Any advice on how to save money on booking a night at a hotel on the way down to Disney?

[SharonZ]

I wouldn't run the risk of waiting until the day you leave to book a hotel. Just as you witnessed the price going down, it can also go up and there may be no availability.

 

[arminnie]

Our drive is either from Central Arkansas or New Orleans. My best tip is to check the rates at smaller towns. I can get a much better rate - often under $100 if we make our stop in a small town. Still just off the interstate but much cheaper even for the same chain than ones in larger metropolitan areas. We almost always stay at Fairfield Inns by Marriott.

 

[cedricandsophie]

It’s funny we all have our favorite sites. I usually use Bookings.com. Personally I would book a room ahead of time, refundable, so you can take advantage of a better deal. And I check out Trip Advisor to be sure they are reputable and have a decent reputation. My husband likes to stop when he enters a state and get one of those magazines that list hotels with decent rates at the state tourist office. But beware that the prices shown are often for two people only. Also we have tried a couple of those and found them to be awful. So that’s why I check every hotel out on trip advisor first.

 

[Thing 1]

We like Hotels tonight. It list hotels that have last minute openings. The closer to the date, the cheaper the rate. Yep, it’s a gamble but we have done well with it many times.

 

[mdsouth]

Why not book a refundable rate on the hotel website just to have something - AAA is often best for refundable rates - check the rules on the rate, but many allow you to cancel without penalty up to 6pm the day before. If something better shows up closer to departure, simply cancel and rebook.

This is what I do. Go to the hotel website directly, choicehotels.com example for any of the Choice hotel brands. And then book the refundable rate. With the refundable rate, you can cancel even the day of the trip, around 4 pm or 6 pm hotel time. It is easy to make reservations and change them online too. And they will send you a text too with the information. I just look at hotels.com for reviews and then pick one of the hotels and book it directly. You will save five dollars if you are Choice member. It is free and they do not bug you with email messages.

 

[SL6827]

I went ahead and booked a room, two queen beds, non-refundable rate at the Sleep Inn and Suites in Valdosta for $93 total. Not bad I suppose.

 

[kymom99]

I went ahead and booked a room, two queen beds, non-refundable rate at the Sleep Inn and Suites in Valdosta for $93 total. Not bad I suppose.

If you can stay under $100 I consider that a win.

 

[SL6827]

If you can stay under $100 I consider that a win.

Right, and it was in my middle range so to speak. I really liked the looks of the Comfort Inn and Suites in Valdosta, (that was my first choice) and the EconoLodge was the most affordable one, (must have interior halls) and this one was in between with both, (looked nice and was affordable).

 

[arminnie]

If you can stay under $100 I consider that a win.

Me too. We like to stop in Ocala at a Fairfield Inn that we usually get for under $80. Then we are only an hour and a half out from Disney in the morning.

 

[cruiser21]

How do you know that?

I've booked hotels many times day of travel. If your not fussy about which hotel you can get some last minute great deals.

 

[SL6827]

I've booked hotels many times day of travel. If your not fussy about which hotel you can get some last minute great deals.

I bet so. I really have to have interior halls and I like a somewhat decent breakfast offering in the morning. I remember we stayed at a LQ one time and they had the worst breakfast offering of any of the hotels we have stayed at before, full beds, not queen size, but the actual resort was nice. But I won't stay there again due to the beds and breakfast.

 

[herdtoDisney]

As far as booking the hotel day of-you do have to take into account when you are traveling and whereabouts you might stop.
We're going from Fl to CT in a few weeks and the trip up, we'll just stop so when ready and get a room. It will be a weekday and not a holiday so I'm not worried and will probably be about 110 or so. But coming back is the weekend and right before the holiday-and stopping in Florence SC which is a vacation area. The Comfort Inn that was $105 in Jan when we went is $185 that night! So I reserved a room in another place that is under renovation and has good rates and reviews-I'm taking a chance there lol.

 

[maramarrie]

When we drive, we often leave in the afternoon after school. We usually wait to make a hotel plan until after we've been on the road for several hours so we have a better idea how far we will get before wanting to stop. I search hotels.com, hotel websites, and hotwire for hotel prices on hotels in the towns we usually target, and then usually call the hotel directly. When calling directly, they 80-90% of the time will quote me a price the same as or lower than the price I found online. This also gives me the opportunity to tell them how late we'll be getting in, because sometimes that is around 1:00am when their computers have already rolled over to the next day. It saves a little hassle to call them and book before midnight.

 

[kymom99]

I do remember one time when we drove home from a cruise out of port Canaveral, we decided to go by way of 95. We stopped in Columbia SC at a very nice best western. I was driving and we hadn't been on the road that long but we were exhausted. I think I may have stopped and looked to see what was coming up. I really believe time was on our side since it wasn't late in the evening when we started looking. I always just ask for a AAA discount.

Another time we were driving home from siesta key. We always make that a 2 day drive. However that time we got a call right as we were heading out of town that my father in law was being taken to the hospital. we were going to try to make the drive straight through. But when we got to dalton, GA it started storming and pouring rain. My son was terrified of storms and it was so hard to see to drive. We pulled off because we saw a Hampton inn sign. Well us and a thousand other travelers. They had a room but it was a king room. We took it and tried to all 3 sleep together. My son was about 6. It wasn't a very restful sleep but we made it work.

So I guess my point is, you can always find something last minute, and if it's just one night it's not a huge deal. But saving money isn't always in the cards if you want to be flexible aboutvwhere you stop. You never know what may come up.