CHASER-FRIENDLY HOTELS: Discounts and recommendations

[Tim Vasquez]

This thread promotes hotels and motels in the central United States and Canadian prairies which offer discount rates for the storm chasing community, or which offer unusual amenities for storm chasers at no extra cost.

To help others quickly navigate this thread while on the road, please try to keep comments limited to special offers for storm chasers or to what you consider the top 1% of hotel experiences. For questions and extended discussion please start a new thread elsewhere on our forum.

If you represent a hotel property in the central United States and do not have a Stormtrack account, please e-mail the administrator directly at [email protected] to have your special offer included in this list. This thread is viewable by the general public, so if you wish to make your offer a private one, let us know and we will announce it to our members in one of our private sub-forums.

Tim

 

[Bart_Comstock]

Hotel "Storm Chaser" discount in Tulsa, OK

I just started working at a hotel here in Tulsa, Ok and after talking to my sales manager I was able to work out a rate that would be available to the members of ST while they are out chasing in the Tulsa area.

The hotel is the Quality Suites just off I-44 near the intersection of 31st and Memorial. All of our rooms are suites with a pull out sofa and free wifi. From 6:30 to 9:30 we have a complementary breakfast that has both continental and hot items.

The rate for a night is 55 for either a room with a single king or two double queens and if you come on a night that I am working I can personal get you in for a slightly lower rate.

Just let the person from the front desk know that you would like the Stormtrack rate or give my name.

This rate is available year round but should only be asked for during chases.

 

[Jason Foster]

Thanks Bart....very cool of you to do. I may utilize this on the way out to the plains. Tulsa is within the range we could end up on the end of our second travel day out. That'll be May 8th, 2010 if everything holds true to the preliminary plan in place.

 

[Rob H]

Tulsa is within the range we could end up on the end of our second travel day out. That'll be May 8th, 2010 if everything holds true to the preliminary plan in place.

Umm, if you know how to storm chase in the past, please clue the rest of us in because there are some amazing days I'd like to go out on!

On a serious note, thanks for setting this up Bart. We've got a few places to stay for free in other parts of the country but nothing anywhere near Tulsa, so it's nice to know a quality place off the top of my head when in that area.

 

[Jason Foster]

Umm, if you know how to storm chase in the past, please clue the rest of us in because there are some amazing days I'd like to go out on!

Damn...you got me. I better not let the secret out, I like having the missed storms all to myself.

 

[Brandon Copic]

Thanks Bart! I'm planning if I can manage the money to get at least one chase out in the plains this season, I'd like the panhandle and that'd be going through Tulsa to get there and I probably can't manage a 21 hr drive with just two drivers, and I'll be limited with funds

 

[Bart_Comstock]

Because of a recent incident involving a member of ST at my hotel I have to now personally approve each chaser who wants the Stormtrack rate BEFORE they arrive at the hotel

 

[Mike Smith]

Chase County, Kansas, Wants Chasers and They Offer a Discount!

I was in the Flint Hills today doing my annual spring photography trip for the blog and stopped in for lunch at Grand Central Hotel and Restaurant in Cottonwood Falls, my favorite place to eat in the Hills.

I was immediately approached by owner Suzan Barnes who expressed her shock that officials in nearby counties don't want chasers. She said, "We need chasers to make those reports and keep us safe!" Now, I stop at Grand Central because they have great food at extremely reasonable prices. I can also get on wireless internet.

So, I had an idea. I said to Suzan, "After a long day of chasing would you discount one of your rooms by $10 to show your appreciation if they identified themselves as chasers?" She said, "I want them here! I'll discount the room by $20!"

Those are you who are not from the area may not know that Grand Central is an AAA 4-Diamond hotel and restaurant with -- let me emphasize this again -- extremely reasonable prices. If you want to see if a room is available, just call Suzan at (620) 273-6763.

And, if you would like to see the hotel and restaurant for yourself, just go here: http://grandcentralhotel.com/

So, let's make our reports to ICT NWS for Chase Co. and take advantage of Suzan's offer. Let's spend our money where it is wanted!​

 

[joel ewing]

I LOVE IT!! Great post, btw. As a businessman myself, I really "get off" on other business people who have cool attitudes and a willingness to roll up their sleeves and try to grab some fresh business. Suzan sounds like my type of gal. Hats off to her! I have long thought it would be a really neat idea here within StormTrack to have an area where we chasers could list restaurants and hotels that we personally felt were exceptional....regardless of how big or small the town or facility is. Each June, when I hit the alley for 3 or more weeks, I will land in towns that I'm not too familiar with. If I had a list of "chaser-approved" restaurants and hotels, I know I'd refer to it constantly. Conversely, we could also form a list of places to avoid...and why. Personally, I've got a major phobia of bed-bugs. I found a couple of them in my luggage this past year once I returned home from an upscale hotel in San Francisco. I couldn't believe it. If I had an approved / disapproved list to refer to....I'd make sure that everybody within my group would know about it, and save them some agony. You know, with all the mileage and road experiences we chasers in the StormTrack Clan have under our belts, and I'm sure it is substantial....I think it would be wise to tap into that and come up with some kind of master list that we could share our dining and lodging experiences in. Can I get a witness? Anybody else got any thoughts on the matter? And thanks again, Mike, for posting the good news about Suzan's hotel. If I'm in that area this spring, I PROMISE she will get my phone call to reserve a room. She's earned it. joel in tucson

 

[Jane Herbert]

This is a great thread!!!...I'd love to see more of other's experiences and recommendations for accomodation when chasing. Clyve and I are retiring in a month (!!!!!!!!!!) and will be looking for good and cheap accommodation while chasing when we aren't at home in Hillsboro, Kansas.

 

[STexan]

This is sort of on topic ... This spring, chasers are going to need to be aware that hotels in "small oil/gas towns" are going to need to expect to get gouged for far less than mediocre rooms ... if any are available at all. The oilfield workers have put such a demand on the few available rooms, and also have run many down in double time. I recently paid $90 for a trashy room in Big Lake, TX on a week night (the other hotel wanted $85 but had to park off-property). They can charge the oil patch workers and companies whatever they want, and the chasers and other travelers will have to pay their rate if they want to sleep under a roof.

My advice if chasing in remote areas of the oil patch area this year is to call ahead if you can commit.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

I usually make an effort to get to a bigger city before looking for a hotel. Also I try to get something off of Priceline while on the road. I got a hotel 3 times this year, once in Salina and twice in OKC. My best hotel was a 2.5 star Fairfield Inn for $50 in Moore, OK. If you plan on chasing in, let's say, Western KS or anywhere that sparsely populated, my advice is get a room in a sizeable town, or try to get to the interstate where there's more options even in the smaller towns.

 

[Jerry Prsha]

Most places drop the price after 10pm also just to get a full hotel. If there's not an outbreak and you know the place won't be full, you can time your arrival to later time and save a bit. I look at it that I can drive another hour towards my next day's target, I can sleep in one more hour the next morning if need be.

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

I had a good stay at the Thunderbird Motel in Dodge City, KS on Wyatt Earp Blvd back on May 16th. I paid $48 for a night. Checkout is 11 am. That was a better rate than the $80 a night I was seeing at the Super 8 and EconoLodge (all of which looked like dumps and had rude customer service).

Not a luxury hotel by any means, but I got a good nights rest, bed was soft and comfy, didn't notice any bed bugs, sheets were all clean, bed spread was clean and smelled fresh, pillows were soft and clean and the room smelled neutral. Wasn't loaded down with air fresheners but it didn't stink either.
My unit had 2 beds, a tv, a refrigerator, a bathroom, sink, shower, and bathroom fan and an air conditioner. It "appears" as a dump at first glance, but it really is nicer than it looks, so don't let looks fool you.

Word to the wise though, if you're staying here, bring a 2 prong plug to 3 prong plug power adapter with you. All of their power outlets are 2 prong. I was fortunate and had adapters in my laptop bag. That was my only complaint with the place.

I give it 4.5 stars out of 5. The service was very friendly, an elderly Asian lady and her husband own it. She does most of the cleaning and I can tell she takes pride in her work and she was very friendly and the customer service was excellent.

 

[Bob Schafer]

In addition to what STexan said about oilfield workers: I think that goes double for motels in western ND, because of the Bakken.

Anecdote: Last year I tried to get a (what you would normally expect to be a) cheap room in Bismarck. The owner told me the room would be $90. I politely said "okay, no thank you", and began walking back out to my car. He actually followed me out to the parking lot and said to me "How about $89?" You can't make this stuff up. As I drove through Bismarck on my way north I noticed the Motel 6 sign was advertising $69 (or something). Motel 6! (But I hate Motel 6) I ended up sleeping in my car about an hour north of there.

The next night I stayed in Rugby. I don't remember the name of the motel, but IIRC it's the first one you see on the north side of the road as you enter town from the west. I was telling the woman at the desk how I had seen two ginormous motels/hotels under construction in Minot right across the street from each other. She said there were currently SIX of them under construction in Minot! All because of the Bakken oil play.

Moral of the story: If you're planning on chasing some of that June/July Dakotas action, plan on sleeping in your vehicle or paying a fortune for a room in W ND!