In the US, a lot of motels have cheaper deals, but you won't find them on major sites. In fact, they would probably be in newspapers, Craigslist, or on some sign visible from the highway. Anyway, sometimes these things can be good deals for people, say wanting a really good vacation deal or workers who need a place to stay until the first check comes in.
When I was selling life insurance, I often traveled from one town to another on my route, and I stayed in cheap motels for the week. Usually these motels would give you a cheaper rate for taking the motel room for the whole week, and they did not have to change the sheets and do all of the usual cleaning every day; so it was easier for them as well. I have also found that sometimes you can get really good motel deals when yo look online at someplace like “Motels.com”, or a similar website. If it is not a busy time of the season for that area, the want to fill as many room as possible each night, so even a half price is better than leaving the room sit empty. You usually have to book it head of time, and pay up front; but if you know when you are going to be staying there, this can be a really good way to get a nice motel and a cheaper rate.
200 a week seems to be an average rate during the off-season in East Tennessee, where I live. However, I could be wrong. What is the average rate (off-season) in your area and the area of other forum members? What is the one on-season?
I've found some online before, but you need to do a search on their calendars as rates may vary if it's a holiday week. Many do say ring to negotiate and I have emailed people before and they have offered me rates that aren't advertised. It also depends on how many rooms they have and if they stay open in the off peak season if it's a tourist area. If they have a restaurant then they tend to do so, and only open up rooms that they know they will let out.
We live in northeastern Alabama, so our weekly rates here are probably about the same as yours are in eastern Tennessee, @Jason76. I think that the motels that are mostly designated as weekly rentals here are about $150-$200 per week. I am not sure about the ones that would be seasonally-oriented, because we don’t ever stay at any motels near here. It never hurts to look for discounts, regardless if it is the busy season or the slow season because even a small discount is still money saved, and you just never know what kind of a great deal you will find. The best one I ever found was just by checking different motels in the town I was working in. Since it was off-season, I was able to stay at a local Bed and Breakfast for the same price as just one of the cheaper motels in that area. The owners had to make the breakfast each morning anyway, so 2 extra people was not a problem, and we just ate what was put out on the breakfast buffet each day. This happened a long time ago, so prices were cheaper, but we paid under $100 for the week in a place that usually charged around $50 per night; so it was a great discount.
You're not kidding. Does anyone think extended stays at chains like Motel 6 or Super 8 are better? Note, they also have discounts, but I don't think they're usually as cheap. Anyway, the discounts for them are found on major travel sites - as some have noted.
I have not had to travel for extended stays anymore; but when I was doing that, most motels were very glad to give you a lower rate per day if you were going to be there for the week, or at least most of the week. The motel has to put in clean sheets and towels each day for overnight stays; but when someone is staying all week, they do not receive these amenities unless they need something extra; so it is much less housekeeping work, and saves the motel quite a bit of money. There are much less guests staying at the motels during the off-season in that area, so most places are more than willing to give you a good price to get your business for those days when you are in town. It is much better financially to rent for a lower price than to have the rooms sitting empty. I have read that this also work with cruise ships, like Carnival. Since it costs almost the same to run the ship whether it is full or half empty, they will fill up the empty rooms for a much cheaper rate and at least get some money instead of having empty rooms and no income.
You are lucky to have this kind of offer in your country, unfortunately, we do not have this kind of deals here in my country. If this would be available here most of the people would take them because all hotels are very expensive here and we avoid to check into hotels and we look to find something cheaper for local people.
