Reservation or No Reservation?
 

Hello All,

Seeing as I work for a hotel I am always amazed when people show up looking for a room on busy nights only to have to explain to them we are all filled up and the next place most likely to have a room would be 20 minutes down the road... Often times people get quite angry at me for having to tell them this...

When I travel, I make sure to always have a reservation, especially when I know it will be busy where I am going or have specific requests (smoking, ground-floor, ect)...

My question is, am I the exception here? or do a majority of you travel without a reservation?

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

well i usually stay at my parents house when i go to Michigan. But when i do travel with the government we use Reservations

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

It's rare that I travel without a hotel reservation. Can't think of the last time...

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

In the past I have taken many spur of the moment road trips that required calling hotels in the next town down the interstate to see if they had a reservation. Sometimes you think you can make a 14 hour drive with no sleep and it turns out you can't. Occasionally I just pulled off the interstate when I saw a sign for "49.99" per night or whatever and went in the lobby to get a room.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

We almost NEVER make advanced reservations. And have only been shut out once in 30+ years. We have had times where we had to pay more, go a little farther or settle for less of a room, but we are always polite about it. This includes Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Smokies, and many others. We got shut out in Big Springs, Texas one trip when there was a big Rodeo in town that we didn't anticipate, and we had to go 2 hours east (direction we were already headed.) A night in Moab cost us twice what we planned, because we didn't realize Moab was a big weekend retreat for desert recreation. A trip into Yellowstone that was suddenly in a blizzard meant we had to go to West Yellowstone to find a room instead of one in the park. But overall, we find rooms. We are NOT picky and limited to 4 or 5 star joints. As a matter of fact, some of our best rooms have been in small, mom and pop establishments in out-of-the-way places.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

I understand it with last minute trips and unforeseen circumstances, but Cherokee has a casino and often times EVERY hotel books out... So long as your not picky I will usually do whatever I can for someone, Including calling competitors and setting up reservations for them at other properties, but I am amazed by the people that EXPECT you have a particular room and will settle for nothing else...

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

Priceline for name your price. Don't leave home without it.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

Always locked in before I go anywhere!!

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

Sadly, we have seen that from other people, especially expecting $200 rooms in a joint that tops out at $85!!! Two months ago, in the St. Mary's area of Glacier NP, a sudden storm blew through, and all rooms were taken by noon. The main, large hotels offered nothing, and wouldn't even call around! We stopped at a small, older motel that was also full, but the clerk immediately said she knew a small hotel about 8 miles north that had rooms half an hour ago, called them, and even had them hold a room for us. We went gave her a $20 tip, drove up, got one of 5 rooms left. Then we went across the road to a small cafe to eat while they were cleaning our room and getting it ready. When we returned from eating, there were two couples walking thru our room (which the maid was in, with an open door). They both turned their noses up, were kinda snotty, and said they would drive down to St. Mary and get rooms. We simply kept our mouths shut. An hour and a half when they returned, all rooms were already taken!!!! Sometimes these people DO get what they deserve!!!

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

OH don't even get me started with the headache that are Online Travel Agents (OTA's) Often people don't read the fine print with such websites, the worst of which is Hotwire, All they do is guarantee you have A room at that property, not necessarily the room you request... Then I, as the desk clerk, get to explain it to them when Hotwire promised they would have a ground floor or a non-smoking room...

OTA's make a commission on the rooms they sell, often times you can end up paying the same for a non-guaranteed room type as you would if you just called the property directly... Most of them, Priceline, Expedia, Hotwire, Travelocity, Orbitz ect. will tell you ANYTHING to get you to buy so they make their cut...

My advice to anyone, don't use an OTA, and if you do, Call the desk after making the reservation and confirm what you are looking for with them... :2

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

Only time I don't have advance reservations is when I take a long driving trip and am not sure how far I will get before I stop for the night.

So, I did not vote in the poll since neither answer is truly accurate for me.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

I don't always make reservations,
But when I do, I do so in advance

Reserve responsibly, my friends

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

I can't remember the last time I traveled without reservations.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

We always make reservations.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

I usually do, except when on the bike. I ride until I decide to stop for the day, hard to set reservations that way.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

What Kinda bike you got there Larry?

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

My wife and I roadtrip a lot. You often don't know when you've just had enough and will stop for the night. Only once due to a NASCAR race we didn't know about were we turned away and suggested heading down the interstate another 25 miles. No problem, certainly don't get rude about it. We just figure most hotels have a vacancy somewhere. Short roadtrips we tend to have advance reservations for accommodations.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

99% of the time I make a res. Even if it's the day of. I usually make all mine online as well.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

This is us exactly. If I'm going to a specific destination, especially by plane, I have the reservation, usually well ahead of time. The only exception is when we were in Europe, I had the first hotel reserved and then we decided where we wanted to go from there and made the next reservation before we left the previous one.

However, when I'm on a road trip, a lot of times I don't have a reservation and see how far I'm going to get. My cross country drive a month and a half ago worked out very well this way. We got farther than we thought one day, and not as far another. It was great to have the flexibility.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

It's 2012, the ease of reserving rooms or dinner or anything is amazingly easy... I can't NOT reserve my spot, haha.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

Rob,

I'm in the industry and work for a major Hotel company. Believe me after 15 years in the industry nothing people tell me when they arrive at my Hotel surprises me anymore. But remember it's always our fault. But I was guaranteed double beds and connecting rooms, early check in, etc...I could go on and on and on.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

This is what wives and secretaries are for!:D

I always have a reservation!:tu

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

Glad someone can relate with my pain... :tu my favorite are when they expect EVERY room has a refrigerator and microwave... or they expect our shuttle (Which I drive, only offered on Fridays & Saturdays) on a Tuesday or Wednesday night!!!!

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

I usually sleep at home; I hate traveling.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

Always have a reservation, and always do it on-line. Usually do some quick research on tripadvisor.com to see what past customers have thought about the hotel/motel as well. Have found some hidden gems this way.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

I am a Platinum Marriott member and still make reservations. I can always cancel them later on.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

Let me kinda revise my previous comments. My wife and I probably have a reservation 50-60% of the time with the advent of smart phones and Internet connections. However, probably 75-85% of those are made while sitting in the hotel parking lot, or within 10 minutes of the hotel. And most are made with a limited number of chains that we have preferred customer cards at, to gain the benefits of multiple stays.

We travel by car on all our trips, because we like to see the country. We can't make early reservations, because we never know where we will be stopping next, or how long (within a few days) our trips will take. On one trip out west, we made 1000 miles one day, but one day, we stayed 30 miles from our previous stop. Not everyone's method of travel, for sure, but I've never been one for regimented schedules when I travel. As a rule, we usually have a departure date set (thought we NEVER leave as early as planned), but we seldom have a specific return date. We have a "target" return date range. Mostly we come home when the money starts running low.

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

I've found you always get charged more if you don't have a reservation. So, for the past many years, I've always made reservations!

Re: Reservation or No Reservation?
 

Same for me. Generally the only time I will not have an advanced res is if I'm on a motorcycle trip.