How Cheap Is Too Cheap?
For some trips, you want to pay as little as possible for a safe, reasonably comfortable hotel room. But how cheap is too cheap?
A few years ago, my sister was invited by Hollywood Squares to (possibly) be a contestant on the show. She'd have to travel on her own dime, and there was no guarantee she'd even be on the show, let alone win anything. She decided to take the risk and I went along for the ride.
We found a quirky motel-style spot that fit our (really low) budget, and looked good on the web site. When we checked in, we began to wonder if we'd made the right choice. We didn't have a good feeling about the place, right down to the creepy vibe we got from the front desk clerk. When we got to the room, we were sure we'd made a mistake. Visible stains on the carpet, a door that opened onto a parking lot and locked with a metal key (and a keyhole on the outside), no deadbolt or security chain we could engage, and a bathroom that had seen, well, a lot of use. It was time to go.
We went back to the front desk and explained that we'd like to leave. Mr. Creepy at first was unwilling, then only agreed to refund our money after he sent someone to inspect the room to make sure we hadn't used it. (We'd only been in the room for about 45 minutes, so I tried not to think about how he thought we had used it.)
After finally getting a refund, we headed a couple of miles down the road to a Holiday Inn Express, where the room was larger, safer, cleaner, and (get this) $10 a night cheaper.
Many experts say if you pay above $39 a night, you'll get a cleaner room - for some reason, that's the magic number. What's the cheapest you've ever paid for a hotel room? How did it work out? Would you do it again?
P.S. My sister did get to compete on Hollywood Squares, and she won -- five days in a row! She was the all-time winner up to that point, with $65,541 in cash and prizes. We still kept our room at the Holiday Inn Express.
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Sounds great.
We stayed at La Quinta Inn & Suites in Andover, Mass, last fall for two nights, at $35.10 per night. It came with free parking, continental breakfast (had cereal, maybe pancakes – good breakfast). Most amazing, it was a large, clean, well appointed room!! I know we got a good internet deal. We did wonder before we went what the deal was with such a cheap room, but decided we would risk it. It was one of the best rooms on our 4+ week New England visit!!
Mark, I’m glad your gamble paid off. I would have been nervous at $35 a night but a clean room, free breakfast and free parking – not a bad deal!
I stayed at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas just a couple weeks ago for $26/night. It was wonderful. It was a clean, good size room, with free parking.
Vegas! The king of cheap hotel rooms. Especially downtown – the Strip has gotten really upscale. You can gamble cheap at Sam’s Town too. Glad you had a good experience there.