Making Reservations ~ without reservation?!

One important part of planning a vacation is where you are going to stay. For us, when we travel to Baja, this usually isn't an issue, as part of the adventure is crashing wherever we see fit for the evening or the week. However, as we have an agenda of sorts this time, we had to make some adjustments. We had to make some reservations!

Now, for most folks, this is no biggie, but for a family that likes to fly by the seat of their pants, so to speak, this is a mite bit difficult. Making reservations means that those particular stops are now set in stone (or at least they are set in $$) and if you know us, that often means that something is bound to mess us up :) For example, the last time we made reservations for an overnight stay in Payson, AZ we were snowed OUT!! We were on our way down the highway and turned around by the highway patrol because of the snowstorm and road closures. Luckily, the hotel was understanding (I suppose because it was an "act of God" that kept us away?) and our $$ was fully refunded. But now, as I am looking to make our reservations, I am feeling a bit nervous in my belly as all of the hotels (or at least the one we really want to stay at in San Diego) have a "no cancellation without penalty" policy. Ergo, if you reserve the room and cannot make it, you are out the $$. So, I am debating with taking the risk and just reserving it, or wanting until the last minute (say, when we pull up in the parking lot?!) and perhaps ending up spending more.

Of course, the likelihood that we make the reservation is pretty good. I mean, we are leaving our house (hopefully) no later than 11 am and driving straight to San Diego, which, according to Mapquest, is approximately 544 miles and 8 hours and 47 minutes from our door. Sounds reasonable, right? Hahaha! you have obviously never traveled with us! So, I am still debating whether or not to reserve :P

The next reservations are easier to keep, we have made our itinerary for the next stops, so making it to the hotels there is a lot more realistic. That first leg of the trip is so tough, because it is such a lengthy drive. But, the second and third legs aren't as much driving, so making a reservation isn't as much of a debate.

Lionel made the reservations for La Fonda in La Mision, Baja California Norte today. We got the room we love, which is truly key at this particular hotel, as each room is different and unique, and some of them just don't work for us. We found this out the hard (although not all that hard, really) way. We had stayed at La Fonda once on the way home from Baja, when we had to get Tristan's birth registered and we fell in love with the place! That trip we stayed an extra night because we just didn't want to leave! The second time we stayed there, we couldn't remember the room we had stayed in, and we were booked into a room with one bed, no opening windows and a balcony with a broken guardrail. Not ideal when staying for a week with two small children :) So, we asked if we could move to a different room and of course, we gladly shown a room that better suited our needs. Two beds, a nice big balcony (perfect for the mutts) with sturdy guardrails, and a big opening window that backed up to the parking lot (ideal when you travel with a trailer full of stuff, as we often do. When we travel with the trailer, we do this wherever we stay, even stateside, so no flames to me about whether or not travel in Mexico is safe. As far as we are concerned it's as safe as anywhere else (especially once you are past the border towns ~ namely TJ)! So now, whenever we make reservations, we are sure to specify the room that works the best for us, and luckily it was available!! One down.

Lionel also made the reservations for our stay at Hotel Malarrimo in Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, as well as our reservations for the whale watching tour that leaves from the same facility. We reserved the last room that they had (whew!) and the tour that departs the next day at 8 am, as we have been told that more whales are prevalent at high tide, and in the winter, that means as early as possible in the morning. We have a room that we prefer at Malarrimo as well, but on this, the area's busiest season, we are going to settle for the fact that we got a room at all!

So, our reservations are made (for the most part). We had decided that we will reserve a room for the first night, whether it be in San Diego, Yuma, or wherever, as we get closer to the actual destination. It is the smart thing to do :)