Roadtrips and lodging

[roadfro]

Walmart has an unofficial policy of allowing RVers to park overnight in their parking lots. Reason being is that the visitors will often run in there to do some shopping.

While this may be true, one should be on the lookout for signs in the parking lot which may prohibit this. Such signage gives the store/site owner leverage if an RV comes along and customer parking is in high demand for some reason.

The parking lot of the Walmart Supercenter near my house in Reno has a sign near the main entrance that states no overnight Truck/RV parking (or similar language) pursuant to a section of the city municipal code.  I imagine that this sign was erected by the site developer and not Walmart, and the Walmart staff doesn't necessarily enforce it. Usually the RVs stay parked along the fringes of the parking lot and out of the way of circulating traffic so as to not disrupt other customers.  Right now, however, given that it's the holiday season and we recently had a big snowstorm that has limited available parking due to snow removal piles, they might be more apt to discourage the overnight parking activity.

[allniter89]

Some of the RV guides will tell you which stores allow overnight parking. I've noticed a lot of semi trucks also park in their lots.

WalMarts truck parking is usually a store by store basis. Some stores allow parking while shopping only, some allow parking overnite and some allow NO parking at all. I cant recall the location but I was met in the parking lot by store personell and told I could not park there at all even tho I planned to shop for ALOT of groceries, I even showed them my full page grocery list. Needless to say they went on my "shirtlist"

[corco]

I just checked into the Super 8 in Evanston, Wyoming, which is one of my all time favorite cheap hotels. It's $43/night, the hotel is insanely clean, there's no additional frills to jack up the price other than internet (eg no half-assed breakfast or pool), and the internet always works really well.

[HalifaxTravaler]

Great thread.I am planning a trip  from Nova Scotia to Charlotte NC.I have the super 8 in Sailsbury NC as the hotel  while we are there, i figure i need a hotel in Connaround I395 for a night then hmm,not sure where else, possible the Washington DC area for my 2nd travel night,anyone have any input on decent places.I have used motel 6 in the past,We stayed at the motel 6 in Nashua NH in 2007 40 bucks a night the room was clean and we were happy with it it was just a place to sleep as we were on the go each day anyhow.thanks.

[AZDude]

Generally I prefer to stay at a Motel 6.  Before the trip, I check to see if there are any along my chosen route. 

The cheapest one I've stayed at was in Williams, CA @ $31 a night.  It was clean, reasonalbe size room, basic cable, working climate control, and a nice hot shower.  They had wifi for $3, but I have an Aircard from Sprint for my internet. 

The most expensive Motel 6, I've stayed at was in Butte, MT @ $68 a night.  This was the only one I didn't like.  It was in the style of an inn.  The room was BIG (nothing wrong with that).  There was no hot water (it was lukewarm, plus it was 38 degrees outside) and I felt like I was going to fall through the floor of the tub.  But the climate control did work.  Everything else was fine. 

The best Motel 6 I've been to was in Roswell, NM.  It was in the style of an inn.  The staff were very friendly and helpful.  BIG room, clean, excellent climate control, hot water, and 60+ channels of cable tv. 

[agentsteel53]

I saw a Motel 6 advertising 29.99 yesterday - it was somewhere on I-25, south of Denver.  Walsenburg, maybe?  I think it is some kind of promotion they have, as usually the lowest prices they have tend to be $37.99.  I paid $46.something in Turlock, CA a couple of nights ago including the room, the wireless internet, and the various fees and charges that invariably find their way onto one's bill.

the cheapest motel I ever stayed in was $9 in Gallup, NM in 2003.  Nowadays I don't think you can find a motel under $17 in the US.  (Where is $17?  Gallup, NM, of course!)

[hbelkins]

I'd hate to think what $17 would buy you in terms of an overnight stay. A bed and a 12" TV with communal bathrooms like a college dorm would be my guest.

I've signed up for two nights at the Econo Lodge in Texarkana for Jan. 1-2 (can't remember which side of State Line Ave. it's on) so I'm hoping that's a decent motel.

[agentsteel53]

I'd hate to think what $17 would buy you in terms of an overnight stay. A bed and a 12" TV with communal bathrooms like a college dorm would be my guest.

$9 got me my own bed and bathroom.  Clean and comfortable.  I don't remember if there was a TV or not; I hardly ever watch TV so in general I don't notice their existence.

[Dougtone]

I'd hate to think what $17 would buy you in terms of an overnight stay. A bed and a 12" TV with communal bathrooms like a college dorm would be my guest.

My guess would be a hostel, which could be good or bad.  As long as it's clean...

[mightyace]

My guess would be a hostel, which could be good or bad.  As long as it's clean...

I know hostels are big in Europe.  How many actually are there here in the U.S.A. or the western hemisphere in general?

[exit322]

I'm a big fan of getting the little coupon guides at welcome centers and trying to use that to get rooms on the cheap.  We've had more luck than not with 'em.

I collect said little coupon guides, too, so I must be wary of other people at the rest areas wondering why the heck I'm getting two of each of the guides (in most SE states, there are three different coupon guide publications) in the states we're planning on staying.

[J N Winkler]

I know hostels are big in Europe.  How many actually are there here in the U.S.A. or the western hemisphere in general?

I don't think there are that many.  I suspect Canada has more on a per-capita basis, while the US does have some in large cities (for instance, the IYHF-affiliated hostel for LA is in Santa Monica within an easy walk of the beach).  I remember seeing a publication about ten years ago which said that there were something like 250 IYHF-affiliated hostels in the US at the time (maybe late 1950's/early 1960's).  I think that is probably in excess of current numbers by one or even two orders of magnitude.

In Europe not all hostels are affiliated with IYHF--in fact I think IYHF affiliates are probably in a minority.  Some are quite good, while some are quite bad.  Hostelworld.com offers a booking service and reviews of each hostel, and is very useful for screening the options.  My experience has been that the really bad hostels tend to be clustered in large cities with high costs of living, so I tend to go for the small family-owned pensions or small hotels.  Madrid has a good selection of hostales residencias (many family-owned) just off the Gran Vía, while for Paris I can recommend the Hôtel Wilson in Asnières.  Amsterdam presents special complications from a hostelling perspective--unless you make a special effort to choose "pot-free" hostels, you are liable to inhale substantial quantities of secondhand marijuana smoke.  I was not picky the last time I was in Amsterdam and when I checked in at Schiphol Airport to return home, the ticket agent looked at me as if he could not believe what kind of a pothead was trying to fly.