The Best Tools for Finding Cheap Hotels

  • Google Hotels: Aggregates prices from all major booking sites in one place. Best starting point — you can see the range of prices, filter by stars, amenities and location, and click through to the cheapest booking option.
  • Booking.com: Largest inventory globally, often has Genius loyalty discounts after a few bookings.
  • Hotels.com: Rewards programme gives a free night after 10 nights booked.
  • Trivago and Kayak: Comparison aggregators — useful for checking you have the best price.
  • The hotel's own website: Hotels pay booking platforms 15–25% commission. Many hotels match online prices directly and offer added benefits (free breakfast, room upgrades, loyalty points) to encourage direct booking.

Timing Strategies

  1. 1

    Be flexible on dates

    Tuesday and Wednesday nights are consistently the cheapest. Weekend prices in city hotels are often lower than weekday prices (business travellers drive up weekday demand). The reverse is true for resort and beach destinations where weekends are busier.

  2. 2

    Book in advance — but not too far

    For popular destinations and dates: book 3–6 months ahead. For leisure travel with flexibility: prices often drop 4–6 weeks before the stay as hotels try to fill remaining rooms. Last-minute (24–48 hours before) can yield excellent deals but is risky for busy periods.

  3. 3

    Search in an incognito browser window

    Some booking sites use cookies to detect repeat searches and gradually increase prices. Searching in incognito or private mode avoids this.

Money-Saving Tactics

  • Call the hotel directly after finding a good rate online and ask if they can match or beat it. Many will, and may throw in extras.
  • Stay slightly outside the city centre — a 10-minute metro ride from the tourist area often halves the price.
  • Consider breakfast separately — hotel breakfast is heavily marked up. "Room only" rates plus a nearby cafe is usually cheaper.
  • Join loyalty programmes — free to join, often provide member-only rates 10–20% below public prices.
  • Look at apartment sites — for longer stays, Airbnb and VRBO offer better value than hotels for groups and families.
Price alertsSet up price alerts on Google Hotels or Kayak for your dates and destination. You get an email when the price drops. Useful if you are flexible on timing and willing to book when the price is right.

Frequently Asked Questions

Not always, but worth checking. Hotels guarantee the lowest rate or match competitor prices as a policy ("Best Rate Guarantee") in many cases. The benefit of direct booking is often less about price and more about flexibility — direct bookings are usually easier to modify or cancel, and the hotel has more incentive to resolve any issues if you are a direct guest.
Sites like Secret Escapes and Luxury Escapes offer heavily discounted rates on unsold hotel inventory, often 40–70% off. The trade-offs: limited availability, must often pay in advance, and deals can sell out quickly. Worth checking if you have flexible dates and enjoy a deal.