Road Trip Planning – Hotels.com Rocks!
Are you planning a road trip this summer and need to find places to stay? I gotta tell you – Hotels.com rocks!
I just spent an evening booking rooms for a trip my daughter and I will take later this summer to tour east coast college campuses. I normally hate travel planning, but with Hotels.com I actually enjoyed the booking experience. (This is not a sponsored post, though maybe it should be – can I be the William Shatner of the Hotels.com road trip planning industry?)
I’ve taken some killer road trips in my day, visiting every corner of the US – from Athens GA, to Graceland, to Chicago, Mount Rushmore, Seattle, Albuquerque, San Diego, you name it. Back in the day, our road trip planning consisted of a AAA book and some paper maps – we needed a different one for each state. It sucked! We survived, but what a pain in the ass to plan our road trips.
Of course, I’ve used online travel sites since then, including Hotels.com. But something is different about their interface. It was totally easy to use.
This time, my road trip planning consisted of making a list of schools my daughter wanted to visit, then logging in to Hotels.com and typing in those cities. The site brought up a map showing area hotels, with a list of prices and ratings. I could then click a checkbox to highlight the university on the map and see which hotels were closest (you can highlight pretty much any anything – attraction, monument, stadium, neighborhood, beach, shopping center, whatever you’re interested in.)
Then I’d click to my hearts content to see photos of each hotel property. Me being me, I usually picked the hotel with the best swimming pool. Woo-hoo!
Oh, and Hotels.com started giving me discounts on rental cars and other stuff. I went back to my existing rental car reservation, typed in a discount code, and promptly saved $100. Road trip planning never had it so good! (Do I sound like a kid in a candy shop yet?)
Only twice did I have to leave the pleasurable confines of Hotels.com while planning this road trip:
• Booking a hotel at Niagara Falls (She wouldn’t attend college there. It’s just a killer stop on our trip!) I wanted to know exactly where the Falls were, so I turned to Google maps and their satellite view. Let me tell you, our hotel is so close, we can take a barrel to view the Falls.
• Booking a hotel right on the campus of Cornell University. The Statler Hotel is run by the university’s hotel school, and only allows you to book directly through them. (This is our one big splurge of the trip. Check the photos – the Statler and Cornell both look fabulous.)
All this road trip planning is making me want to go back to college. Think my daughter would mind if I tag along when she enrolls? I promise I won’t pull a Rodney Dangerfield and join the school diving team.
I’ll simply do road trip planning.
- UC Berkeley Campus Rocks!
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Comment by Just me...
| July 1st, 2009
Sounds like you might already be the Hotels.com spokesperson!
Just me…´s last blog ..Days and days and days..
Comment by Paula
| July 1st, 2009
Are you considering Bucknell of Susquehanna University?
Paula´s last blog ..T&D Cats of the World, Penns Creek, PA
Comment by Danielle
| July 1st, 2009
As cool as you are, I’m bettin that you daughter wants you to stay far away from the school she attends. :) I’m just sayin.
Danielle´s last blog ..Not your average "pick a color" kinda place
Comment by MindyMom
| July 1st, 2009
I’ve used that site before too and like it. Sounds like a great trip. So where are the rest of your stops?
MindyMom´s last blog ..My Ten Honest Things
Comment by Kathleen
| July 1st, 2009
Yep, Danielle hit it right on the nose… that’s what my daughter wanted… first year up at Seattle University… but, guess what? She’s going to CU Boulder this year. She said Seattle was too small for what she wanted to study, but… She did tell someone else, she wanted to be closer to home… that’s me!!!! Cause, she could go to Texas… tee, hee… and she ain’t!
have a great trip!!! I love road trips. It’s simple stuff. Stopping at gas stations for junk food (red twizzlers and diet pop) and just plain sight seeing along with a little “eye spy in my eye” and the alphabet game! Even with my girls who are “grown up”…
Comment by Lisa
| July 1st, 2009
I always felt cheated, never having toured colleges from out of state when I was younger.
Sounds like fun!
Lisa´s last blog ..In this little Town called Harmony…
Comment by katherine.
| July 1st, 2009
This is a really fun time for you and your daughter. Major memory makers too.
I made mine stand in front of the big entrance sign at each of the schools we visited for a photo op.
katherine.´s last blog ..down by the Boardwalk…down by the sea-ee-ee
Comment by Cathouse Teri
| July 1st, 2009
I hope Virginia is on your East Coast path! ;)
Cathouse Teri´s last blog ..Hauling Ash
Comment by debra
| July 1st, 2009
I spent 4 wonderful years in Ithaca, NY at ‘the other university’ across the valley! Cornell is a beautiful campus, and Ithaca is a neat, but tiny, little college town. The winters are killer though, maybe more than a girl from southern california should be expected to tolerate! There are quite a few wineries up the coast of Cayuga Lake, though Finger Lakes wines certainly aren’t up to par with your trips to Napa and Sonoma. I’ll be visiting family near there later this summer as well…hmmmmmm. Enjoy your trip!!
Comment by Barry
| July 1st, 2009
Thanks for posting this. I have never used Hotels.com but it looks like I will. I too have to plan college trips with my youngest daughter and running around with my first two was, let’s just say, busy.
Great review and could the Hotel.com Negotiator be in your future!
Barry´s last blog ..Reading Single Parent Blogs Could Save Marriages
Comment by Paula
| July 1st, 2009
Thought of you while researching for an article and though, hmm, here’s some info you could use when picking up moms with kids…
“Chiles are also used to ward off the evil eye. A handful of chiles together with other condiments such as curry leaves and a little ash from the hearth is waved over a person’s head to create a shield against curses and bad spells.”
That oughta fix stink eye kids.
Comment by dadshouse
| July 1st, 2009
Just watch, my daughter will end up going to college nearby in California. ha! She says she wants cold winters though (not sure why).
Funny thing about Hotels.com – I’ve used it for vacation planning before, and I always felt like it and the other cheap hotel/airfare sites were just bombarding me with stuff I didn’t want. Sort of like shopping at Amazon when they tell you the dozen things other people bought, rather than helping you find the perfect thing you need. This road trip planning was totally different – Hotels.com was extremely helpful and not “in my face”. I seriously was in a good mood from using the site. I don’t normally blog about sites “for free” (unless I’m complaining about a dating site) – but road trip planning on hotels.com was so pleasurable this time, I figured I’d share.
Cathouse Teri – she toured UVA two years ago when we were visiting family, so we won’t be hitting VA on this trip. Sorry!!
Paula – I thought you were going to suggest women start carrying chiles to ward off me! Haha.
Comment by Paula
| July 1st, 2009
Got that query done yet? I’ll gladly tear it to shreds for ya :-)
Paula´s last blog ..My Little Pussy
Comment by T
| July 1st, 2009
Now that sounds like a fun trip!! Wow, she’s thinking of going so far away! Doesn’t that make you sad?
I can’t imagine…
T´s last blog ..Mommy as a Blushing Bride
Comment by Mike at Masterdater
| July 1st, 2009
I will have to use that when I am biking to Alaska. I am sure I am going to go a bit batty, sleeping on the side of the road too often.
Mike at Masterdater´s last blog ..He spit in her face and she went back to him
Comment by notasoccermom
| July 1st, 2009
I too love Hotels.com made our cross country road trip a breeze.
another great find is
http://www.triprewards.com
signed up for it in order to get a discount at my cousins wedding. Sign up was free.
have since gained many rewards and used it sometimes enroute to book a room in a city we were coming up on and didnt have a room. worth a look
notasoccermom´s last blog ..All A-Twitter
Comment by saint nobody
| July 1st, 2009
Will you be in NYC???
Comment by krn
| July 3rd, 2009
Oh go on, Dad’s. Join the team. I bet you don’t resemble Rodney D. in any way. Hot Dads dive team in the making? Uh, I’ll be the first fan of that team. ;)
All the best to DHdaughter on finding a great college fit for her!
Comment by notasoccermom
| July 7th, 2009
I take back what I said about triprewards.com….
It seems that since I (one who travels rarely) have not used their services in the past 18 months, they have cancelled my account with them and I have lost my 30,000 points.
I believe this is a change brought on by Wyndham resorts whom bought out triprewards about a year ago…
beware!