“All hotels for the eclipse sold out months ago—you’re too late.” It’s a common refrain from people who booked their rooms months ago and want to feel good about that, but it’s inaccurate.
Snagging a last-minute stay within the path of totality for April 8’s total solar eclipse (stretching from Texas to Maine in the U.S.) might seem daunting, but there are still plenty of options. While prime locations close to the path’s centerline are generally booked or have an astronomically high price, with a little inside knowledge and your resourcefulness, you can still easily find a haven for this celestial spectacle.
Here are 11 ways to uncover hidden gems, explore alternative lodging options and book your eclipse hotel so you can witness nature’s grandest experience:
1. Commit To A Big City Eclipse
This is one of the most urban eclipse paths for years. It’s estimated that about 10 million of the roughly 40 million people who will witness this eclipse from inside the path of totality will do so from just 10 cities. Big cities like Dallas, Austin, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Rochester are among them. A quick search reveals reasonable prices for city center hotels in Indianapolis ($1,000 for two nights), Rochester ($800), and Dallas ($800).
2. See It In The Suburbs
Hotels in Downtown are in demand. So head away from them—if the path of totality allows—and stay in the suburbs. Stay in an airport hotel for $500 or a Super 8 beside an Interstate for $300. You can always drive to an observing event or a beauty spot on eclipse day. A quick search reveals the Dallas-Fort Worth region has many affordable hotels and motels for as little as $300 away from the centers.
3. Use A Handy New Online Map
The Eclipse Company has launched a beautiful, user-friendly eclipse map. It’s the only online map that integrates details about cloud cover, light pollution, eclipse duration and phenomena alongside information about viewing locations from local parks and events. You can choose any location and instantly search on Booking.com for April 7-9. It’s hugely time-saving—and you might just find a bargain.
4. Use Expedia—But Be Careful
Expedia has launched its clumsily named Hotels in Solar Eclipse April 8 2024, an online search hub that maps available hotels in the path of totality. It’s one of the easiest ways to check prices—and it finds bargains—but you do have to be careful because it identifies hotels right on the line of the path of totality. Cross-reference the address of any hotel that appeals with the Interactive Google Map to make sure you know what you are booking.
5. Search Away From The Centerline
The magical thing about a total solar eclipse is that it happens at all, not how long it lasts. When you’ve accepted that, the possibilities of the 115-mile wide path become obvious. The highest prices and the lowest availability are at locations on, or very close to, the centreline of the path of totality. The duration of totality may be maximized at these locations, but you’ll get 90% of the maximum duration of totality and 60% of the distance between the centerline and the edge. Again, the Eclipse Company map makes it easy to explore the duration of totality and search for hotels.
6. Lower Your Expectations
An expensive hotel is a given, but don’t expect luxury at this late stage. Perhaps you’re used to boutique hotels and the finer things in life. Well, on April 8, the only fine thing will be the eclipse itself. The state of your motel room is, for once, completely irrelevant. The alternative is to sleep in your car (which eclipse chasers tend to do anyway).
7. Increase Your Budget
Of course, the alternative to lowering your standards and booking a cheap motel room is to stick a zero or two on the end of your budget. That way, you can solve all of your problems at once. Whether you can afford to do so is another matter, but know that there are currently many ways to see this eclipse, both in luxury and in other ways, that are still looking for takers.
8. Be Patient
The internet age has been a boon for well organized, well-informed people. Eclipse chasers are those people. Armed with a celestial schedule years in advance, they make reservations for the second rooms, and lodging becomes available—and often make plans five years in advance. However, the advent of the “cancel later” room means they often do this multiple times over. For an eclipse that could be cloudy—like this one—many eclipse chasers will have booked rooms in multiple locations with the intention of canceling them the day before.
Top tip: rooms will become available just before the eclipse, so be patient and keep checking—you won’t be the only one looking.
9. Stay Outside Of The Path And Day-Trip
You don’t have to stay on the path of totality. Sure, it would be nice to wake up and have a guaranteed view of the eclipse, but as well as prices being lower—and availability much higher—just outside of the path, it may also pay to be mobile. Crucially, you’ll need to have wheels. You’ll also need to be prepared to get up extremely early on April 8. Think what time you can stomach. Now subtract two hours and plan to drive to three separate places. Check the weather forecast on April 7 and make a decision.
10. Use Social Media
Some hotels announce the release of last-minute rooms on their social media feeds, often requesting calls rather than online bookings. It may also help if you join Facebook Groups, where members frequently post about having to cancel a hotel or lodging and offer to pass on the booking.
11. Book A Room On April 8
Rooms will likely become available just after the eclipse as people brave the traffic and head home. “We’re anticipating most of our eclipse bookings taking place on the night of April 7, with visitors checking out on the day of the eclipse,” said Robert Long, General Manager at TownePlace Suites Texarkana and Courtyard by Marriott Texarkana, in an email.
Check my main feed for basic information about how, when, and where to experience North America’s total solar eclipse and why you must try to get yourself to the path of totality on April 8.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
