Peter Greenberg: Locating Hotels on the Road

By: Peter Greenberg | Source: AARP.org | 2004-04-28

Q: I will be traveling from Indiana to Oregon, then to Los Angeles, then to Houston, and on to Naples, Fla. This is a driving trip, and I would like to know if there is an easy way to locate motels along the way.  Is it possible to locate and compare rates in cities along the way? I can identify the highways I will be traveling, but would prefer not to be stuck to choosing a city.  
-John, Granger, Ind.

A: If you're looking for a single site that offers complete road trip information, including price comparisons of hotels or towns along certain routes, –well, we are, too.  Frankly, we haven't found one that's of much use for what you're talking about.

There are some, like the I-95 Exit Guide, that are roadway-specific, but even here you'll be hard-pressed to find hotel comparisons, especially in terms of price. For the I-95 Road Guide, click here: http://www.i95exitguide.com/index.php.

There are sort-of individualized road-trip planning sites for a few major road-tripping routes--like Route 66, for example--but again, price comparisons are rare.

Another way to accomplish your goal might be to use your mobile phone.  The advantage here is that you don't have to plan nearly as much.  To find a nearby hotel, all you have to do is text one of the words "hotel" or "motel" to GOOGLE (466453) or YAHOO (92466) along with the ZIP code of the relevant city. Usually within a minute or two, you'll get a list of hotel names, addresses, and phone numbers of local accommodations. 

And if you're not into texting, you can try the GOOG-411 service, which works exactly like 411, with one big advantage: It's free.  To access this service, call toll-free, 800-GOOG-411.

Then you can call around to find the best rates from the road, without having to try to find a computer, or searching through a giant file folder you've filled with printouts.