Where should I stay while chasing?

Joe Nield

EF5
Joined
Jul 31, 2004
Messages
689
Location
Plainfield, Indiana
Figured everyone could chime in with their endorsements of their favorite post-chase crash sites.

I prefer Fairfield Inns. They're relatively cheap if you're splitting the cost two or three ways, and the rooms are big and very comfortable.

Super 8's are also good, but watch out for the older ones. We stayed in one in Council Bluffs, Iowa that was crap.

Comfort Inns have also treated me well.
 
Hotels would definitely be your best place to stay if you're too far from home after a chase, although there are some chasers who prefer to sleep in their vehicle. This can be a bit risky though, so be sure to find a safe, well-lit location if you choose to do this.

Another option would be staying at someone's house if you know someone who lives in the area and they don't mind having you stay.
 
I've never been disappointed with Best Westerns. Though you get the obligatory cardboard-box motel room, they tend to throw in extra amenities that you don't find at Days Inn, Holiday Inn, etc.

Use extreme care when using credit cards, particularly in large hotels that have many employees. A growing form of theft is occurring where a guest arrives and pays cash. The front desk clerk bills it to whatever credit card they last handled and pockets the cash, assuming you will overlook the charge or the accounting for the charge will get lost in their front office bureaucracy. This has happened to me twice, but only at the big, impersonal hotels. Hilton and Radisson.

Tim
 
Good places for chasers to stay

I've always enjoyed staying at Comfort Inns. Thev'e always been clean, had cable TV, swimming pools, etc. plus a continental breakfast. If you have a Triple AAA card you can use it to get a discount. Also, make sure your hotel of choice is located in a "good" area so you can avoid vehicle break-ins, gas theft, etc. Plus it can be rather difficult to get a decent sleep with emergency vehicles constantly screaming by, people partying outside etc.
 
I'm a cheapo chaser, and if I am chasing alone, I tend to bunk out in the backseat of my car. Upon some talks I heard earlier this season, I am even thinking of grabbing a tent and trying that a night or two while I'm out.

As for hotel preference, I tend to use cheaper is better, but with WiFi and high speed access priorities, I have began to pay the extra few bucks a night to stay at those particular places.

Motel 6s are always a decent cheapo bet. Usually if I elect for a hotel, more times than not, its cause I want a shower and a bed to sleep in; and more often than not, I'm in the target area or I don't have to be out early the next day. Outside of that, I tend to maximize my cash by sleeping in the car or a very cheap hotel.

I guess it depends on your preference, though. If you're like me, I tend to stay in hotels only when I can enjoy them. If I have to be up and out the door by 8am, then I tend to crash out in the car. It's just easier for me being as I am usually up with the sun while sleeping in the car, which means I never oversleep if I need to be at a certain target area by such-and-such time. Keep in mind that I have a small Mercury Tracer, so hopefully your vehicle offers more space options than my car. I have slept two people in there before, so I know it can be done.

Again, this is all on your preference. If you don't mind the crampy car, then save yourself some cash and use it. Besides, I typically like to spend my money on a good dinner afterwards. And if I've been on the road for a couple days, the cash I save not staying in a hotel may get me a nice room in a hotel with a pool or something to enjoy for bit of a downday!

Just my thoughts!

Ciao!
 
Sleeping in your car sounds like a good deal, but what do you do about hygiene? You can wash up anywhere, but what about showers and such? Or... do you just not take a shower because you're afraid it will ruin your lucky five-day run of successful tornado days? :-D
 
Or... do you just not take a shower because you're afraid it will ruin your lucky five-day run of successful tornado days? :-D
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That, too... I haven't run into a long enough stretch of days where that's been an issue.. last year, being my first serious year on the road, I found myself chasing areas close enough to home on the second day.. as I mentioned earlier, I will get a hotel if out for extended periods, but usually, I'm not sleeping in the car more than a night or two at a time.
 
If we were doing the car camping, I'd look into the truck stops -- the ones with discounts,wi-fi, showers, and safe all-night parking.

As chains go, the Best Westerns are pretty reliable and not very expensive, and most of them will have free high-speed internet by the spring.
 
 
 
Sleeping in your car sounds like a good deal, but what do you do about hygiene? You can wash up anywhere, but what about showers and such? Or... do you just not take a shower because you're afraid it will ruin your lucky five-day run of successful tornado days? :-D
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Not as if mother nature cares how you smell! :wink: If one were in need of some quick sleep on the way back...how safe are rest areas? Can you just park with the truckers and catch some winks? Anyone else who bunks in their cars sleep anywhere else?
 
If one were in need of some quick sleep on the way back...how safe are rest areas? Can you just park with the truckers and catch some winks?
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I have never had an issue.. in fact, I've planned trips on rest stop locations. I slept over night at nearly a dozen this year, including Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas. Never have I had any issues at all with bad people, the boogie man, or highway patrol. I guess til I do, I will completely vouch for them! I usually leave the windows cracked a hair to avoid the morning interior fog-up. Still, no problems.
 
When I lived in south Florida and during my two years in Indiana, when I have not lived in north Texas, I have taken long chase vacations of three weeks or more. I guess the biggest lesson I've learned about accomodations is that, under those particular circumstances, you need a bed---a mattress, and you need to be OUT of your vehicle.

During a protracted chase vacation, your vehicle becomes your home. You're in there for as many as twenty hours a day. You eat in there, download data in there, drive dozens of hours to and from targets in there, and ultimately chase in there, too. It gets messy and smelly and claustrophobic after a week or two of this same routine.

So if you can afford it, or if you can find other chasers to help defer the costs (even if it means sleeping on the floor) there's a lot to be said for a room with a television, a chair, a few electrical outlets to recharge your gear, and most importantly, a shower in the morning.

If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. It won't kill you to sleep in your car. Once your a reach a certain age, however, it might. LOL.

If you're willing to do a little legwork, you can find cheap Mom & Pop joints for $30-40 per night, and if you can round up a few more chasers, you can make it very reasonable to split.
 
Indeed, a hotel room regardless of what chain is running it does offer the ability to wash, charge, rest and watch TV and go online a lot easier than whilst in your car. I think I must have stayed in 28 different motels last May - that was fun but you do get into the routine of unloading the vehicle every night, setting up in your room, and reversing the entire process in the morning.

Always make sure you get your breakfast as often you dont have time later on (probably for another thread but good advice all the same).
 
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