Teardrop Trailer Vs Hotel: Why A Teardrop Wins (Almost) Every Time

Our family absolutely loves road trips. We have been all over Canada, down the US east coast and back, as well as through several countries in Europe.

Before we owned a teardrop trailer, every road trip meant staying in hotels with some tent camping thrown in to keep things interesting. That was just the normal way to travel.

Sometimes it worked well. Other times, we ended up in places we would rather not stay again.

With the purchase of our teardrop trailer, our travel style changed.

Hotels still make sense in some situations. But for many road trips, having a teardrop trailer solved a lot of the problems that come with relying on hotels.

Here are the biggest differences.

Teardrop Trailer vs Hotel

Before I get into the post, I do realize that road tripping with an RV can come down to a lifestyle choice.

We do not live in our trailer, nor have we gone for month-long trips (yet).

So for us, this is merely a comparison after having done it both ways. And just for the record, I would have NO problem doing a mix of both on an extended road trip!

Kids playing Cards inside Teardrop Trailer

Flexibility

From a flexibility standpoint, we are the type of people who like to have all of our accommodations pre-booked.

But if you are a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of traveller, take a look at this comparison.

With a Hotel, Your Day Is Locked In

When you book a hotel, your travel day usually revolves around that reservation.

You need to arrive before the front desk closes or before check-in deadlines.

Icefields Parkway - Athabasca Glacier — Icefields Parkway – Alberta

If your plans change, you may need to cancel the reservation or look for another room. This can get costly if it happens often.

During busy seasons or in smaller towns, rooms may not even be available when you arrive. Then what?

We totally lucked out during our road trip through Newfoundland. We had tent camping reservations in a campground near L’Anse aux Meadows on the northernmost tip of the province.

Grenfell Heritage Hotel & Suites - Newfoundland

The problem was that when we started to get close to the area, it was raining and only 4 degrees Celsius.

Since we didn’t have a trailer at the time, none of us wanted to spend the night in a tent. We spent half an hour frantically calling around to the few hotels in the area (at about 6 pm), looking for a vacancy that would accommodate a family of four.

Luckily, we scored the last hotel room in the last hotel that we had on our list!

I don’t like close calls like that!

With a Teardrop, You Stop When You Want

When you travel with a teardrop trailer, the plan can stay much more open.

If you find a campground you like, you can stop there. If you decide to keep driving, you can do that too.

Many private campgrounds allow same-day bookings, and some parks even keep a few sites available for people arriving without reservations.

Pinery Provincial Park - Long line at the gatehouse — This was **Pinery Provincial Park** on a long weekend in July. The sign at the gatehouse said the park was full! Good thing we had reservations!

I wouldn’t recommend relying on this strategy if you plan to camp in popular Ontario Parks, however. You may end up getting turned away at the gate because the park is full!

Worst-case scenario, you can stop in a Wal-Mart parking lot or truck stop and spend the night for free.

While it may not be ideal, you still have all the comforts of home with you!

Cost

Cost can definitely play a huge role in deciding where you are going to stay on a road trip. And if you are doing things on the fly, those costs can double pretty quickly.

Hotel Prices Can Change a Lot

Hotel prices vary depending on location, time of year, and local events.

If you are travelling with kids, you usually need a room with multiple beds. That can push the price even higher.

Thunder Bay - Couthouse Hotel Room — Thunder Bay – Suite at the Couthouse Hotel

Parking fees, taxes, and breakfast costs also increase the total price of a stay.

Over a long road trip, those nightly charges add up quickly.

Campgrounds Are Usually Much Cheaper

Campground fees are usually far lower than hotel rooms.

Popular provincial or national parks are often a fraction of the cost of a hotel.

Of course, if you choose to stay at fancy private campgrounds that have a ton of amenities, the price gap would be smaller or even non-existent.

Saskatchewan-Grasslands-oTENTik — oTENTik at Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan

We prefer staying at provincial parks or conservation areas. Over time, the savings have made a big difference.

We have found that several seasons of camping cost less than a handful of long hotel-based road trips.

Packing and Unpacking Every Night

I’m guessing there are not too many people who love to schlepp their suitcases in and out of hotels constantly, especially if they have kids or pets with them.

Hotels Require Constant Packing

When staying at hotels, everything goes in and out of the car every night.

Suitcases, electronics, food, toiletries, and anything the kids bring along all get carried inside.

The next morning, everything goes back into the car again before you leave.

John just loved those daily games of Tetris where he had to fit everything back into our car and still be able to see out the back window! Insert eye roll! 🙄🙄

After several days of travel, that routine gets pretty old. FAST!

On a few of our extended road trips, I remember being too tired at the end of a long driving day to drag all of our gear into the hotel.

We would just go in with the clothes on our backs and sleep in our t-shirts.

The kids, who were quite young at the time, would call them “Naked Nights” because they would go to bed in just their undies.

A Teardrop Keeps Everything in One Place

With a teardrop trailer, most of your gear stays exactly where it belongs.

Clothes stay in the trailer. Kitchen supplies stay in the galley. Bedding stays set up.

When you arrive at a campsite, you open the trailer, and you are ready for the night.

Bruce Peninsula National Park - Campfire at our campsite — Campfire after a long travel day

Of course, we usually set up a dining tent, our table and chairs, a hammock, and a few other things.

But if we are arriving late in the day, we do the bare minimum and worry about the rest in the morning.

When we arrived after dark at Bruce Peninsula National Park, all we did was make sure the stabilizers were down, the trailer was disconnected, and our water tank was filled.

Sleeping in Your Own Bed Every Night

One of the biggest differences between hotels and a teardrop trailer is where you sleep. And to some people, this is an important consideration.

Hotels Mean a Different Bed Every Night

When you stay in hotels during a road trip, the sleeping situation changes every night.

One hotel may have a comfortable mattress and good pillows. The next place may feel completely different.

Some rooms are quiet, while others are near elevators, ice machines, or busy roads.

You also never really know how clean or well-maintained a room will be until you arrive.

We have booked places where the pictures look awesome, and arrive to discover the place is a dive!

This happened (once again) in Wawa, Ontario. Don’t get me wrong, the town is pretty cute.

But there are slim pickings for accommodations in this town to start with. And most are booked up way in advance.

Motel in Wawa - Very RUSTIC closet — 😳😳😳

The motel we chose was not to our usual standards, but the best we could find. And it honestly didn’t look too bad online.

When we arrived, the room smelled funny, the beds were slanted, and you could feel the springs, and the room itself was awful (the closet was finished in plywood)!

We were tempted to sleep in the car!

A Teardrop Means Your Bed Travels With You

With a teardrop trailer, your sleeping space stays the same no matter where you park.

Your mattress, your pillows, and your bedding are always the ones waiting for you at the end of the day. Nothing changes from one night to the next.

Queen size Bed inside our Teardrop Trailer — Our Comfy Queen Bed

After a long day on the road, or even a long day exploring, it feels so good to climb into my own comfortable and familiar bed.

This may not be a huge deal for some people, but to me, it makes a big difference during longer trips.

Bunk Beds inside our Teardrop Trailer — Bunk beds for our kids

And if you are travelling with kids, having a consistent place to sleep may be even more important.

Worrying About Where Your Next Meal is Coming From

It’s always a good idea to know where your next meal is coming from, especially when you are travelling to new and unfamiliar places.

Hotels Usually Mean Restaurants

When staying in hotels, most meals come from restaurants, takeout counters, or fast food stops.

Unless, of course, you are able to find a hotel suite that comes with a kitchenette. And even then, it may not be stocked in the way of pots and pans or cooking utensils.

This works for short trips, but it can get expensive during longer road trips.

Not to mention, I usually start craving a home-cooked meal at about the one-week mark!

Holiday Inn Express Thunder Bay - suite with kitchen — Holiday Inn Express Thunder Bay – suite with kitchen

It can also limit your choices if restaurants close early or are not nearby.

We had this happen when we stayed overnight in Wawa, Ontario. We arrived in town later than anticipated due to the highway being closed for an accident.

It was only about 5:30 pm, but most places were already closed for the day (including the local Tim Horton’s).

We were lucky to find one restaurant open. And after waiting nearly 2 hours to get our food, it was NOT good!

A Teardrop Gives You Your Own Kitchen

Most teardrop trailers include either an indoor kitchen or a small outdoor galley area.

This means that wherever you are, you can whip up something.

Sibbald Point Park - Steak Dinner at our campsite

Whether it’s breakfast, lunch, dinner or quick snacks, I truly enjoy having my own space to make the meals in.

And if you have family members who are on a special diet, or have food allergies (John and I have several), then having the ability to make your own food is even more important.

Not to mention, it’s often easier to find a grocery store than it is to find a restaurant or eatery in smaller towns.

Finally, having your own kitchen means that you get to eat on your own schedule without needing to search for a restaurant.

We have stopped a number of times in parking lots or even just roadside to have a mid-trip meal.

You Can Stay in Places where Hotels Don’t Exist

If you are the adventurous type, you will probably end up heading to a location that is so far out there that you have a hard time finding a hotel to stop at on the way.

We have done this more than once!

Yukon Provincial sign - Im excited to finally be here

Hotels Are Concentrated in Cities and Tourist Areas

Hotels are usually located in larger towns, cities, or popular tourist destinations.

This becomes a problem when you are headed to more remote towns or areas, where accommodations may be far away.

It’s times like these, when you know that you are in for a looooong driving day.

While travelling through northern British Columbia and the Yukon, we faced several 6-hour drives to get from one town to another.

It gets pretty tiring if this happens consistently on your road trip.

Campgrounds Are Everywhere

On the other hand, campgrounds often exist in many places where hotels do not.

Provincial parks, national parks, conservation areas, and small private campgrounds give you many more overnight options.

Boya Lake Provincial Park BC - Park Sign

During our British Columbia road trip, we stopped in several provincial parks to hike, have a bite to eat, or go for a swim or paddle.

While we didn’t have our camper with us for that trip, it would have been so convenient to break up the long drives with an overnight in one of those provincial park campgrounds.

Boya Lake Provincial Park BC - Kayaking on the lake

What Hotels Still Do Better

While I do love my Teardrop, there are just some things that hotels still score better in, at least for me.

Private Bathrooms

Hotels provide a private bathroom and shower in the room.

And unless the hotel is run-down and the bathroom is grubby or old (or just weird), it’s nice to have a hot shower at the end of a long day.

Weird bathroom in Germany - Im standing in the shower and there is a window to the bedroom

Now, we have stayed in hotels where the bathrooms were not great.

Whether it was poor water pressure, odd layouts (like the one in Stuttgart, Germany, where there was a window from the shower to the bedroom), or it just wasn’t clean, those have been the odd cases and not the norm.

Campgrounds, on the other hand, can be hit or miss.

Many people don’t really like using the shared comfort stations and showers.

Restoule Provincial Park - Comfort Station Showers — Shower at the comfort station in **Restoule Provincial Park**

Not to mention, many of these facilities can get a little run-down or have issues with water pressure or temperature.

And while our teardrop does have a wet bath, it is on the small side. It would be a little difficult to shower in if you are on the larger or taller side.

Our Teardrop Camper Bathroom in the TAB 400

Don’t get me wrong, I love my bathroom, I just prefer not to shower in it.

No Equipment to Set Up

With a hotel, you walk into the room, and everything is already prepared and ready to enjoy.

You can usually be in bed in less than half an hour after you arrive.

Camping requires a small amount of setup when you arrive at the site.

Sibbald Point Park - Nellie the Teardrop Trailer in the campsite — A basic setup for a short overnight stop

Between backing the trailer into the site, levelling the trailer, getting the stabilizers down, and disconnecting from your tow vehicle, this could take almost an hour in total (depending on how difficult your site is to manoeuvre in).

And if we have to set up the bunk beds, add an extra 20 minutes to get those ready!

For short overnight stops in a city, a hotel can still be the easier choice.

Why Our Teardrop Still Wins Most of the Time

For many of our road trips, a teardrop trailer offers several clear advantages:

You carry your accommodations with you.
You keep your gear organized in one place.
You can cook your own meals instead of relying on restaurants.
You sleep in your own bed every night.
And you have many more options for where to spend the night.

Mikisew Provincial Park - Nellie in our campsite — **Mikisew Provincial Park**

Yes, hotels still work well for certain types of travel.

But once you get used to travelling with a teardrop trailer, it becomes a very practical way to explore new places.

Final Thoughts

Hotels still have their place. If we are visiting a big city or flying somewhere, we will still book a room.

And while many will argue that your choice of accommodation is based on different lifestyles, I am referring to those of us who do a little of both.

When we are on a road trip, our teardrop trailer is usually the better choice for us.

After travelling this way for several seasons, it just works better for us.

We bring our own bed, our gear stays where it belongs, and we always have a clean bathroom and kitchen to rely on.

Once you get used to that, it is hard to go back to building road trips around hotel stays.