We started our two week roadtrip adventure on June 18, 2015. Our first destination is Branson, MO and the drive from Walt Disney World to Branson is 17 hours, or 1,094 miles.
So when we headed out we thought we would stop in Memphis, TN for the first night and finish the drive the morning of June 19. As we pulled into Memphis, I started the search for a hotel using the usual search tools. Hotels.com, Hotel Tonight App, Trip Advisor and Priceline. I should note, we have always agreed that for a quick overnight hotel we don’t want to pay more than $120 with taxes, and would prefer to stay under $80. So when everything I was pulling up was over $150 before taxes, I was quite shocked. It wasn’t the just the prices that surprised me, but also the areas where these over priced hotels were located. According to Trip Advisor and my own eyes in some cases, these were not areas that would be deemed “safe”.
As we continued driving through Memphis looking for a hotel, we realized that there was no way we were going to find something on our route that would satisfy the price range and safety concern. So we continued on to Jonesboro, AR where we found a Fairfield Inn and Suites that was fit the budget, $99 before tax, $119 after all fees, and was in what appeared to be a nice safe neighborhood.
After getting checked in, I headed up to the room to discover the smallest hotel room we have ever stayed in. Seriously the thing was TINY. I was actually quite surprised they put us in it, with two adults and two children.
Other than the size of the room, it was perfect. Clean, quiet and air-conditioned. I would also like to note that not only was the room clean, but the entire hotel appeared to be in excellent condition. Nicely decorated and clean through out.
The Fairfield offers a hot breakfast in the morning, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was decent. With hot eggs, sausage, gravy, biscuits and your continental breakfast items, it was exactly what we needed to get our day started.
I would definitely recommend the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Jonesboro, AR to other travelers. We would even stay there again if traveling through, just be sure to ask for a decent size room, I am sure they have got to have something larger than what we stayed in.
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