Frugal accommodations backfired

[redfox]

I just spent a week at my Alma Mater, and chose to stay in the cheap-o motel - despite it's skeevy reputation - that's walking distance from the college, to save $$ and not rent a car, but walk everywhere. Even in a so-called non-smoking room, my clothing stinks so badly I cannot have it in the house until it's washed. And, the worst part is, about half of it will need to be dry cleaned, as it's not washable. There goes the savings.

Next time I go, I'm paying twice the nightly price at a place a bit further out, but will actually sleep - I could smell the nastiness even with my CPAP machine filtering the air, and after a room change. And my clothing won't stink. I feel polluted inside and out. YUCK!!!

Other than that, the trip was fabulous...

[CathyA]

I've done that in past..........regretted trying to save money on a hotel. Big mistake! Even the nicer hotels give me the creeps some times.
I'm glad your trip was good........but I hope you didn't bring any bedbugs home with you!
Change your CPAP filter and if the smell is still in it, maybe you could buy some of that aroma-therapy stuff for CPAP machines.

[Bronxboy]

I've done that in past..........regretted trying to save money on a hotel. Big mistake! Even the nicer hotels give me the creeps some times.

We gave up cheap hotels after an incident about three years ago where I had to rush my wife and daughter into a room because of the thuggish element in the parking lot. Holiday Inn Express and Fairfield are now the minimum standard.

[heydude]

oh yah, i did a 25 dollar hotel off a freeway and OMG the room was huge but it was soooo awful! there was like one light bulb, the bedding had tears in it, the lamp shades had holes in them. I slept in my clothes on top of the covers and I didn't dare shower. I think I slept for like 2 hours before I finally just got the Freeway out of there!

[sweetana3]

It is hard when there is no time to research where to stay. I try to check all the reviews and, even though there may be some negatives, I look at the specific comments.

We took a chance and I found a very inexpensive hotel in a resort area and it turned out to be fantastic. Great location, great breakfast, and clean with a good view. Half the price of any of the others I could find.

[herbgeek]

My husband tried to save us some money once by getting a no name motel. The room was so overwhelmingly smelling of bleach- made me wonder what the prior occupants had done in there! It was so bad, we had the fans on and the windows open and still couldn't sleep. We actually discussed cutting out at midnight and heading home (but did wait until early morning).

[loosechickens]

We've done several road trips in the Prius in the last year or so, not taking the motorhome. To several locations in CA, CO and AZ, and we always pick the small, independent (usually Indian or Pakistani owned and family run) little motels. Sample is only about six of them, but every one was clean, pleasant and a bargain at from $35-$45 dollars. Nice folks.....not fancy rooms, but certainly adequate.

We do try to stay away from the ones that looks like they have lots of weekly renters, etc., and go for the ones that are clearly for overnight visitors for the most part, but honestly, we've had good luck, and often found them nicer than some of the "name" hotels. And certainly, less expensive.

Sorry you had such bad luck. We always request nonsmoking and have never been given a room in one of those motels that smelled of tobacco smoke, thankfully.

I'm a big fan of those little family owned motels.....

[Zoebird]

I like state parks. Seriously. Modern cabins in most state or national parks are cheap and clean. You might need to bring your own sheets, but still, very good rates.

[Jemima]

I've traveled a lot for my job and find that even chain hotels can be dives on an individual basis and a change of ownership can be trouble. Wingate Inn used to be really nice before it was taken over by Wyndam, and now it's a dump. The last time I stayed there, the mattress was worn out and I had a backache all week. And then there was their "theme" of cobalt blue lights on the coffeemaker and the clock, which I could barely read without putting my nose on the clockface.

I usually stay at something cheaper when I'm paying, like a Day's Inn, but the last one was so creepy I slept with the lights on and an electronic bug-repeller plugged in, plus the mattress was dated something like 1991 and this was fifteen years later. Hampton Inn has lovely rooms in a town half an hour from me, but uncomfortable, overcrowded rooms a hundred miles away, obviously an older hotel that was never meant to hold a mini-fridge, micro, computer desk, and couch.

My fave to date is Candlewood Suites, which is new enough to be consistent everywhere. Rooms include a kitchen with full-size refrigerator, huge multi-function micro, a small sink and two burner stove. Cleaning and re-supply only happens once a week, but you can get whatever you need at the front desk in between. Good sound-proofing between rooms as well.

[jennipurrr]

I am an overplanner when it comes to accommodations. I can handle basic, even rustic...but I do not do well with nasty. I have had a couple of really really bad experiences. One was with the Midtown Hotel in New Orleans (a friend booked spru of the moment, "it has 3 stars on hotels.com") - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g60864-d89123-Reviews-Midtown_Hotel_New_Orleans-New_Orleans_Louisiana.html I am pretty sure any good reviews of there are fake, put in from the management. I am waiting for it to make one of the worst of lists out there...it was that bad. We left after about 10 min.

I don't usually have to travel spur of the moment so research on tripadvisor.com and highly recommend the website. There is always going to be a bad review or two out there, but from my experience it becomes pretty easy to pick out the hotels that are just plain nasty. Also, I am very particular about getting my money's worth...if I am going to be shelling out the price for an upscale hotel, I don't want the Days Inn, so I use it for that also.

Loosechickens, did you know that Indian families own a large swath of hotels in the US, including the franchised ones? They have intricate networks to help each other run and finance them so they have created a niche in that industry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patel - "Patel Motel" phenomenon