Cheap Hotels

As mentioned in my posts previously, my all time favorite tool in the world for getting great hotel deals is Hotwire.  Priceline is also good, but Hotwire has literally saved me tens of thousands of dollars through the years.  I very seldom book a hotel that is not done through Hotwire.

Below are my top 10 tips for booking hotels on a cheap budget.

1.  Get a baseline on Orbitz to know the going rate, then check your deal on Hotwire.  Once you determine the hotel as outlined in step #5, using betterbidding, then attempt a bid in Priceline for an even bigger discount. If this does not take, then go back and book with Hotwire. 
   
2. Try to stay in hotels above 3 stars.  I can say with confidence that their rating system has been good.  So far this year I have booked hotels in Mexico (an amazing all-inclusive deal well over 70% off list), New York, and California.  I have never been disappointed.  I have great confidence in the rating systems on Hotwire and Priceline.
3. Compare Orbitz and Travelocity.  Once in a while you find a published hotel on a real special rate.
4. When looking for the best hotel deal, set the geography selector in your search tool to select several close geographies and sections of the city.  It always amazes me how Hotwire has amazing deals at airport hotels on the weekend.  By expanding your area, you can get better deals.
   
5. When looking for a hotel, take the description of the hotel and use the description to cross reference in www.betterbidding.com. This will allow you to know what hotel you are actually staying in before you press the buy button.
   
6. One great little trick that I learned to help discover the actual hotel for which you are bidding, is to bid on a package deal.  This usually tells you the hotel. Once you know this, match the star equivalent and description, which will help you discover exactly what hotel you are staying in.
7. There have been times where I simply could not get a good deal in a large city.  In these situations I will use an apartment rental service for a night and get a full condo or upscale apartment for an amazing deal.
   
8. I would strongly recommend that you print out the receipt and confirmation stub.  There has been a time or two that the booking never hit the hotel and they had to call and confirm.  It has never been a big deal, but I am sure glad I had the booking information.
9. Some of the last minute alert hotel specials are amazing.  If you are in a position to sneak away for a last minute get away, watch these deals close.  You can set your travel alerts to notify you of these deals.
   
10.  I have found the best deals are usually posted about 3 weeks away.  I have found great deals in all time frames, but often if you are more than 2 or 3 months out, the deals do not seem to be as aggressive.  This being said, you still need to watch the really heavy travel weeks of the year.

For your use, I have included several hotel booking engines in a handy location below.  Feel free to bookmark the page and share it with friends.  Good luck to you in your hotel shopping.