need to book in New England?

My wife and I are planning a couple of weeks in late September, starting in Boston and driving a hire car around New England. I have lots of suggested 'good routes' with interesting places of all sorts.
BUT, we would really want to be flexible, so we don't want to have to book our accommodation in advance.
The Guide Books don't seem to give an opinion about that style of holiday and I wondered if any Forum Members have any experience of what it's like arriving in a 'Typical New England' town in the afternoon and wanting to spend the night somewhere not too expensive and not too scruffy.
We've had mixed experiences in France, in particular - excellent in some places and a total desert of 'chance' accom.
I think we'd even go for the Bates' Motel, if pushed - he didn't murder many of his guests, did he?

Late Sept should be ok for that with the exception of Boston/Cambridge and Fri/Sat nights. I would imagine the places that go first these days are the Motel 6/Econo Lodge types that offer decent rooms pretty cheap. Be sure to head to coastal Maine for some of that wonderful lobster.

Thanks, that's useful to know. Being tied to a tight itinerary can be a real drag but as we don't know what the USA is like (only done City Hotels before) we wouldn't want to be fretting every day about getting a bed for the night.
That's the nice thing about backpacking in wild places - a flat bit of grass and "I think this is the place" is all that you need.

If you travel out to the interstate highway(I-95) there are usually half a dozen hotel/motels at most exits. Within reason informality is not a deterrent to getting a room.

[ Edit: Edited on 03-Aug-2009, at 11:43 by jambo101 ]