<p>Anyone interested in working on a list of recommended, inexpensive hotels to stay at during college visits? </p>
<p>I'll post my findings if there is any interest.</p>
<p>We stayed in a lot of EconoLodges because they are cheap but they ain’t pretty. We never had a bad experience though.</p>
<p>super 8 or motel 6’s are quite good.</p>
<p>We used Hampton Inns when we could. Got free breakfast plus AAA rate.</p>
<p>We’ve stayed in a number of Sleep Inns. Not beautiful, often near the highway, but they do the job, and we’ve usually been able to get internet there, too.</p>
<p>Check the “College Visits” section for each school you’re visiting, there’s a section to report on “where to stay”. Or ask on each school’s sub-forum. We visited Stanford in January and stayed in a bare-bones but very clean and comfortable (and reasonably priced) place near the campus, based on recommendations received on the Stanford forum.</p>
<p>We looked up some hotel suggestions on cc. We stayed at a variety of hotel chains. We were able to get a couple of deals through priceline (more upscale hotels for much less than roadside hotel chain prices), and cashed in some point rewards that we had saved. Where possible we stayed at Hampton Inns mainly because we find matresses in their hotels to be most comfortable. We enjoy having breakfast included, which is also available in other chains, but we generally find breakfasts a bit better at Hampton Inns.</p>
<p>HighlandMom- that’s excellent. I never looked there before. Well, that solves this thread!</p>
<p>We joined both the Marriott and Hilton rewards programs and have earned a number of free nights over the past few years. I like these chains because they have such a range of possible accommodations, from really cheap to really not. (Hampton Inns are Hilton properties, for example.) They’re also just about everywhere.</p>
<p>We were offered a free night and lots of points to take a Marriott credit card. Turned out to be a great deal.</p>
<p>The best deal we got recently was through Orbitz for the Hospitality House in Williamsburg, VA. Great location directly across the street from W & M with free parking; decent accommodations. Total cost: $76/night, including taxes. I’ve paid more than twice that much for the same hotel.</p>
<p>We’ve stayed at the typical chains - Hampton, Holiday Inn Express…
However, for the recent admitted student preview day, we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast and really enjoyed our stay. The owner gave us a good feel for the community and unbiased opinion of the college. I hope we can continue to stay at the B&B during my son’s years at the college.</p>
<p>Often the college will have discount rates with the local hotels. Be sure to ask when you make the reservations. At least one of the hotels in Pittsburgh provides free limo rides to the college so that you don’t have to worry about parking or taxis.</p>
<p>Also, as one read college reviews written by parents with children at a particular school, they include their hotel preferences and deals (ie: college discount info, priceline past bids). I found some of those suggestions helpful. They might include info about why they are not staying at the closest hotel to their child’s school, etc. BTW, I do know how to spell mattress, LOL! Too late to correct it now, just like many of my other typos. Oh, well.</p>
<p>Mathmom, sorry, just cross posted with you about college discount information.</p>
<p>We try to stay at bed & breakfasts: In more rural locations, they are often closer to campus, cheaper, quirkier and more attractive than the chains. Locals also know the good restaurants/coffee shops, the lesser known attractions, and often are affiliated with the school in one way or another providing another perspective (assuming you are extroverted enough to ask). It takes a little more effort to suss them out, but it is often worth it-now that S is attending his school, we always stay at the b&b accross the street and have become very fond of the place.</p>
<p>We liked Super 8’s and LaQuintas because they’re inexpensive, have free internet and free continental breakfast, and have interior hallways instead of doors that open directly to the outdoors the way Motel 6 rooms do. The latter is a personal preference; D and I just feel safer that way.</p>
<p>Curiously, it’s always the cheap places that have free internet. The nice hotels charge you for it.</p>
<p>In times when the budget wasn’t so tight, we liked Doubletree because they give you a delicious warm cookie when you check in. :)</p>
<p>If the area had priceline hotels we always stayed there. If the school was in a rural area with no priceline hotels, we really loved the Country Inn and Suites. If you call them direct, the ones we stayed in had college visit prices. The properties are newer, the staff was friendly, interior corridors, good free breakfast, I have never had a bad experience.</p>
<p>We do the points through marriot… and H has the credit card that racks up the points for him as well. Still, you can usually stay fairly close to campus and feel confident in a familiar place in a not so familiar area. Usually it’s a courtyard, but I honestly see very little differnce once you are inside the room between the different hotels under them.</p>
<p>I highly recommend you ask any hotel for the school discount, but I have never seen an Inn or something similar not have one IF you ask.</p>
<p>Our first choice was to stay very close to campus so we could walk to dinner and walk around the off-campus area in the evening … if we could get close and find a cheap chain we went for that … if there was not a cheap chain we’d pay mid-tier prices to stay close. That was my choice … we were looking at a possible $200,000 bill for school and a $1000 trip to check out colleges … so gaining the benefit of being right next to campus was worth the marginal $50 or so for each of 2 or 3 nights this came into play for us. It worked out great and I plan on doing the same with the next kid going through the process (disclaimer, the first time through we looked at urban campuses so being close to campus may have been a bigger issue than a more rural campus).</p>
<p>Drury Inn & Suites are wonderful. They have free pop and popcorn available all day. From 5-7 they have a free happy hour. Those over 21 get 3 free drink coupons (beer, wine mixed)(pop is however much you want) and they put a spread out of veggies and dips, chips and cheese or salsa, pretzels, chips and dips and a chex mix type thing. In the morning, there is a hot free breakfast. Eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, french toast, made hot waffles, and then your basic continental breakfast items. For a family of 5, it was only a little over $100/night. We stayed there when we were in Dayton and U of Illinois. Well maintained with pool, workout room etc. Sometimes a nice glass of wine or a beer are what I need after a tour on campus!</p>