When building a DIY holiday, the hotel is often one of the biggest costs – but it doesn’t have to be. People often ask how I manage to get a great hotel in a great location at a great cost, so here are my top 5 hotel booking hacks:
1. Consider combination deals
- Consider buying your hotel as part of a flight+hotel bundle as this can often garner discounts. I use eBookers (an Expedia company), as their search facilities are easy to use, and there are lots of options for varying hotels to suit your needs.
- Voucher deals – one of my favourite hotel booking hacks is actually to use vouchers. Voucher deals from places like Groupon are a way to sell off rooms, but they can highlight some great options that you wouldn’t normally consider. If you don’t have fixed dates in mind, you can often find interesting and budget-friendly deals.
2. Sign up as a member
- Hotel booking sites like Booking.com give a discount for members, so it’s worth signing up to reap the rewards. You can always unsubscribe from marketing emails later!
- Partake in loyalty discounts from hotel chains – you can sign up online or at the reception desk during your stay. Hotel chains are always trying to find ways to get you go direct to them rather than through hotel booking sites, so signing up can get you great discounts.
3. Book early or partake in last minute deals
- I generally use Booking.com to book early. By booking early, you often get great deals
- Book free cancellation options, to ensure if you change your mind or find a better deal, you can cancel without penalty
- I often book 6-8 months out from the holiday, then check back regularly to see if any hotels have released cheaper room rates. I then swap hotels (thanks free cancellation) to something of equal quality but cheaper!
- Remember, if you are searching for hotels over several days, remember to clear your cache or use incognito mode, so that cookies don’t interrupt your deal-finding!
- I always check the last minute websites such as Hotwire or Lastminute.com between 1-3 weeks before my holiday – just to check if I can get a higher star rating for the same price or less than my current booking (again, thanks free cancellation). I once had a hotel in Paris booked for £270 for 2 nights; and then got the same hotel for £200 through a last minute deal. This did, however, take a lot of knowledge of the area of Paris I had booked!
Here are my tips for packing for a long trip!
4. Research
Whether you consider a bundle deal, or whether you choose to book direct, always do your research.
- Understand where in the city you want to base yourself – especially in relation to landmarks you may wish to visit or transport links.
- Map your transfers from airports/ train stations to ensure you can reach your hotel easily.
- Listen to advice from those who have travelled to the destination before you – the best neighbourhoods, streets, unsafe areas etc.
- Narrow your search to the areas that match the above criteria, and then decide on a few top options.
- Read reviews on these hotels to understand if there are any hidden down sides to the gems you’ve found!
- Now, research for the best price – there are many price-comparison sites, but also check the hotel’s own website – some keep their best deals for their direct customers.
- Check to see whether the price includes extras such as wifi and breakfast etc.
- Check to see whether a city tax will be included on top of your room price.
5. Once you have arrived
- Don’t use the mini-bar! If you’re on a budget but have nabbed yourself a luxury deal, why not just grab a bottle of wine (or something else) from a local shop for that late night tipple.
- If you are displeased by any part of the hotel you are staying in, raise it with the hotel immediately – they will either move you to another room, or, if they can’t do that, they may give you a discount. It’s better to give them the chance to rectify the issue, than to just put up with it and give them a bad review afterwards.
One more hotel booking hack – if it’s your honeymoon or anniversary, let the hotel know – you often get treats from your friendly hotel staff!
My Top 5 Hotel Booking Hacks
Good luck conquering these hotel booking hacks. It may take a little more effort and a bit of savvy, but hopefully these hacks help you on your way to great deals! If you have any more useful hotel booking hacks for my readers please add them in the comments below.
If you need a hand planning your trip, read my planning tips here, or get in touch on twitter!
Great ideas! We don’t use hotels much, but getting a nice room instead of a less than awesome room is always a good thing. Thanks so much for the ideas.
Great TIPS! i can totally vouch for the free cancellation deals! Don’t know what we would do if booking.com didn’t have free cancellation options. And btw thanks a ton for introducing me to ebookers. Didn’t even know of the site.
Great ideas for good deals. I usually try and book early to get a better price.
Never thought of combo deals. I will check that out next time.
I’m a veteram traveler but still have much to learn about booking – and relearn. That’s a great idea about booking months in advance with a free cancellation policy. My problem is being too busy to track the new deals! Have to rectify that.
Solid advice for hotel hacks. I DEFINITELY avoid the mini-bar at all costs (usually an arm and a leg). I would add a couple to this list. Avoid hotel breakfasts unless they are included and you need to eat a hotel breakfast, do it CARRY out and dine A LA CARTE in your room. Also, look for hotel shuttles (or hotels with shuttles) for visiting busy places and saving of rental cars and parking. A little location goes a long way.
Booking hotels is such a process! Just trying to decide the best location with easy transport is an ordeal. I love the idea of booking out 6 months in advance and cancelling if something better comes along
These are all such great tips! I definitely feel that research is extremely important. As you mentioned, it’s best to understand the city and map everything out too.
Ahh, i use all of your tips! but the last one, ” don’t use the minibar “, was something i taught to my partner. he first didn’t know that it’s possible to buy liquors outside the hotel and keep in our fridge in the hotel, then he learned! yay! from then on, we keep doing it, until now! and yea, in terms of booking hotel, the earlier the better and the ones with free cancellation, too so that when you found a better one, you won’t get charged by cancelling! We also regularly use expedia!
Great tips and reminders. I never use the mini bar and was tickled to read your suggestion on that. Learned the hard way after a week traveling with my sister who had to have her sip of wine each night! I also clear my cache when researching travel and use two servers – Google as well as firefox, toggeling between them.
Great tips… budget travellers do need this. Yes, mostly I rely on hostels but sometimes you need a place for yourself and one needs to know the right tricks to get that without burning a hole in the pocket.
We’ve grown to like booking.Com more and more every time we use them. the reviews are always so on point and the prices are usually as low as they can possibly be. One thing we’ve learned from traveling asia is that agoda can also go lower than booking.com which is something else to consider. Great advice per usual hannah
Great tip about Agoda – thanks Jim!
Great tips, Hannah!
One thing that I, as an experienced traveler and a hospitality professional would like to add is, if you interested in staying at certain hotels, send an email to their sales department or call them and tell them you’re considering of bookkming via OTA (online travel agency) for the price of xxx and ask if they could give you a better deal if you book directly. You see, commissions that hotel pay for OTAs are huge, which is one of the reasons hotels prefer direct bookings, in particular, smaller boutique type, non-corporate hotels. Quite often they are not allowed to publicly sell for lower prices than OTAs they have deals with, but they are allowed to do that directly with you. Further, the hotel may not be able to give a lower price but they may be able to add freebies, such as free transportation, breakfast, room upgrade etc.
Great Post!
Br,
Mia aka @Touchse 😉
A great additional tip, Mia! Thank you!