, they had a little of everything and my DW loved the place.

My sis made me stop at some cigarette place on the road! That may have been the name, lol.

 

[emcclay]

Sleep Inn in Woodbridge VA is a great overnight hotel. They offer a complimentary breakfast. The rooms were recently refurbished, also. My best friend and I felt safe there. It is located just off a street with many restaurants and shops.

 

[Tomi-Rocket]

We usually wing it. Our hotel choices are Holiday Inn Express, La Quinta, Hampton Inn or the Wingate Inn. We like the ones that have a free breakfast as it saves a little money and time. Some are better than others, even within the same chain, but if there's at least a bagel or muffins and juice or milk that's plenty. I do have some apps now on my phone where I can call ahead and check on availability.

 

[WDW_Emily]

We wait until we are tired then stop, no booking ahead of time. Incase we make really good time and could make it farther, or if we get stuck in traffic and want to stop earlier, we have no commitment to one spot. We have these booklets from AAA and they give us a list of hotels with discounts for a bunch of locations down the east coast and we use that as a guide. Never had a big problem, we always stop near South Carolina/Georgia for the night.

 

[Mrs Potts]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. We'll be traveling the I-10 route so no South of the Border for us

If you pick up one of the freebie papers in most of the rest stops, you can find coupons for substantial savings on hotels. It's usually a same-day booking required, but it's a case of they'd rather book at a discount than not book at all. We've had good luck with those when we've driven down.

Are these at any of the rest stops, or just at the big Welcome Centers that you see when you enter each state? I've done a lot of research already on the hotels along our route at the major cities so I have a fair idea of what ones have good reviews. I'll have to remember the Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express since they've been mentioned quite a few times here.

 

[allgiggles]

We drive from Southeastern PA (the I-95 route) and we have never made reservations ahead of time...though we typically end up at the same spot on the way down (Port Wentworth, GA) and home (Ashland, VA). We stick with the major hotel chains -- always something that offers suites since we're a party of at least 5. We've never had a problem getting a room on the fly and usually pay between $80-95/night for a suite. We do make sure to stop driving by 6 or 7:00 and find that the hotels tend to fill up quickly after that time.