Sharing Motel rooms
Anyone gonna try and split the cost of motel rooms? I'm on a budget and splitting the cost of a room will double the number of times I can stay.
I plan to share costs whenever possible.
Ughh horrible You might end up in the tub with the door closed - advise against this behavior, without going into detail
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
Ain't skeered.
nothing about being scared - just not being able to sleep
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
You will have absolutely no trouble finding people to split rooms with provided you're starting from Springer between mid-March and mid-April.
I do it all the time, sometimes with some one I might have just met - never had a problem. Although there are times when you like to a room to yourself.
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Its common and you will have no trouble finding a roommate. I've shared a room a couple times between Springer and Gatlinburg, but after that decided I like the privacy of going solo.
Y'all look for an old bald guy. I don't snore and don't mind those who do.
I hiked the AT with a good friend and many double rooms are comparably priced per person to hostels, not even factoring privacy, comfort and quiet. When my wife hiked solo, she got in with a trail family that often shared motels, even opposite sex after the trust built up. "They" say a day on trail with someone is like a week in real life and you get to know what a person is really fast.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
yep - pretty accurate - I've shared opposite sex rooms a few times too - I'd say that it is usually more comfortable when you go ahead and have 3-4 to a room vs just 2 -of course, in a big storm, anything goes - I've been perfectly happy on my pad on the carpeted floor of a hotel room next to a heater vs a sleet storm - couldn't have care in the world who was in the beds or shower or what they were up to.Originally Posted by garlic08
i would never share a room when i was hikin'. no way
what - - you just sit out in the parking lot and howl at the moon all night?
Oh ya. The combined smell of 4 or 5 rancid backpacks as one comes out of the bathroom can't be beat! Aside from that I shared many a room on my hikes. No problem.
AT x 3
GA-ME 2010
GA-ME 2011
ME-GA 2013
One key point is to be honest with the motel manager about how many hikers are sharing the room. If it costs an extra $5 or 10 dollars please do so. Every hiker that comes after you will be judged on your behavior. Hiker rates at motels quicky disappear when the manager gets repeatedly ripped off. As a Companion field editor I have listened to motel owners rant about this problem too many times.
Last edited by Jeff; 03-06-2012 at 11:19.
Order your copy of the Appalachian Trail Passport at www.ATPassport.com
Green Mountain House Hostel
Manchester Center, VT
http://www.greenmountainhouse.net
Note that motel costs vary quite a bit along the trail. As a rule of thumb it seemed to me that motel rooms were cheaper in the south, so for a NOBO starting out you might find days when you are sufficiently wet, tired, etc that you want to get a relatively inexpensive room to yourself. How wet you (and others) are makes a difference too --- a lot easier to spread things out to dry when multiple other people aren't also spreading things out to dry in the same limited space.
All of this stuff you'll figure out as you go ...
Gadget
PCT: 2008 NOBO, AT: 2010 NOBO, CDT: 2011 SOBO, PNT: 2014+2016
Just be careful on whom you room with. I would tend to avoid getting a room with the hiker that wears the hockey mask.
why any motel would give a "hiker rate" is beyond me. if anything i would charge more. most hikers trash the rooms and don't tip the poor staff that has to clean up their crap
Yes, exactly this. If you share rooms, be sure to do so with the blessings of the motel staff. I was sharing a motel room somewhere in VA with just one other hiker, but the rooms on either side of us were crammed with unpaid for hikers. The manager found out, and booted those hikers out. Even though I and the person I was staying with had done nothing wrong, we still felt uncomfortable, and terrible about it and went and apologized to the manager in person. He appreciated the gesture, but we could tell that the other hikers had left a sour taste with him.
So, be sure to follow the rules of the motel. Not doing so has consequences beyond just you.
That all said, I've shared rooms countless times, with motel blessings, and it's a great way to save some $$$ and get cleaned up.
Don't take anything I say seriously... I certainly don't.
It's not just hikers. I help out at a small motel here in town when it gets busy by cleaning rooms and doing other chores. Tourists can trash a room too. All you need is a couple of kids to make it even worse.
Having some experiance in the hospitality industry, when I leave a hotel room, all the trash is in one bag already tied up, the bed is stripped, with the pillows on a chair and the bed spread on the floor at the foot of the bed, towels are bundled up, used soap is in the trash and a small tip on the table. Just that little bit saves a lot of work for the house keeper.
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