How to Book Hotel Rooms Cheaply

Negotiating lower hotel rates does not have to be left up to travel agents. Many people unknowingly pay for a hotel room at the listed price per night when, in fact, they can get rates much lower. Rates sometimes as much as 50 percent lower than advertised. In today's economy saving money is important to most families even more so when traveling.

Compare web sites
Many, if not all, large hotels have their own websites where you can check rates for any given night and room. Pick the night and room that you want and make note of the listed price. Now surf over to one of the discount travel sites such as travelocity or orbitz and do a search for the hotel you plan on staying in. Now find their prices for the same night and room. You will want to make note of these rates also. Go to priceline and name your own price. Start out at 50 percent off the lower of the prices you have already discovered. Increase your rate by five or ten dollars at a time until you either lock in a discounted rate you are happy with or you find that the advertised price is the lowest available for that night.

Check review sites
Almost every hotel will have a bad review out there. Finding that review in print can be used to leverage a discounted rate at some top name hotels around the globe. Do an Internet search for your hotel name plus reviews. Search through each review site for a particularly bad review (remember reviews are just a person's personal take on a situation and are not always proof of a bad hotel) and copy and paste the review and URL into an email. Send the email to the hotel manager with a note stating that you hope your stay is better than the review. Many times a manager will give you either upgrades or a discount on your booked room as a gesture of good will and to show you that your stay will be better than any review you have read.

Leverage your associations
Many business and personal associations have negotiated rates with major hotel chains. Even banks have options for discounted travel. Contact your associations main offices and ask if they offer discounted travel for members. Do not stop asking with the first association that says yes. Make sure you get the information for every organization that offers discounted travel and compare the terms of each one. Request quotes for the hotel you are planning on using. After you have the nightly rate for your stay compare any extras that the associations discount may come with such as a free night after three paid nights. Consider these extras before booking your stay.

Pit the hotels against each other
If there are two or more hotels of similar quality and amenities you can pit the hotels against each other to lower their rates. Like any other business hotels want to beat their competitors and will lower their rates so that you will stay with them. Call and get a quote from each hotel. Call the hotel with the highest price back and tell them that their competitor is offering a similar room at a cheaper price. Once you have a new quote turn around and make the same phone call to the other hotel. This should result in a lower rate at the already cheaper hotel.

Be flexible
A simple change in dates by one day can save you a lot of money. If you can't find a rate that you are happy with on your selected dates of travel simply backing your stay up between a day and a week can change your total out of pocket costs for the better. Being flexible can be used along side any other tricks for lowering hotel rates to reduce the cost of your stay even more. Also consider staying at another hotel outside the city limits of your destination. Many tourist hot spots have higher rates for their hotels but sleeping just ten miles outside of your destination city will result in extra savings.