Finding Hotel Rooms: No Vacancy? No Problem

On a recent trip, I landed in the Knoxville airport to find myself surrounded by hundreds of youngsters. “Who are all these kids?” asked the person in front of me in the car rental line. The agent was all too aware: “They’re in the Destination ImagiNation Global Finals. It’s a computer contest or something, and there are about 20,000 of them.”

“Ah, that’s why it was so hard to find a hotel room,” said the customer. “In fact, it was impossible; we’re staying out of town tonight.”

Whether it’s an unexpected event in a small town, a political convention (don’t laugh, I know someone who got upset when he couldn’t book a room during the last presidential election), or a holiday like the Fourth of July or New Year’s or simply the summer high season — finding a hotel room can be challenging when there’s no room at the inn. What’s a shut-out traveler to do to get some shuteye?

Pick Up the Phone

As outlined in Choosing a Hotel, despite the Web’s instant and always-on compendium of lodging information, you might find out even more by getting a knowledgeable person on the phone. As that article notes, “Calling a hotel directly, rather than dialing a chain’s main number, might get you a room at the last minute or during peak travel times. National reservations desks often have a cap on the number of rooms they can fill at any given hotel, with the rest left to the hotel’s own staff. Those working at the front desk have a better sense of the hotel’s capacity and will be more likely to check for cancellations or no-shows.”

A booking agent or front desk clerk can often offer you better rates than you’ll find online, and you can make specific requests for a room with a view, a cot or crib, or location away from an elevator. I sometimes use this approach even when the online booking process shows vacancies.

Ask a Local

There is absolutely no substitute for some local knowledge. No argument here, you might say, but I don’t know anyone in Knoxville! Luckily, there are folks everywhere who will help, and even some who are paid to be your personal local connection.

If you are traveling for a meeting, to go to a local attraction or to attend a convention, the best first call you can make is to the organization or attraction itself. It’s probably not the first time their preferred or partner hotels have been sold out, and they may be able to tell you about “unpublished” alternatives, especially if you tell them your particular situation (“I have to be at my meeting by 7 a.m., so I can’t have a long drive”).

If that isn’t an option or doesn’t work, try one of the sold-out hotels anyway. Get a direct number for the hotel and simply ask the question: “Can you recommend another hotel very nearby that might have vacancies?” Chances are good that they can suggest a comparable hotel, and might even know which hotels have rooms, as you can probably bet that yours is not the first call they have received on the issue. It may also be worth calling the hotel again as your travel date approaches, in case there’s a last-minute cancellation.

Next, the local chamber of commerce or tourist bureau could be your best option of all. While planning a recent trip to the U.K., I contacted the local tourist office, which directed me to a hotel with a recent cancellation, a private golf club that rents out a limited number of rooms, three bed and breakfasts, and a local college that rents out dorm rooms for a week’s stay or more. In almost every case, the tourist office representatives even knew how many rooms were available and at what price; talk about local knowledge! I had my choice of several great lodging options in a location where all lodging was allegedly sold out.

This suggests another point: If all the hotels on the big booking engines seem to be sold out, you may want to try B&B’s, vacation rentals or small independent hotels that can’t be found on the big sites. For more ideas, check out Ditch the Hotel: 10 Cheaper Ways to Stay.

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Buyer Beware: What to Look For

Sometimes “off the radar” establishments can be unacceptably downscale or well off the beaten path — too far down and out, or simply too far out of town. When given a choice between the “Berkley Suites” and the “Star Motel,” it’s a pretty fair guess that the Suites could be a sweet deal if price is no object, and the Star is the less stellar outfit. You might ask if the lodging would be considered a one- or no-star hotel — anything that lets you know what you’re getting into.

In the latter case, look and listen for a few key phrases for hints that you’ll be too far from the action to be happy — most of them sound a lot like a pilot on a delayed plane soft-peddling your time on the tarmac. To wit:

– “Just a few minutes from…”
– “Just a few miles…”
– “Very close to…”
– “A leisurely walk or short drive from…”
– “A short drive to…”
– “A pleasant drive from…”
– “Quick ride by car or train”
– Watch also for “slash” locations such as Orlando/De Land

You get the idea. If the hotel is using vague language to describe proximity to attractions, there’s a good chance it’s farther than you’d like.

Use “Map View”

If you really want to know where a specific joint is, either map it on a mapping service using the hotel address, or use the “map view” on one of the booking engines. The upside of the latter is that you can see availability, price and location of several hotels on one screen, and even if no availability is indicated, you can call the hotel directly as suggested above and proceed from there.

Forget About No Room — There’s No Inn!

Once in a while you’ll find yourself staying in a small town or remote rural location where your only choice is a dusty motel that hasn’t been renovated since the Reagan administration. In cases like these, you’ve got to widen your net. Here’s what I usually do:

1. Using a mapping site (MapQuest, Google Maps, etc.), I search for nearby towns that look big enough to contain hotels.

2. Using a booking engine (Expedia, Orbitz, etc.), I search for hotels in these towns.

3. Using the map view, I pick the most promising hotel by location and price.

A few years back, I used some of these same tactics when staying near family, and was eventually directed to a houseboat community that offers weekend and weeklong stays, resulting in a few very memorable evenings watching the sunset and being rocked to sleep by the tide. If you see a lodging crunch as an opportunity to improve your options, and not to be shunted off to some fleabag hotel, your chances for a good night’s sleep in a nice spot increase exponentially. You might even find the best room in town — or over the water.