Where should I stay while chasing?

Because I have to produce my newscasts in the middle of the night, a motel room with Wi-Fi is mandatory for me if I'm out overnight. I have joined the loyalty programs of several chains, and usually just book something form the road once I know where I'm going to be -- price and wi-fi being the primary considerations.

Following are my recommendations (with the bias that all I care about on a chase night is somewhere to crash and somewhere to work):

I have had the best experiences with Super8 and Days Inn.
Best Westerns are great, but typically more expensive.
I also use several of the Choice hotels brands, but have been burned at enough Quality Inns to avoid them.
When I want to treat myself, I go to LaQuinta or Holiday Inn Express.

Between chasing and business, I have accumulated enough points at most chains for a free night from time to time.

As for the "where" strategy...if I'm on a multi-day chase, I bed down as far toward the next day's target as I can legitimately do so. Given that I have to start working between 11pm and 1am, that's not so far as it was a couple of years ago. If I'm at the end of an outing, I simply stop as soon as I find a place.
 
If any of you happen to end up in the same town as I am at the end of the night and there is a Marriott around that isn't full, I'd be willing to split the cost on a room. I can get a discount at Marriotts that range from 35-48 dollars a night. Just PM me or look for me on Spotter Network after a chase.
 
This is a moot point, as you rarely have many choices of where to stay at the end of a day. You take whatever is in the small town that is nearest to you. I stay wherever has the lowest rate with WIFI, and that varies from town to town. Many times you won't find even that, having to settle for no internet just to get a decent sleep, unless you want to drive 2 hours to the next town at 2AM. A lot of the little $40/night mom-and-pop hotels have internet now which is making things easier.

Truck stop showers run 6 to 9 bucks if you choose to sleep in your vehicle. Sleeping in your car is a whole other thread, but one that has been covered before:

http://stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=11770

EDIT: This is another three-year-old thread revived! Fooled me for a minute - I thought this looked familiar.
 
Lodging while chasing

Super-8's are usually my first choice for economy-class lodging while chasing. Just about all of them have WIFI in the rooms these days. As has already been mentioned, there is a considerable range in quality from one hotel to the next. While most are clean and comfortable, a few should be avoided. NEVER stay at the Garden City, KS Super-8.

Another concern when considering lodging: bed bugs. I've never encountered them while traveling (yet), but a recent bed bug epidemic is underway in this country. Look at the bed bug registry below:

http://www.bedbugregistry.com/

There's not many entries for hotels in chase alley, but just because a particular hotel does not appear in this registry, that doesn't necessarily mean they don't have them. When you check into your room, the first thing you should do is check for signs of bed bugs.

- bill
 
I've been told that Walmart allows camping in vehicles in their parking lots, so I try to find a Walmart if I'm going to be sleeping in my truck. Every time I've done this I've been left alone, and I usually notice a few other vehicles that are parked there for the same reason I am.
 
Amazing the difference several years makes (my original posts back in 2004 in this thread).

I prefer Best Western these days, but am at a point where I have membership accounts with all the major chains and collect points through the year. With that said, I do where its cheaper or who has the best points deals ongoing at the time.

But Best Western is always my preference.
 
Jody Radzik said:
I've been told that Walmart allows camping in vehicles in their parking lots, so I try to find a Walmart if I'm going to be sleeping in my truck. Every time I've done this I've been left alone, and I usually notice a few other vehicles that are parked there for the same reason I am.
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Actually that is laziness on the behalf of the stores GM and "Asset Protection Officer" (security guard) as this is not allowed by Wal-Mart. The reason I know this is I have connections that works here in Bentonville (i wont say any relation or names as not to get them in trouble) at the scattered administrative buildings, including a few that work in the Asset Protection Department and they have told me this when I asked them out of curiosity and to see if it were an option while chasing. Also I just mean this as a helpfull FYI and not to personally shoot down your Idea Jody.
 
Here's a site that lists the Walmarts that do NOT allow overnight camping so presumably the others do allow it:

http://www.freecampgrounds.com/walmart_nocamping.aspx

This site talks about camping for free at Walmarts':

http://www.freecampgrounds.com/othercamps.html

I called the corporate offices of Wal-Mart in Arkansas and asked what its overnight RV parking policy was. They were very friendly and said it was company policy to allow Rv'ers overnight parking. They also said it would be advisable to check in with the store manager when you arrive as a courtesy. However, they said if we ran into a store that refused us we were to report this to them. We have stayed in a number of Wal-Marts and have been welcomed with open arms. Management even alerts security to keep and eye on the rigs during a stay.
Click to expand...
 
Solve all your problems with this...works for us!

[Broken External Image]:http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d132/garbunkel/marquis_homeimage.jpg
Actually, we do insist on staying somewhere, the Best Westerns have worked for us. I have a Credit Card I use for chasing that has a low limit (2500k) that way I protect my self a bit against fraud. We also use a debt style card that we pre-load with a equal amount from each of us, we then use that for gas...Can you imagine how much the hog above would use?
 
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Verne Carlson said:
Here's a site that lists the Walmarts that do NOT allow overnight camping so presumably the others do allow it:

http://www.freecampgrounds.com/walmart_nocamping.aspx

This site talks about camping for free at Walmarts':

http://www.freecampgrounds.com/othercamps.html
Click to expand...

Depends on the situation, one or two RV's on the end of the lot is alright, people camping out of their cars is frowned upon due to liability reasons and to keep the lot free for shoppers. That is what I have been told by people that work here in Bentonville at the HQ but they did tell me it is up to the manager to say yeah or neigh to the RV's.
 
I have found that some small towns have abandoned houses that you can pull up to and park under the carport and sleep. lol Bart and I did this one time in Sharon, OK just south of Woodward. We just thought all we needed was a 4-5 hours sleep and it suited us just fine. As far as good place to stay the cheaper the better I say. I and most chasers for that matter are only there long enough to get some sleep so the cheaper the better works, esp. if you are solo. If you can split a room with two or three people then that changes things for sure.
 
We look for Best Western rooms that you can pull up to the door. It makes dragging all our stuff in so much easier. The Best Westerns are clean and a good value since Kathy and I split a room. I love motel life!!
 
Rockwell Schrock said:
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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Acutally there are some state parks in the plains (Kansas comes readily to mind) which have some pretty decent shower facilities and such. I've used the one up at Tuttle Creek before.
 
Since the first time I stayed in one 2 years ago...Holiday Inn Express is the motel of choice for me.
 
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