First of all where will you be visiting family?
Do you have a specific membership in a hotel you want to use to add a night to your account?
You can always bid on priceline/hotwire, get a hotel, check in, leave the room an hour later, DON'T leave the "do not disturb sign" at the door and call the next morning to say you already checked out and couldn't stop by the front desk.
As long as you don't break anything you won't be on the naughty list.
In this day and age hotels will love and welcome your business.