Motels, hotels and lodges in the United States: choosing well and avoiding hidden fees

Nights are the biggest expense of a road trip. On our 18-day trip between New York and Florida, they came to 3,429 euros, more than a third of the budget.

We slept in ten different hotels, from very good to very average, and drew a few rules from it.

Motel, hotel, lodge: the differences

The motel is the road trip’s accommodation: a low building beside the road, rooms that open onto the car park, the car parked outside the door. It’s simple, practical and free for parking.

The hotel has interior corridors, a reception open around the clock and often a pool. In cities, parking is charged for.

The lodge is a hotel in a national park or on its doorstep, often historic, always expensive, and booked a very long time ahead.

Finding your way among the chains

Range	Brands	Usual price on the road
Budget	Motel 6, Super 8, Days Inn, Econo Lodge	$60 to $100
Mid-range	Best Western, La Quinta, Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Tru by Hilton	$90 to $150
Upper mid-range	Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn, Fairfield Inn, Hyatt Place	$120 to $200

These prices easily double near a big park in summer, in a big city or over a long weekend.

Within the same chain, quality depends a great deal on the individual property. Read the recent reviews and look for the words that keep coming up: cleanliness, noise, smell. For our transit stops in Savannah and Vero Beach, we had taken the cheapest, and we could tell.

What a room includes

• The beds. A standard room has one king bed (very large) or two queen beds (160 cm each). So four of you can sleep in one room for the price of two.
• Air conditioning, everywhere, often noisy.
• A fridge and a microwave in most mid-range chains: handy for leftovers and the next day’s picnic.
• The ice machine in the corridor, free, for filling the cooler.
• Free wifi almost everywhere.
• A self-service laundry room in many motels.
• Breakfast, included in several chains: make-your-own waffles, eggs, cereal, coffee. It’s decent and saves 15 to 20 dollars per person.

The fees that get added

Taxes. The price displayed is often before tax. Taxes add 10 to 17% depending on the city.

Resort fees. These compulsory nightly fees, supposed to cover the wifi and the pool, are the speciality of Las Vegas, Miami, Orlando and certain New York hotels (where they’re called a destination fee or facility fee). Allow 30 to 55 dollars a night, plus tax. Since May 2025, the law has required American sites to display the total price, compulsory fees included. Check the “total” line before paying all the same.

Parking. Free at motels, it costs 30 to 70 dollars a night at hotels in the big cities. In Miami Beach, our hotel had no parking at all: we had to find a car park in the neighbourhood. Look at this point before booking.

The deposit. On arrival, the hotel blocks an amount on your card for “incidentals”, from 50 to 150 dollars a night. It’s released a few days after you leave. With a debit card, the sum is tied up in your account: allow for that.

Booking

• Compare a booking site and the hotel’s own site: the prices are often close, and the chains’ loyalty programmes, which are free, give a 5 to 10% discount.
• Choose free cancellation, even if it means paying a few dollars more. An itinerary often changes.
• Near the parks and over the holidays, book early. For Christmas in New York and New Year in Miami Beach, prices climb very fast.
• On driving stops, you can find a room the same day without difficulty, outside long weekends.

Check-in is from 3 or 4pm, check-out before 11am. If you’re arriving late in the evening, let the hotel know so that the room isn’t given to someone else.

National park lodges

Sleeping in the park lets you see sunrise and sunset without an hour’s drive. You pay for it, and above all you have to plan ahead.

• Reservations open about 13 months ahead and the most sought-after (El Tovar at the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone, The Ahwahnee at Yosemite) go immediately.
• Cancellations are frequent: go back to the site regularly, especially a month before.
• The comfort is simple for the price: no television, weak wifi, sometimes shared bathrooms.

At Monument Valley, we slept at The View Hotel, the only hotel inside the tribal park, with the Mittens facing the bed at daybreak. It’s one of the nights we most recommend booking ahead (see our guide).

At Yosemite, the canvas tents at Curry Village are the cheapest option in the valley: a real bed, canvas stretched over a wooden frame, shared bathrooms and a metal locker in front of the tent for storing anything that smells of food, because of the bears.

The other options

• Holiday rentals (Airbnb, Vrbo) are worth it from three nights or for a group. Watch out for cleaning fees, sometimes as high as a night’s stay.
• Bed and breakfasts are more expensive than in Europe, and often very well kept.
• Campgrounds and their cabins, for sleeping in nature without a van (see our article).