I will admitt to having Checked-in to 2 different Hotels (2 different Chains) on the same day. Both were $45 and the stays were needed for different promos they were both running , I slept at the 1 that gave me the better upgrade.
thats the only time I ever paid for a room that I didnt use.
I have done alot of road trips with the car just to get away for a few days and where I went depended on where I was able to score a few nights of very cheap Stays, with something to see. which usually meant either a MR for HH or SPG