What roadside motels are like in the United States: experience

With a Coast to coast trip through the United States, or in a west coast tripWithout a doubt, the best accommodation alternative we have are roadside motels.

Butwhat are the motels like What do we find on the route?

The motels We usually find them in the service areas of the roads or at the entrances to different towns. In each of them there is usually more than one motel from different chains, with different levels of quality of service.

What motels are like in the United States

In general, in roadside motels, double rooms with two large beds King Size (large double), which are usually clean and in good condition.

In short, they are decent rooms that offer a reasonable level of service, with sufficient equipment, including towels in the bathrooms, television, and even a coffee maker, and for a price between $40 and $80 per room.

The motel chains Cheaper ones do not offer breakfast, or only have coffee, so we must have breakfast in an establishment in the area where the motel is located.

This must be taken into account when calculating prices, as it can make the overall price quite expensive.

In our trip through the United States, we have always looked for hotels with Wireless, with two size beds Queen (individual) or a Booking (double), with free parking (generally on the outskirts of urban centers it is like this), with breakfast included in the price, with television and, if possible, with a refrigerator.

Our room We normally asked for it in the ground floor.

This way we didn't have to carry suitcases up to the first floor (almost all roadside motels only have a ground floor and first floor), and we could also park the car right in front of the room.

For its location, we used the various tourist websites existing for the motel reservation.

In general, we tended to stay in chain motels Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Travelodge, Knights Inn y Howard Johnson.

Sometimes, like in Monument Valley, we had to go to a Holiday Inn Much more expensive but the only establishment available in the area.

There are other hotel chainsas Motel 6, which are cheaper, but often did not have Internet or you had to pay it separately.

During our trip, we found that in canada the same hotels are about 25 percent more expensive than in the United States.

When and how to book a motel

Now, when is it advisable to book the motel during a car route through the United States?

My initial recommendation when it comes to plan the trip on our own es book hotels or motels online in the cities.

Likewise, it is also advisable to book the motel in places where we are very clear about the specific date on which we are going to arrive.

In general terms, it is highly recommended to have your stay booked in advance (in motels or hotels) in cities such as New York, Washington, Las Vegas, Los Angeles o San Francisco.

And in certain areas of the United States, such as  Arizona or Utah (specially in Monument Valley and Grand Canyon), since there is a smaller supply of motels, it is highly recommended to reserve the room as far in advance as possible.

Now, regardless of whether we reserve certain stays on fixed dates, it is advisable to leave intermediate days on the route without prior reservation.

This will give us more travel flexibility, taking into account that, in general, it will be easy to find a motel room on the fly.

In any case, if we are clear about our route and the dates of our stay, book by Internet It will allow us to secure a room in a motel and, in addition, the price will be cheaper.

Logically, it is necessary to have a credit card for reservations via Internet.

If we have to look for a motel on the fly, it is recommended look for the room no later than 18 or 19 p.m..

In our case we always had the rooms reserved three days in advance.