I hate shopping for hotels. The team needs them cheap, but I get scared when I see some of the reviews.

[FaithManor]

Yikes!

 

The rocket team's budget is just so tight. I'd really like to stay at the Days Inn in Manassas, VA because we've stayed there before and it was very clean and well kept, fridges in the rooms, etc. But, it comes in about $150.00 over budget for the trip.

 

The Red Roof meets their price however, some of the reviews are a little off putting. "Recently renovated; like putting lipstick on a pig", "I found bugs in the microwave", etc. Don't know what room that last one was because according to expedia the rooms do not have microwaves. "Entire hotel smells like dog pee." "Supposed to be non-smoking rooms but since smoking is allowed in the hallways, it doesn't matter."

 

Doesn't sound promising.

 

Anyone know anything about the Manassas Super 8 ?

[Liz CA]

I know what you mean...and then there is the bedbug issue...or should I have not mentioned this? :crying:

[FaithManor]

LIz, YOU'RE KILLING ME!!!! Don't say bedbugs; I don't have any choice but to travel with these kids and so I have to persevere. :svengo:

[Caroline]

Did you call the Days Inn and ask for a discount? It can't hurt. Tell them why you are coming.

[FaithManor]

Caroline, I think you're right. Dh is going to call tomorrow and ask. We technically can't book until we are officially invited and those invites go out tomorrow supposedly by 3 p.m., but in previous competitions, they've had them out by noon. We have about an 85% chance that our scores are low enough to make the cut, but due to this being funded through 4-H fundraisers, we can't make an official move until that email is in hand.

 

However, I know that the minute we have it, we HAVE to act quickly. There will be 100 teams with chaperones all trying to book rooms as soon as they know they are invited. Plus, there will parents, family, NAR officials coming in from out of town, etc. AIA reserves a block of room at three different hotels, The Holiday Inn and a couple of others, but they are always more expensive than our team can afford. I don't think I've seen a single room rate less than $91.00 a night plus taxes under the TARC discount. So, we look for hotels that aren't on the AIA list.

 

Fingers crossed that they'll give us a deal. We just need another $10.00 off per night per room and it will come in at their budget.

[Caroline]

Caroline, I think you're right. Dh is going to call tomorrow and ask. We technically can't book until we are officially invited and those invites go out tomorrow supposedly by 3 p.m., but in previous competitions, they've had them out by noon. We have about an 85% chance that our scores are low enough to make the cut, but due to this being funded through 4-H fundraisers, we can't make an official move until that email is in hand.

 

However, I know that the minute we have it, we HAVE to act quickly. There will be 100 teams with chaperones all trying to book rooms as soon as they know they are invited. Plus, there will parents, family, NAR officials coming in from out of town, etc. AIA reserves a block of room at three different hotels, The Holiday Inn and a couple of others, but they are always more expensive than our team can afford. I don't think I've seen a single room rate less than $91.00 a night plus taxes under the TARC discount. So, we look for hotels that aren't on the AIA list.

 

Fingers crossed that they'll give us a deal. We just need another $10.00 off per night per room and it will come in at their budget.

 

$10/night/room is not a lot for a manager to discount. I'll bet they do it for you. Good luck!

[idnib]

Sometimes the hotel web sites drop a cookie so when you return they know you've been there before and show you the same price instead of a lower one if prices have dropped. Try clearing your cookies or try another computer.

[Starr]

$150.00 over total? I would divide it up between everyone with the reasonable explanation of cleanliness and amenities. 

[FaithManor]

$150.00 over total? I would divide it up between everyone with the reasonable explanation of cleanliness and amenities.

I can't really do that. We have to try really hard to meet the budget 4H council laid out for us. It could be increased if fundraising went above the goal so that council does not need to give us any grant money.

We'll see how it goes. The problem is that we have to book the rooms right away because the area fills up fast, but the kids do not actually know how much they will raise. We put it on our personal credit card since our extension office is not allowed to use the office card for that purpose. Since dh and I take the risk, we really like to be as frugal as possible!

[Liz CA]

LIz, YOU'RE KILLING ME!!!! Don't say bedbugs; I don't have any choice but to travel with these kids and so I have to persevere. :svengo:

 

I will pray that you and the team will be wrapped in a protective, invisible cover that the bugs find detestable and they will all scurry away.

Are you in Michigan or looking at rooms in VA? They don't have bugs there... :laugh:

 

And here is the serious part of my post: In regards to reviews, they are a mixed bag. Sometimes I wish I had not read them, sometimes I am glad I read them. Here is what we usually do: discount the super bad and super good ones and see if there are enough reviews that seem middle of the road. Some people are very critical of every last little thing - you are just spending a night or two there, you are not buying the place. Others are just happy to have had a roof over their heads, so put those aside. If the majority of reviews seem reasonable, evaluate the options based on those.

 

[FaithManor]

We are looking for rooms in Manassas,VA for the Team America Rocketry Challenge National Finals. We find out if we are going for certain by noon tomorrow, and our scores were pretty competitive so we are checking now because room fill up so fast once those invites go out! We'll make decision tomorrow after talking to some hotel managers and then be ready to book it ASAP if we did indeed make the cut off.

Last year's single flight cutoff was 16.12 and the prevoous year was an all time low of13.2. This year was he sum of two qualification flights so the cut off will be higher. If we take the historic low and double it that's 26.4. We have a sum of 19.

So it looks pretty good! But, there isn't any way to know how the other 700 teams did so we wait!

I've never booked a huge group of rooms.  However, many hotels let you cancel a booking for free for some amount of time, so if you can find one with that policy, you may be able to book now, and back out if for whatever reason you don't go.

 

Sometimes, I think that hotel reviews online are intentional badmouthing by their competition.  We've stayed in hotel rooms with dreadful reviews that were just fine.

[ChocolateReignRemix]

The review of that Red Roof Inn is believable based on my experiences with that chain in areas with a decent number of hotel options, as they tend to cater towards the bottom of the market in those areas.  Or as DH said when we were stuck staying in one a few years ago "The people cooking meth in the room to the right of us were noisy, but at least the hookers in the room to the left were quiet."

[elfgivas]

i know for some conferences that the organizing team makes arrangements with certain hotels at a significant discount.  it might be good to find out if this competition is doing that.  it could make a huge difference in cost!

 

hth,

ann

[Catwoman]

Doesn't the hotel have a cancellation policy? Usually, you can reserve the rooms with a credit card, but you have time to cancel without penalty if you change your mind. If rooms go fast, you might want to make the reservation at the hotel you want, and then ask for the better price once you're sure you're making the trip.

[creekland]

Best wishes on getting to go!

 

And finding affordable rooms... I'd definitely be calling the manager as I suspect there could be a greater than $10 per room discount for a group (IF it's a larger group and not just needing a couple of rooms).

 

Or, are you using Hotels.com?  At the very least, they have frequent buyer nights - book 10 nights (separate trips are ok, of course), get a night free.  That could be a perk helping to make up for the difference.  Often their price has also been the best we've found, so it's not like we spend extra to get the perk.

[ThisIsTheDay]

http://www.priceline.com/hotel/hotelOverviewGuide.do?key=htlbwjpo&propID=1230705&jsk=354a050a344b050a20140404102646460010213165&plf=PCLH

 

Is this for May 10?  I ran the dates at May 9 - May 11 and came up with a price of $68/night for Days Inn?

[Lanny]

I pay a LOT of attention to the most recent Reviews/Feedback. Whether it is a company I am considering buying a textbook from on Amazon, or a hotel. Some people just have an axe to grind and their reviews are usually obvious, but if there is a pattern, consider another property.

 

With regard to the hotel costs. Once you have a very short list of properties, call the direct, local, phone number of the property and ask to speak with the Reservations Manager or the Manager of the Property. Explain that you have stayed there before and you would like for the team to stay there and that you are looking for the best possible financial arrangement they can make with you. That may not include a lower room rate, but it may include free Breakfasts, all taxes and service charges, free local phone calls, room upgrades, etc. The property has a huge incentive, financially, for you to book directly with them and not via an OTA (Online Travel Agency) because if you book via an OTA, they have to pay a high commission rate to the OTA. The central reservations office of a chain cannot offer you as good a deal as the property itself might make available to you.

 

Read the most recent reviews on TripAdvisor.com   I wrote one, about the property we stayed in last December, in Bogota. I had read both negative and positive reviews about that property. For our family, it was almost perfect.

 

ALWAYS, when reserving and when checking in, request a room that has recently been renovated.

 

Enjoy your trip to DC!

[FaithManor]

http://www.priceline.com/hotel/hotelOverviewGuide.do?key=htlbwjpo&propID=1230705&jsk=354a050a344b050a20140404102646460010213165&plf=PCLH

Is this for May 10? I ran the dates at May 9 - May 11 and came up with a price of $68/night for Days Inn?

I got that price to but it turned out to be for one king bed per room which won't work. It goes up a bit to have two doubles/queens.

[nd293]

Remember, people are much more likely to write a bad review than a good one. If you had a good experience at a hotel you want to tell your friends, but if you had a bad experience you want to tell the whole world. I take bad reviews with a pinch of salt.

[FaithManor]

We'll be there for four nights and need the option of laying over one more IF there is a rain delay...thankfully that has never happened before.

We are coming in on the 7th...late. Doing some sight seeing on the 8th, and attending the Congressional Breakfast on the 9th. Well, actually we haven't for certain that Senator Shaheen is sponsoring this again but we have very high hopes that she will because it has been an AMAZING event in the past.

Briefing the evening of the 9th at Metz Middle School and let 'em fly on the 10th.

[flyingiguana]

I have stayed in some lovely, very clean hotels that got terrible ratings for cleanliness.

Hard to say if the ratings mean much.

[QueenCat]

I'm very picky about hotels. And would NEVER stay in one that had issues with bedbugs or cleanliness. I'd probably talk to the families about pitching in extra, if the council for 4H won't. Safety and cleanliness are reasonable expectations when taking youth somewhere.

[skimomma]

I have regretted every stay at a Red Roof.  Unless it is between that or sleeping outside in the snow, I am unlikely to ever stay in another one ever.  And I am not very picky about hotels.

[JFSinIL]

I stayed at a Red Roof in Feb. and half of it was full of folks living there who had lost their homes.  Actually felt a little more secure that way.  It was quiet - the rooms were adequate and clean enough. 

 

Did you try to call the Days Inn? Ask to speak to a manager, tell him/her how many rooms you need and for how many nights and stress it is for a teen school group - not rowdy sports kids but academic, and well-chaperoned - and that you need to stay on budget.  He/she may cut you a deal to secure booking several rooms.  Can't hurt to try.

[Catwoman]

Are you sure the price the team can afford is realistic for the area?

As a parent, I would much prefer to have to chip in some extra money for a clean, secure hotel in a safe neighborhood than to have my kid staying in a questionable place.

If the hotel you know is nice won't work with you on the price, I would definitely approach the parents about the issue before settling for an unknown place I wasn't sure about.