Depends, I am a fan of Red Roof motels, so will stay at the them even if I can find a place for a little more. When I was in NC a few years ago I stayed in them quite a few times and they were always around $55/night, which isn't bad, and also you can negotiate with the clerk, they may lower the fee. Many of the times I got into the hotel around 11 pm so the clerk knew that they would have vacancies and were willing to lower their rate, esp as there were other motels nearby.
Also, sometimes if Priceline is quoting something lik 65/night and they want 70, sometimes (though not often) they will lower it to either 65 or even lower because they can avoid giving Priceline or other companies a cut. That said, sometimes they have just said to book it through Priceline, when this happens I take it to mean that the clerk has little to no discretion on lowering the rate.
Funny store, at the Greensboro Red Roof I got a rate for like $52 and was chatting and joking with the clerk and he lowered the rate even further to 42 because "I like you." I came back about 8 months later and asked about him to another clerk, who laughed at me remembering him and gave me that same rate, so being nice is likely the best policy.