Hotels

[Rodimus54]

There is provider I have been wanting to see for a while where I may need to get the room (dont do my place as an option). Because I have wanted to see this person for a while, I dont mind getting the room in this one instance.

That being said I am looking for suggestions on hotel chains that don't require a credit card to reserve the room or allow you to reserve a room but do not charge you if you end up not using the room (girl I want to see is kinda flighty). Sugesstions? I am looking downtown but something in the area of SoCo, Clayton, CWE (basically close to downtown) might be an option as well. Looking for something $100/night, give or take $20 I would most likely be getting the room last minute. Prefer a hotel as opposed to a motel. Suggestions?

[LemMotlow]

Most of the major chains let you make a reservation and cancel by 6:00 pm the day of the stay if you don't want the room. I think all will require a CC to reserve the room, but you can pay in cash when you show up if you want.

[evietaylor]

Whenever I've reserved a hotel room online, I have had to use my credit/debit card. Also, always have to give them my card for incidentals when I check-in.

You may be able to use a pre-paid Visa card to reserve the room. Just buy the card from Walgreens, Walmart, or your local grocery store and put enough on it to reserve the room plus an additional $50-75 for incidentals. Not sure if they'd accept that or not though.

I've never encountered a hotel that doesn't charge you for the room if you cancel within 24 hours of check-in. If you cancel outside of the 24 hours, you won't get charged, but within the 24 hours of your stay, you're out the money.

If you know of a hotel that lets you cancel last minute without being charged, please tell me which one it is so I can use them.

[LemMotlow]

I travel about 2 night a week for my job and mostly stay at Hilton properties- Hilton, Hampton, Embassy Suites and 99% of the time the reservation can be cancelled by 6:00 pm the day of the stay. Here's the verbage straight from my reservation for next week at the Hampton in downtown STL.

Cancellation Policy
If you wish to cancel, please do so by 6pm, hotel local time, on the day of arrival to avoid cancellation penalties.

Holiday Inn and Marriott properties are the same way, but occasionally, they will require a 24 hour notice. I make my reservations through the hotel chain's website and not Expedia or hotels.com, so if you use those services, it could be different.

[Jannisary]

The hotels I've booked online have all allowed same day cancellations. I think some had the cut off as 4pm and others as 6pm if I remember right. There are some hotels that offer a special "internet rate" or something where you can't cancel less than 24 hours beforehand. On those I always opted for the slightly more expensive regular rate that allowed cancellations. It's always best to take the time and read the fine print for the policy each time you book a room online.

A lot of times when I come to St. Louis for fun, I use Hotwire or the bidding feature on Priceline and of course you can't cancel those. But I've gotten good enough deals that I'm still way money ahead even after having to eat the cost of a few unused rooms after last minute changes in plans.


As far as the OP, if I was wanting to reserve a room without it showing up on the credit card I would make a traditional reservation online or by phone. Make sure you make the reservation with a credit card NOT a debit card. Some hotels will immediately charge the room to a debit card when you make the reservation. When you check in tell them you would like to pay in cash and ask if you can leave a cash room deposit for any incidentals. Some places allow this and others don't often it will be an additional $30 or $50 depending on the hotel. Then have your fun and just remember to stop by the front desk for checkout to get your deposit money back. If the hotel doesn't allow cash deposits, then you'll have to use your credit card and just make sure you that when you check out you pay for an incidentals in cash.

[evietaylor]

Originally Posted by Jannisary

The hotels I've booked online have all allowed same day cancellations. I think some had the cut off as 4pm and others as 6pm if I remember right. There are some hotels that offer a special "internet rate" or something where you can't cancel less than 24 hours beforehand. On those I always opted for the slightly more expensive regular rate that allowed cancellations. It's always best to take the time and read the fine print for the policy each time you book a room online.

A lot of times when I come to St. Louis for fun, I use Hotwire or the bidding feature on Priceline and of course you can't cancel those. But I've gotten good enough deals that I'm still way money ahead even after having to eat the cost of a few unused rooms after last minute changes in plans.


As far as the OP, if I was wanting to reserve a room without it showing up on the credit card I would make a traditional reservation online or by phone. Make sure you make the reservation with a credit card NOT a debit card. Some hotels will immediately charge the room to a debit card when you make the reservation. When you check in tell them you would like to pay in cash and ask if you can leave a cash room deposit for any incidentals. Some places allow this and others don't often it will be an additional $30 or $50 depending on the hotel. Then have your fun and just remember to stop by the front desk for checkout to get your deposit money back. If the hotel doesn't allow cash deposits, then you'll have to use your credit card and just make sure you that when you check out you pay for an incidentals in cash.

Excellent information, Jannisary! Thank you for all that.