Find Cheap Hotel Rooms

You can find cheap hotel rooms in travel guide books and on the internet. Just look for accommodations under each specific city or town. You can make reservations in advance if you wish.

Don’t be concerned if you don’t have a place to stay when you arrive in a particular city or town. If you don’t have lodging, visit the local Tourist Office. Staff will often be able to help you find lodging. Sometimes there is a fee for this service however.

Remember to have your guide book handy when you travel. If your plans change at the last minute, you can still find a place to stay.

Tips for Finding Cheap Hotel Rooms

1) Contact the hotel directly. Do not use the 1-800 for the hotel chain. Before making the phone call, check that hotel’s website for possible deals. Better yet, check competitor websites and play the hotels off against one-another. Whatever rate the desk clerk offers, indicate that you had not intended to pay that much and ask for a better rate and an upgrade. If necessary, insist that you can speak to the manager. He/she has the authority to offer better deals.

2) Check hotel rates on the internet booking sites (Expedia, Travelocity etc). Then check the website of the hotel you are interested in. If the former is cheaper, phone the hotel. Start a negotiation by offering 75% of the room rate advertised on the internet booking site.

3) Reserve a hotel room on a Sunday. Managers are less likely to be available so the person answering the phone is the one who makes the decisions. Press your negotiations.

4) Offer to pay cash for your room if you receive a discount. The hotel won’t need to pay a credit card fee. This often works well in South America and the Caribbean.

5) It is cheaper to stay in business hotels and on the weekend and leisure hotels during the week.

6) When traveling during the off-season, speak to the manager directly. Ask for a discounted rate. Empty hotel rooms don’t make any money.

7) Check for a Senior discount through the American Automobile Association (AAA) or the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

8) Hotels located outside of the tourist areas often have cheaper rates. Try hotels in residential areas.

9) Hotel rates are often cheaper for rooms with a shared bathroom.

10) If the hotel rate includes a breakfast, ask for a rate reduction if breakfast is not included.

Once you have negotiated your best room rate, determine if the rate you have been quoted is the bottom-line cost. There may be hidden charges like taxes, parking, fitness room (even if you don’t plan to use it), phone, internet, coffee maker, room safe etc.

Complain immediately that these charges not be applied to your bill as a condition of your renting the room.

You worked very hard to locate a cheap hotel room. You don’t want to be undermined at the last minute. Before you check out of your room, review your bill carefully and see that the above charges have not been included. If a gratuity has been included on the bill, do not leave one in your room.

Set Your Lodging Budget

Use your information sources to estimate how much you will spend for lodging on your vacation. Simply add up the costs for each day.

Chapter 5 of Turn Your Dream Vacation Into Reality: A Game Plan for Seeing the World the Way You Want to See It outlines lodging in far greater detail.

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