South - Booking Hotel Room in a Full City (Memphis)- Help!

I am a Starwood gold member. I am taking my son on a college interview in Memphis from 11/8 - 11/10. Memphis is booked. Not sure what event is taking place there. The Starwood property is full. I cannot find any hotel rooms in the city. What strategies do you use to book a room when none are easily available. I have been checking multiple websites over 3 days. Help!

I am a Starwood gold member. I am taking my son on a college interview in Memphis from 11/8 - 11/10. Memphis is booked. Not sure what event is taking place there. The Starwood property is full. I cannot find any hotel rooms in the city. What strategies do you use to book a room when none are easily available. I have been checking multiple websites over 3 days. Help!

I feel for you. My fiancee tried a last minute trip to Boston when the DNC was in town. Try B+Bs. I threatened to rent her a motor home but she refused. (They were available). How far are you willing to drive?

Moving this thread to the South forum.
Thanks for your understanding.

Jouy31
Travelbuzz moderator

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

My only advice is to try calling properties directly, it's a long shot, but the websites will not control inventory down to the last room, so the front desk of the hotel has some flexibility. So, just maybe you can sweet talk someone, but I doubt it. In these situations, I just drive out further or reschedule the trip.

One more idea: try looking for a reservation for 11/8 and another reservation for 11/9. You might have hotels that have a room for one night, but not the other. This is a strategy that also works when you get back rates that are way too high.

Just a few weeks ago in Chicago, I needed a room for a week in peak season for that market. I got quotes of $400+/night for Sunday - Thursday. When I broke up the reservation into Sunday only (the day of the marathon) and Monday - Thursday, I got $120 rates for both reservations, but had to switch hotels.

I am a Starwood gold member. I am taking my son on a college interview in Memphis from 11/8 - 11/10. Memphis is booked. Not sure what event is taking place there. The Starwood property is full. I cannot find any hotel rooms in the city. What strategies do you use to book a room when none are easily available. I have been checking multiple websites over 3 days. Help!

Ummm, it sounds like it might be COGIC.

I am a Starwood gold member. I am taking my son on a college interview in Memphis from 11/8 - 11/10. Memphis is booked. Not sure what event is taking place there. The Starwood property is full. I cannot find any hotel rooms in the city. What strategies do you use to book a room when none are easily available. I have been checking multiple websites over 3 days. Help!

Yes...just verified that COGIC is Nov 6-14. That is the absolute worst time that you could have picked to visit Memphis. It's a whole lot tighter than anything else that we have.

You can't get a room during COGIC. Good Luck.

It's about 30,000 people from out of town.

I faced the same situation last week in Boston (World Series). I was booked for meetings and bought my air ticket LONG before the Sox won the pennant.
I can only tell you what worked for me.

I am a Marriott Platinum, Hilton Honors Gold and Priority Club Ambassador Gold.

After bidding rediculous amounts on Priceline ($259 for a 3 star in Cambridge!) I started to call the hotel reservations numbers and the hotels themselves.

Marriott "offered" to get me in on my Plantinum override (meaning, I guess, they would walk someone on my behalf) for $450 at a Courtyard and $550 for a full service Marriott.

Hilton "offered" to lodge me somewhere out near Wellesley.

Marriott had a slot at the Fairfield Inn (low end of the Marriott family) out in Dedham, 17 miles from Beacon Hill. I would have had to rent a car, then park near Fenway Park (my meetings were in Kenmore Square) or park on the T line and ride into Kenmore.

I finally called the Holiday Inn in Brookline where I have stayed in the past. They found one room, for one night. I jumped on it "like a fat kid on a cupcake" as some FTer puts it.

The next morning I got up at 5, went downstairs, woke up the night clerk and said: "You must have one room where someone did not check in. Can I have it?"

Click, click, click, click on the keyboard and Bingo! a room for the next two nights.

It CAN be done. As Robb says, call the properties directly. A cancellation is your best bet, but probably you won't know until on the day. Be prepared to rent a car and drive outside the city, but Memphis isn't that big.

Good luck!!

get a car and book 40 miles out of town. there are rooms in jonesboro AR. and in forrest city, ar. go to google and find the individual hotels listed in those cities.

you can probably get closer, by finding a hotel that is not listed on internet or in TA files. there is a place in Earle ar. you'd have to call them.

I have one of them spg gold cards, also. about the only use I can find for it is slipping doors.

Don't know if you've tried Tunica, MS yet. There's a big cluster of hotels in that area geared for the casino industry. Its about 45 miles south of d'town Memphis on US Hwy 61. A bit of a drive, but it sounds like your options may be limited at this point.

What ever you do -- DO NOT get a room anywhere in West Memphis, AR. This area is a 100 square mile truck stop and is completly the pits.

Anyway, Good Luck.

Try going out into the burbs. Germantown is usually a good bet. There's a joint called the Park Place that usually fills up last for Memphis in May, another huge Mempho event. It's got some issues - loud housekeeping staff and the like - but the hotel itself is lovely and usually is around $100 a night.

If you're really desperate and Tunica is full, try Jackson, TN. It's maybe an hour and a half drive but it WILL have a ton of hotels, most likely.

Have you talked to the admissions office at the college? Perhaps there is a dorm room or something available. (Columbia has rooms available for alums for example.) U of M has a Holiday Inn that they use as part of their hotel management program. It's probably booked but maybe there is something there.

There is a hotel that I can't find on the internet near Christian Brothers College and about ten minutes from U of M. I'll drive by tomorrow and find out the name. It's three blocks from where I live and it might have rooms. It looks pretty dumpy though. It's near Central Gardens which is a good residential area, though a friend was walking near the hotel around midnight and was held up at gun point. (The joys of living in Memphis)

Tunica is about 50 minutes from U of M. I stayed down there for the Arkansas Heritage Blues Festival at the beginning of the month. It's OK, but not great. There is a cool Riverfront Park there you should visit if you wind up there.

I am a Starwood gold member. I am taking my son on a college interview in Memphis from 11/8 - 11/10. Memphis is booked. Not sure what event is taking place there. The Starwood property is full. I cannot find any hotel rooms in the city. What strategies do you use to book a room when none are easily available. I have been checking multiple websites over 3 days. Help!

http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/memphis-tennessee.html

Quality inn in Southaven MS has rooms through priceline (non-bidding method), but not through the hotels own site. Comfort Suites in Olive branch MS (20 miles) on thier website.

I had been trying to book a room for 4 days. We are getting into Memphis at 11:10 PM. I did not want to drive too far since we are arriving so late. As some had suggested, I tried calling the hotels directly. The Peabody put me on a wait list, but it did not sound too promising. Starwood was no help at all despite my humble Gold Status. The Westin would not even put me on a wait list.

It was recommended I try a travel agent. I called Amex Travel. Again no luck. Marriott offered me a Courtyard room but with a 3 night minimum stay at $189 per night. That is almost $600 for 2 nights. I kindly explained those were Ritz Carlton rates. The representative was understanding and laughed.

I finally tried Kayak. I had not used this website before. Suddenly a the Quality Inn at 6068 Macon Cove , Memphis, TN showed up with one room left. It was $152 per night. Steepest price for a cheap hotel I have ever paid. It is however only 6 miles from Rhodes College where my son is interviewing. I went ahead and booked it. I feel fortunate to have found a room even at this rate given the situation.

Again, thanks to all for your advice. Persistence and a little luck paid off. The recommendations will come in useful for the future in finding a hotel when a town is packed for a convention.

I.

I finally tried Kayak. I had not used this website before. Suddenly a the Quality Inn at 6068 Macon Cove , Memphis, TN showed up with one room left. It was $152 per night. Steepest price for a cheap hotel I have ever paid. It is however only 6 miles from Rhodes College where my son is interviewing. I went ahead and booked it. I feel fortunate to have found a room even at this rate given the situation.

Again, thanks to all for your advice. Persistence and a little luck paid off. The recommendations will come in useful for the future in finding a hotel when a town is packed for a convention.

Definitely call the hotel directly and confirm your reservation. I'd call now (to make sure it went through), and again the day of your trip (to make sure they hold it for late arrival).