Hotel/Motel/Camping Situation

Is it all news hype or is it really busy on the road? Any thoughts on vacation time this year? One guy said he could get a room but no linens etc. Planning as soon as throttle hand heals.

ramble said:

Is it all news hype or is it really busy on the road? Any thoughts on vacation time this year? One guy said he could get a room but no linens etc. Planning as soon as throttle hand heals.

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We did about three weeks in April on a Texas, Arkansas trip.
Also did about two weeks going to Virginia this month.
No problems with busy roads or getting motels.
Most places are still not doing a self serve cooked breakfast but that may change soon.
Last September we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Colorado and they had a person who dished out the breakfast items for you. That might be normal at the more expensive places.
If staying some place several nights you have the choice of having the cleaning people come in each day or not. It's usually your choice.
Even before COVID we usually did not have the cleaning staff each day. If we needed anything we asked for it.

The main thing we noticed was shorter business hours due to labor shortage.
I think the extra unemployment pay has stopped so the labor problem should end soon.

Thanks Lee, I was surprised by a sit down serve yourself BF at a HI Express in March. Enjoyed your posted pics of your travels while mending.

In Kentucky I asked a owner of a Comfort Inn how long it would be before he could serve the normal breakfast like a lot of Comfort Inns do.
He was told by corporate they had to wait until the end of this year.
I didn't think to ask if that's a regional or national decision.

Lee said:

In Kentucky I asked a owner of a Comfort Inn how long it would be before he could serve the normal breakfast like a lot of Comfort Inns do.
He was told by corporate they had to wait until the end of this year.
I didn't think to ask if that's a regional or national decision.

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Sadly it all come down to the $. Have seen oriental restaurants too cheap to print menus, just add --% to the original price noted on their storefront, and many found it's easier to do carry-out. For me, I'll favor the sit-downs.

Lee said:

In Kentucky I asked a owner of a Comfort Inn how long it would be before he could serve the normal breakfast like a lot of Comfort Inns do.
He was told by corporate they had to wait until the end of this year.
I didn't think to ask if that's a regional or national decision.

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Stayed at the Comfort Inn in Elko NV last week they served the normal breakfast including eggs, sausage and potatoes. Must vary by region.


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GS2OFFROAD said:

Stayed at the Comfort Inn in Elko NV last week they served the normal breakfast including eggs, sausage and potatoes. Must vary by region.


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That's good to know.
Last year I was worried some of the motel chains would never go back to a eggs, potato and bacon breakfast.
If we have a decent breakfast at the motel we're usually good to go until we get in late afternoon.
Debbie can't eat gluten, so the prepackaged breakfast at most places didn't work for us last year and this year.
Last year and this year there were a few minor inconveniences on trips but we dealt with them so we could travel safely.

Lee said:

That's good to know.
Last year I was worried some of the motel chains would never go back to a eggs, potato and bacon breakfast.
If we have a decent breakfast at the motel we're usually good to go until we get in late afternoon.
Debbie can't eat gluten, so the prepackaged breakfast at most places didn't work for us last year and this year.
Last year and this year there were a few minor inconveniences on trips but we dealt with them so we could travel safely.

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On the other hand at the Comfort Inn in Silver City NM we get COVID breakfast. The clerk had no idea when normal breakfast would return. YMMV.

GS2OFFROAD said:

On the other hand at the Comfort Inn in Silver City NM we get COVID breakfast. The clerk had no idea when normal breakfast would return. YMMV.

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PS here is what COVID breakfast looks like

I'm traveling locally this year..well I take that back, I pre-booked in February all of my trips for the year back when things were cheap. Sub-$400 flights, Sub-$200 premium rooms. We're goin to a mets & giants game in August and we're paying $300 for 3 nights at the Sheraton by Citi field and got the tickets pretty cheap for good seats. We basically just booked everything while most of these cities were shut down. Same for our camping sites, we have state park reservations through October.

I am still looking at things to do for NYE, Thanksgiving, Christmas travel and sadly, it's just too expensive right now to book anything. Gas prices are up, hotels are 2X as are flights. So I'm not booking new travel unless I have to. Luckily, no kids so we can throw our legs over the bikes and head to Maine or other remote areas and camp on ADVRider's tent space thread where people offer up property no charge for camping and we can rough it and do it that way but my flight to Montana was $750. My flight to Missouri in August was $750 as well and that's me spending hours trying to figure out a cheaper way to get there. The same hotel by Citi Field is now $280 a night 3X what we paid back in March.

so I'd say unless work or family thing happens where I have to fly somewhere, we're staying local for anything not already booked. we rented a house near Huntsville AL for all of December for $1300. The January rates are $2,000. Stuff like that. It's just sort of unreal.

To top it all off (shout out to the photo below), once you arrive somewhere good luck finding restaurants staffed or anyone to help you in the general stores. My Wal Mart has no check out staff at the moment..it's all self check out. My UPS deliveries are all being lumped together to 1 day a week due to driver shortages. The amazon app no longer offers me 2 day shipping on things either. 3 of our 5 fast food restaurants are closed due to staff shortages. People have a lot of money to spend right now because they didn't spend it last year but then no one will actually take your money because there aren't enough people working.

If you like road trips and roughing it off your bike, you're probably fine at the moment...avoid the major parks that draw a lot of tourists though. those are all booked. it's a great year to do your Dalton or Trans Labrador ride if you can cross the border.

We've got our Trans Taiga ride pretty much laid out and we don't see any real hardships for it. I still want to get to CroMag but I might not get off the TT in time to make it. My buddy is thinking of heading back home via the Trans Lab. If CroMag is off the table I might run back with him as I haven't ridden the Trans Lab since '08, the first time I went to CroMag. I'll be sorry to miss you Adam.

skibum69 said:

We've got our Trans Taiga ride pretty much laid out and we don't see any real hardships for it. I still want to get to CroMag but I might not get off the TT in time to make it. My buddy is thinking of heading back home via the Trans Lab. If CroMag is off the table I might run back with him as I haven't ridden the Trans Lab since '08, the first time I went to CroMag. I'll be sorry to miss you Adam.

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I wanted to do TransTaiga this year then do a September trip to NL.

When my bike broke on the way to the National Rally, I called Super 8 in Great Falls to cancel. Easy!

When I went online to check to see if they had any rooms available just in case, I was shocked to find my $65 room now listed for $175!!!

Price gouging at its worst!!

Voni
Not sMiling

We paid $99/day at the Staybridge Inn across the street from the rally. As we were checking in we overheard the rate a another guest was paying; $320/day. On the back of the door of our room there was a notice that said the rate for the room was $600/night. I suspect the notice was that high so as to allow the motel to charge as much as they can get away with and have the guests still think they got a deal.

Two couples in my local club arrived at the Staybridge Suites Wednesday. One of the couples didn't have a copy of their reservations for the stay. The front desk said they couldn't find their reservation in the system. The hotel desk person said they still had rooms available though so no problem.....but now it's gonna be $450/night!

Those two couples got to know each other really well when they passed on that offer and decided to share one room instead.

All these stories make me appreciate my 10 year old Cabelas tent even more ;-)

I was able to secure a room in Monument Valley for 240.00, the next night in Moab for 120.00. Two nights in a cabin on a small river in Cody for 280.00. Haven't planned past that point in the trip but I'll have the tent and gear to find a place like the city park in Spearfish. Think they are getting 75.00 a night for tent space presently.

We're doing Arches NP but after 5pm when there's little to no traffic after we get into Moab. We're going to forego the Grand Tetons part of the trip due to the crowds and lack of finding a place to stay for less than 300.00 a night. But we're planning on taking in Devils tower, Mt. Rushmore etc, etc, then head back south into Colorado for a few days on the way back to my brothers place just west of Denver.

As we're sharing the tabs on rooms, it is what it is, somewhat more expensive but that seems to be the price one pays to travel this year. I see no need to miss out on an adventure with my brother due to costs of rooms. Everything's up, including my portfolio.

Most any event I have ever been to, services in the area have used the event to “boost” revenue. Some of the increases in charges can be justified based on previous experiences with similar events, some is just taking advantage of the situation.
What seems to work, but not perfect, is when event organizers secure a “block” of rooms which is usually done a year in advance. I can’t say the MOA could pull this off- logistically, but a member could book a block of rooms and be the “hero”.
Nowadays, it seems planning anything a year in advance has its own problems.
OM

Voni said:

When my bike broke on the way to the National Rally, I called Super 8 in Great Falls to cancel. Easy!

When I went online to check to see if they had any rooms available just in case, I was shocked to find my $65 room now listed for $175!!!

Price gouging at its worst!!

Voni
Not sMiling

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Unfortunately this happens more and more. It helps if you can reserve a room way ahead but if you work that's not possible a lot of times.
We made a reservation for next year at the Baymount for $69, King Bed, 2.1 miles from the rally. 24 hour cancel.
That rate will probably take a big jump next year.

I like to carry a hard copy of our reservation plus save the email on my phone in case there's a problem.
Last year there were two times the front desk person said we did not have a reservation, and then said we already checked in. Having a copy of our reservation helped to clear up the problem.