Nashville for Next to Nothing

Nashville, Tennessee, is a great city to visit on a tight budget. This is the beginning of a budget travel series titled "Nashville On Next to Nothing," which explains how you and an adult guest sharing a room on a driving vacation can enjoy food, entertainment and lodging in Nashville for $100 per day or less if you are willing to be flexible. A word of caution: If you or your guest has champagne wishes and caviar dreams, this is not the vacation for you. For fun-loving travelers who enjoy each other's company and love to travel "on the cheap," you can expect to have a top-notch experience in the Country Music Capital of the World. Don't forget your camera!

Start by choosing your travel dates (remember, be flexible for best results) and book a room with a "name your own price" travel website. The travel seller will add in several dollars a night in booking fees to your reservation, so allow for that when you submit your bid. I never offer more than $32 a night per room, which keeps the total per night at about $40 (the travel provider I selected provides a recap of your rate prior to checkout so you can confirm what you will pay before you actually book the room). The more flexible you are when selecting the geographic area(s) where you want to stay, the less you need to offer. If you have something to do on the southwest side of the city for more than one day during your trip, you may want to choose to stay in that area only when you bid, and plan to offer an extra dollar or two per night if your travel date is coming up soon. As an example, if you are planning to visit relatives in the area of Vanderbilt University for several days during your stay, which is located southeast of downtown, you would save time and money to spend a few dollars more for a hotel in that area than to select "any hotel" and end up booked in Goodlettsville, half an hour or so to the northeast.

Allow yourself time to shop for best-price accommodations: Book early for best results, because your offer may not be accepted the first time. If your initial bid is declined, wait 24 hours, select different dates or geographic areas, or perhaps downgrade your requested hotel rate class (typically select one or two stars for true budget travel, not more than 2.5). It may take a few tries either over a few days or trying both parties' credit cards in separate log-in sessions if your departure date is coming up soon, but before long you will have your room booked and a confirmation in-hand. Print out the confirmation page and create a "Nashville trip" file in a #10 business envelope, noting your check-in and check-out dates on front for quick reference. You can also create a mini-agenda on the envelope face in order to plan what you will do on each day of your visit.

Now back to choosing your hotel: I do not recommend booking multiple hotels for one trip when using the "name your own price" type travel service because they charge a separate booking fee of several dollars for each reservation. I learned this in the past, when they extended an offer to "add another night in the same hotel for the same rate" onto an existing reservation. What I failed to notice was that the additional night was booked as a separate reservation, and so I incurred another booking fee (which cost the same fee again for night #9 as for the previous 8-night stay). I was not happy but there was nothing I could do since I apparently failed to read some fine print, so I share this advice to spare you from paying a second booking fee when you can use that money to do something fun instead.

A few last tips about your hotel assignment: No matter where you end up in "the greater Nashville area," you are not far from what you plan to see and do. The city is relatively compact and has a very good free beltway system that allows for comfortable back and forth commutes. The countryside is beautiful, and it is helpful if your partner will help navigate because it is easy to be distracted by the scenery and miss an exit ramp here or there.

After your reservation is confirmed, wait a day or two and then call the hotel to verify they have received your reservation and make any special requests (if they will take them), such as bed size (king or 2 doubles), smoking versus nonsmoking, etc. Also ask about internet access (is it in the room and free?) and whether they have a free continental breakfast or restaurant facilities nearby. Free continental breakfasts are another great way to save money and kill a little time hanging out in the hotel until morning rush hour ends, when it's time for the fun to begin. Courtesy Disclaimer: Special requests are typically noted but not guaranteed: When you are traveling at cut rates, don't expect the same treatment as a concierge-level guest.

Finally, if you arrive and the room is not to your satisfaction, ask the front desk for a room change. Courtesy goes a long way when complaining: Recognize that some properties may not be as concerned with the comfort of guests paying 15% of rack rate for their stay. In my experience, I have never had to complain as the booking service I use does a great job of partnering with quality hotels. Who wants to stay in a roach motel? Not us!

Happy travels as we move on to Part 2....