Motels have gone out of style for the younger traveling crowd. And although my family grew up often choosing motels, I hadn’t really considered them for our traveling at all. More recently, however, the pandemic opened up the idea of motels to me; there aren’t hallways to interact with people, you’re generally on your own AC unit, and they’re likely pet friendly for little to no fee!
And I get that motels, fully equipped with their “AAA Approved” rating that reminds you of your grandparents, might not have that appeal. But, I’m going to pitch motels to you as a budget adventure resource (especially when used in combination with those more spendy nights)!
We’ve spent a good amount of time in incredibly rural places visiting the US National Parks. And the general rule of thumb we’ve found: the closer you get to National Parks, the less likely you are to find those trendy Airbnbs. There are obviously exceptions, especially in California, but go searching for short-term rentals near Glacier or in Jackson Hole. They’re either crazy expensive, or crazy far away from the parks.
But, guess what almost all of these smaller towns have? At least 2-3 motels or inns, fully equipped with mini fridge, microwave, WiFi, and 70s style bathroom for $60/night or less.
Listing microwave as a top amenity may not scream luxury (although it’s definitely something to check for!). But ask yourself when planning your trip, “What are my goals?”
Are you going to spend any time in your room? How many of the amenities that your $300/night hotel room lists are you actually going to use? What’s the difference between the motel and hotel pool?
If you’re going on a 2-3 night trip, make some plans beforehand on how much time you may spend where you’re lodging, and save some money on those nights you venture out. Lake Tahoe was a great example of this for us. We stayed in the 3 Peaks Resort & Beach Club for $48/night, and it was exactly what you expect from a motel stay. Dated, but comfortable, and a whopping 2 blocks from the shared private beach that guests at the Marriott Timber Lodge also had access to for double the price. We were walking distance from a number of great restaurants, and right in the thick of the Tahoe action. South Lake Tahoe is filled with spots like this, and if you’re just looking for a bed to crash on, put that extra money towards a longer trip or a fun experience!
A couple days later we were in San Francisco, where we paid a slight premium to be in a multi-room Airbnb with breakfast, easy parking, and a washer/dryer in the heart of the city. For us, San Francisco was the halfway point of a 28 day road trip. We knew at this point we would need to wash our clothes and since we’d recently been to San Francisco, we were happy to spend more time unwinding at the Airbnb. Thinking about your travel needs beforehand goes a long way towards saving money while you’re traveling!
Have I convinced you? Okay, well let’s talk about what to look for in booking a motel, because there are still some spots to avoid! First, just Googling, “Motels near ______” is a good start. I like to use the Google Travel resource and sort by Highest Rating. This is also a great time to filter by price, and weed out some of the options outside your budget. You can do the same thing on Expedia/Priceline/Hotwire/Hotels/etc, but I usually start with Google to find a spot, and then check those sites, as well as the direct hotel website, for cheaper rates.
-Breakfast - even if you don’t intend to make use of it, it’s a nice money saving option, and can be useful for grabbing dry goods snacks for the day.
-A microwave - you’d be surprised at how many places don’t have them, and leftovers make a great snack!
-Pet accommodations/pet fee
-Pool/hot tub - you’d again be surprised by how many spots have great, uncrowded pools!
-Room square footage - Priceline is especially good about this information, and it’s often one of the perks of motels! They usually are significantly bigger than hotel rooms, which is great when traveling with pet beds or Pack and Plays!
-AAA Approval tag - I know that sounds cheesy, but people pay for the service of AAA, they take pride in the trust they have with their customers, and you might as well cheat off their homework. This is usually on the landing page of the motel’s site, or on their marquee using Google street view.
-Location - places right around theme parks, National Parks, or beaches usually have to keep pretty high standards! We’ve often found great, cheap stays in bigger cities when looking for motels near theme parks or sports stadiums (San Diego is a great example of this).
-What do the 3 and 4 star reviews say? Not every motel is trying to be 5 stars, and if it’s just small preferences that have people leaving mid-tier reviews, that’s a good sign!
-Mentions of WiFi - a lot of these places are appealing to a less tech-intensive audience, who don’t care about wireless speed. See if you can find mention of rooms with great connection, and ask for those! I’ve often found first floor rooms fare better than second for WiFi speed.
-Room cleanliness patterns, and the response from the motel to those reviews, if provided. When looking for places on the California side of Death Valley, I thought I had landed a gem, only to go digging a little deeper in reviews to find a consistent pattern of people finding blood on their walls, or thinking their bed hadn’t been cleaned. Hard pass...hard pass.
-Do they advertise weekly rates? There’s nothing wrong with motel living, but if you’re traveling, resting, or really valuing a night of sleep, it’s something to be cognizant of! We’ve hit a couple situations before where long-term residents hang out late into the night on their porches, opening and closing those heavy room doors, and generally just enjoying their friends. That’s great for them - I’m glad they’ve got a community they enjoy living with! But for us, especially when traveling with Isla, it’s frustrating and something to be mindful of! You can usually find that information pretty easily on a hotel website, or on a street view picture of their marquee using Google Maps.
