A lesson I learned long ago was to make Hotel reservations sufficiently far in advance of a stay that I wouldn't be stuck having to ride long distances out of my way. That kind of advance planning is not always possible (some rallies are trickly to plan that tightly), but generally speaking I've been served well by that planning trick.

When making plans for this past weekend's trip, I noticed that the prices in Harrington, DE were a bit on the high side, considering what was on offer. But, I needed a place to stay, so went ahead with the reservation. 

It turns out that there was a MASSIVE Field Hockey event in Delaware, and hotels were booked up for miles around. The hotel I was in had contestants from NJ and PA (that I was aware of); who knows how many other states were crammed in that hotel.