Author Topic: Cheap motels (Read 19762 times)

Gliderjohn · « **on:** August 07, 2016, 07:36:11 AM »

I am typing this from a motel that cost me $50.83 with taxes. I am a motel person, not a camping person, at least at this stage of my life. Especially when on the Guzzi I always look for the motels that have a direct entrance from outside into the room. They are getting harder to find but still pretty common in the midwest. As long as it is reasonably clean and has WiFi I don't care about much else. Also seems easier to meet and visit with people at these type of motels.
GliderJohn

travelingbyguzzi · « **Reply #1 on:** August 07, 2016, 08:21:17 AM »

I am with you there, man! A single story courtyard motel is my preference.
A single story courtyard motel under $60 is even better.

Bill Lovelady IS
Eskimo Spy

Mike Tashjian · « **Reply #2 on:** August 07, 2016, 08:27:20 AM »

I have a friend who was an exterminator and his advise recently has been to check for bedbugs as soon as you get into any hotel room. Pull the sheets back on the mattress and check the seams for the critters and their droppings. Do not open your bags, do not sit on the bed until you check. If you find anything resembling a problem leave immediately and ask for another room. If you happen to be unlucky and contaminate something high heat from a clothes dryer will kill them and the eggs. Seems the pesticide that used to hold the critters at bay is not being used anymore. Mike

Moto · « **Reply #3 on:** August 07, 2016, 09:44:13 AM »

I have found cheap motels to vary a lot by region. Midwest and Western motels are usually fine. But the South and East of the country have been extremely disappointing for me. Dirt, poor maintenance, and often rudeness.

I realize it is not fair and cannot be entirely accurate to tar whole regions of the country from my limited experiences. (And please note, I'm talking only about the cheap motels, not the citizenry in general!) However, I wonder if anyone else has at least observed some hint of this tendency.

Bedbugs are a whole 'nother worry. It seems the world has gone to Hades in a handcart no matter where one looks.

Moto

travelingbyguzzi · « **Reply #4 on:** August 07, 2016, 10:43:18 AM »

To be fair, you hear about bedbugs in mid-range chain motels fairly often. I like to look at reviews in TripAdvisor and if I am really planning ahead, on streetviewer. Across the street from a tavern or brewery is best

tazio · « **Reply #5 on:** August 07, 2016, 11:07:55 AM »

Cheap motels.
Here's to hoping the "blue light special" doesn't turn out to be a
"black light" special...

lucian · « **Reply #6 on:** August 07, 2016, 11:12:47 AM »

Like cheap underwear, no ball room.

Lannis · « **Reply #7 on:** August 07, 2016, 11:57:15 AM »

On our trip to Alabama recently, we found the worst motel we've ever stayed in.

I even joined TripAdvisor so I could leave a little love-note about it. Once upon a time it was a Holiday Inn, then it was the "Gainesville Inn and Suites", now it's a "Budgetel".

Here's my entry:

Lobby dirty and unkempt. Should have backed out then. To his credit, the clerk asked if we wanted to see the rooms first (we should have). Elevator broke while we were in it. (No inspection certificate or max load information in elevator) Was trapped in the elevator for 15 minutes. Room was dirty and stank. Carpet was soaking wet in front of the bathroom. Shower curtain rod broken and hanging down. Mold on the walls. Smoke detector gone, had been ripped out of the wall, just wires hanging out. Most of the motel is permanent residents, a noisy, shoddy-looking bunch. Just nasty overall. Can't believe that the Gainesville health department hasn't shut this place down years ago - maybe they want to concentrate all the trouble in one place. STAY AWAY!

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34963-d86556-r375521581-Gainesville_Inn_Suites-Gainesville_Georgia.html#

Cam3512 · « **Reply #8 on:** August 07, 2016, 01:11:13 PM »

Use caution up in the northeast. Many of those "Motel No-tells" are Section 8 housing (welfare), and hotbeds for drug dealing and prostitution. And everything that normally goes along with it.

I'll stick to my Hilton properties.

Gliderjohn · « **Reply #9 on:** August 07, 2016, 01:17:33 PM »

As far as things not functioning the worst by far was at a high end Marriot convention center. The third room they put me in finally worked out.
One has to develop a kind of 6th common sense when selecting a motel. The first thing I do when entering a room is make sure everything works like it should and that it is reasonably clean. If not I go immediately back to the desk and generally get things worked out with little problem. Most will also go out of there way to accommodate me concerning asking for old towels if needed to wipe down the bike. Some will offer to let me keep the bike under the awning if I wish or if there is threatening weather forecast.
I also try to stay in smaller towns. Food, etc. is usually within walking distance and you can usually feel that your motel is not a center for drugs and prostitution even if it is cheap. It is all part of the adventure!
GliderJohn

drums4money · « **Reply #10 on:** August 07, 2016, 02:10:25 PM »

Quote from: Cam3512 on August 07, 2016, 01:11:13 PM

. . . . hotbeds for drug dealing and prostitution. And everything that normally goes along with it.

I'll stick to my Hilton properties.

now now. don't go beating down on entrepreneurship. . it's niche marketing!

LowRyter · « **Reply #11 on:** August 07, 2016, 02:18:16 PM »

IMO Motel 6 is the last option.

Lannis · « **Reply #12 on:** August 07, 2016, 02:37:15 PM »

Quote from: Cam3512 on August 07, 2016, 01:11:13 PM

Use caution up in the northeast. Many of those "Motel No-tells" are Section 8 housing (welfare), and hotbeds for drug dealing and prostitution. And everything that normally goes along with it.

I'll stick to my Hilton properties.

When I said "permanent residents" in my post, that's what I meant, without specifically saying it ... And this is in Georgia, so it's not just the northeast ... !

Lannis

Guzzistajohn · « **Reply #13 on:** August 07, 2016, 02:38:53 PM »

I stayed in a cheap motel in Meade ks last summer, the room was so small every time I cracked a smile my teeth hit the wall.

The guy at the front desk told me I'd have to make my own bed and handed me a hammer and a saw.

Lannis · « **Reply #14 on:** August 07, 2016, 02:41:44 PM »

Quote from: Guzzistajohn on August 07, 2016, 02:38:53 PM

I stayed in a cheap motel in Meade ks last summer, the room was so small every time I cracked a smile my teeth hit the wall.

The guy at the front desk told me I'd have to make my own bed and handed me a hammer and a saw.

My motel was so cheap that the smoke alarms were coin-operated.

Guzzistajohn · « **Reply #15 on:** August 07, 2016, 02:44:53 PM »

This is no shit, I stayed in a hotel in licking, mo. One time and the sign out front read "free radio" no tv just a radio. Even had fm!

charlie b · « **Reply #16 on:** August 07, 2016, 02:51:42 PM »

And have you found one that still has the coin op vibrating option? Had one of those a few years ago when we finally found a motel that would allow dogs (Days Inn, Memphis). After we got the room my wife declared that dogs are allowed cause no one else will stay there. Dirty room. Two small towels and little hot water.

If you really want to see if it is clean? Put a wet towel on the carpet and walk on it (NOT barefoot). See what gets soaked up.

LowRyter · « **Reply #17 on:** August 07, 2016, 03:15:37 PM »

I stayed at a Motel 6 in Austin a couple years ago. I walked from the shower to the bed, the bottom of my feet were black.

Tom · « **Reply #18 on:** August 07, 2016, 03:23:38 PM »

I've had good luck out west. Independent campgrounds too.

Lannis · « **Reply #19 on:** August 07, 2016, 03:27:02 PM »

Quote from: charlie b on August 07, 2016, 02:51:42 PM

And have you found one that still has the coin op vibrating option? Had one of those a few years ago when we finally found a motel that would allow dogs (Days Inn, Memphis). After we got the room my wife declared that dogs are allowed cause no one else will stay there. Dirty room. Two small towels and little hot water.

If you really want to see if it is clean? Put a wet towel on the carpet and walk on it (NOT barefoot). See what gets soaked up.

Me and my British friends were riding across Pennsylvania on our BSAs, coming from the BSA International Rally in Brimfield, MA heading toward the Ohio Valley BSA Owners Club Rally in Toronto Ohio one year.

They had been asking whether there were still any vibrating beds in any motels any where, they wanted to see some. I told them No Way, that was from the far past.

And then we stopped in the "Kane View Motel" just off US6 in Kane, PA, and I'll be dog if they didn't have 25-cent vibrating beds, and they worked too!

Haven't seen any lately though. I read in the Wall Street Journal a few years back that there was one older (70+) guy who owned the last few that were left, and made a bare living travelling the country collecting the quarters. He's probably long since retired ....

Lannis

charlie b · « **Reply #20 on:** August 07, 2016, 05:15:33 PM »

I have found no easy solution to which motels are good and which are not.

One small town will have a couple of spotless motels. The next town down the road that looks the same will have horrible rooms. One town with a "landmark" hotel will be really good, the next one horrible.

ratguzzi · « **Reply #21 on:** August 07, 2016, 06:08:51 PM »

I stay in motels 250-300 nights/year because I travel for work. I have a choice of receipted hotels as long as reasonable or a per diem $80/night no receipt required so if I stay for $55, I pocket $25/night. With uh..... my uh.... AARP rate........... I can usually do pretty good and with hotel points, I can stay free now and then and pocket the full $80. If I am stuck working in NYC or during some event, my company will pay the extra.
I haven't encountered bed bugs but I have seen a lot, especially if you pull the night stand away from the wall to plug your phone charger in! Yes, I have seen critters, dead mouse, etc but 95% of the time you get what you pay for. A lot of motels are going with the faux hardwood floors, no carpet which I like better and smell much better. Canadian Motel 6s are much nicer than the US ones. I usually do Wyndham Reward chains and Choice rewards. Super 8, Days Inn, Comfort Inn, etc.
I have run to walmart to buy a pillow and case with a light blanket because I didn't feel like sleeping "in" the bed! On it seemed safer!
I do prefer outside doors so I can park my motorcycle or van/motorcycle next to my door as well. But that said, when it's freezing out, I do like walking down for my cup of coffee through a corridor!
I detest getting a non smoking rook to see cigarette burns on the sink/tub or maybe it's non smoking but whoever does the sheets smokes while they are folding them! If something is gross, I take pictures and show the front desk and will send them to the chain customer service if really bad.
I just left the Ramada Limited in San Marcos, TX where there was a used towel in the shower upon check in and last night, ants attacked my toothpaste! Now in Aransas Pass tonight to work at the Corpus Christi Army Depot tomorrow, a Super 8 next two days, smells pretty good, $56/night aarp discount.
Later this week, maybe the Days Inn near Nashville for a couple days work then the Super 8 in Wytheville which is nicer than most.
JB

Lannis · « **Reply #22 on:** August 07, 2016, 06:10:05 PM »

Quote from: charlie b on August 07, 2016, 05:15:33 PM

I have found no easy solution to which motels are good and which are not.

One small town will have a couple of spotless motels. The next town down the road that looks the same will have horrible rooms. One town with a "landmark" hotel will be really good, the next one horrible.

Even franchised motels, which you'd think would be pretty consistent if the home office is doing its job and upholding standards, can vary quite a bit in quality. For example, the "Days Inn" in Scottsboro, Alabama, a town we used to travel to a LOT, was horrible, smelly, bug-infested. Anyone who was traveling there and couldn't get a room in the Hampton Inn, Comfort Inn, or Jamison motel went to Guntersville or somewhere 40 miles away rather than stay there.

And it was like that for years. I suppose it really damaged Days Inn reputation, at least for this traveler.

And the "Budgetel" I described earlier is probably NOT an outlier, I'll bet they're all nasty.

Lannis

Chuck in Indiana · « **Reply #23 on:** August 07, 2016, 06:18:18 PM »

When we took our trip across the country and back this summer, we camped. Every night. No bed bugs, nasty carpet, yada yada. No dickering over prices and all that goes with motels. Dorcia hates em, and that's fine with me. I'd rather sleep outside anyway. <shrug>

Lannis · « **Reply #24 on:** August 07, 2016, 06:18:56 PM »

Quote from: ratguzzi on August 07, 2016, 06:08:51 PM

I stay in motels 250-300 nights/year because I travel for work. I have a choice of receipted hotels as long as reasonable or a per diem $80/night no receipt required so if I stay for $55, I pocket $25/night.

When we were working the Bellefonte plant project in Scottsboro, AL, it was great to see the craft guys who were there 6 months on "Per Diem" ($84 a day) operate.

Four guys who were friends would get a room with two queen beds, so it cost each of them about $15 a night. There was a good free breakfast (the kind with a waffle maker, eggs, bacon/sausage, biscuits, fruit, bagels, cereal, etc.) PLUS the hotel would pack a "take-away" breakfast for you, whatever you wanted, so all the guys took that for lunch at the site.

In the evening, the hotel would put out (free) buffalo wings, sliced vegetables, or ham biscuits, or some other hors-doeuvre things, and the guys would fill plates up with that, then free popcorn and sodas later.

So with rooms and three meals a day taken care of, the guys were pocketing $70 a day x 180 days for their per-diem = $12,500, plus site pay (often 72 hours a week if they wanted it)...

When a job was over, there were a LOT of nice bass boats and crew-cab dually pickup trucks being bought back home ..... !!

Lannis

Lannis · « **Reply #25 on:** August 07, 2016, 06:26:35 PM »

Quote from: Chuck in Indiana on August 07, 2016, 06:18:18 PM

When we took our trip across the country and back this summer, we camped. Every night. No bed bugs, nasty carpet, yada yada. No dickering over prices and all that goes with motels. Dorcia hates em, and that's fine with me. I'd rather sleep outside anyway. <shrug>

I don't mind camping, and certainly like the flexibility, but I've got a couple issues with it.

1) Carrying everything for two people for weeks on the road, camping, on one bike. Tent, ground cloth, bedrolls, cooking gear, clothes, extra riding gear - we did it for 3 weeks in the UK back in 2008 with a BSA A10, but I ended up replacing the rear bearings over there in the middle of the trip, and the whole wheel when we got home. We had 500 pounds on that mule .... Without a trailer or two bikes, I just can't get it all on one bike and have a comfortable experience.

2) The TIME it takes! You've got to set up camp, and that takes a while. Then in the morning, you've got to break camp. Everything is soaking wet from the dew, and it seems impossible to get everything back where it came from when it's dripping wet. And if you wait till the dew dries, it's noon before you get on the road. We find that when we're camping, we only get about 6 hours of riding in a day.

I guess I'm not a rufty-tufty Daniel Boone or a dedicated backpacker, both of whom would pooh-pooh my wittle complaints. But when two of us are crossing the country on one bike, it's more trouble than I (just me) want to go to ....

Lannis

Chuck in Indiana · « **Reply #26 on:** August 07, 2016, 06:32:37 PM »

Quote

But when two of us are crossing the country on one bike, it's more trouble than I (just me) want to go to ....

Oh, I agree. The only way we've done it is with a sidecar rig. On this trip, we had the bike in the van (although you can't get a real motorcycle in a Transit)

and pulled our little motorcycle pop up camper. I also didn't have to drone across the plains on a bike. I've done it, don't care to do it any more.

PJPR01 · « **Reply #27 on:** August 07, 2016, 06:51:02 PM »

Quote from: Chuck in Indiana on August 07, 2016, 06:18:18 PM

When we took our trip across the country and back this summer, we camped. Every night. No bed bugs, nasty carpet, yada yada. No dickering over prices and all that goes with motels. Dorcia hates em, and that's fine with me. I'd rather sleep outside anyway. <shrug>

And you can get early check in and late check out without bothering the front desk clerk!! Super!!

Lannis · « **Reply #28 on:** August 07, 2016, 09:09:20 PM »

Quote from: Chuck in Indiana on August 07, 2016, 06:32:37 PM

(although you can't get a real motorcycle in a Transit)

Pretty bold talk on a 'motorcycle' board for a guy in an air-conditioned van pulling a motel behind him ....

Cool Runnings · « **Reply #29 on:** August 07, 2016, 09:19:20 PM »

Nephew told me he and his GF flew down to Florida (he has his own plane). Landed in a major airport, got a new rental car for free and a big discount for a ocean front hotel. Pilots are treated way better than motorcyclists.

Hey, you got a room

News:

Author Topic: Cheap motels (Read 19762 times)

Moto