Finding hotel suites at a fraction of the price really took off with the advent of the Internet. As the world changed to embrace this new technology, the hotel industry began to find an outlet for taking direct bookings for vacations alongside traditional travel agents, which allowed them to pass on savings to their clients through direct bookings, rather than wasting commissions on needless middlemen.
However now that the world has become more savvy and understand the online marketplace, it has become more difficult than ever to find cheap hotel suites in good, quality locations for that romantic or business break. If you’ve plenty of time to prepare for your trip, however, there are still a number of ways in which you can save money on booking that hotel suite
Easy Ways
Paying by cash or cheque is an easy way to save several percent off the top of your transaction. In most occasions, hotels charge a processing fee if your pay by credit card in order to cover their merchant costs. However this can often run into 3 or even 4%, which on a larger room can quickly add up. Paying by cash directly cuts off that extra charge and leaves you with a cheaper room than most others who’ll be forced to stick the room on their card.
Another easy way to save money on your hotel suite straight off is to choose your time of the year and day of the week. Most hotels have different seasonal nightly room rates, and even offer discounts on certain slow days of the week. For you that’s perfect – you get the hotel to yourselves to enjoy the peace and quiet whilst also paying less for the privilege. Now that’s what I call a win/win situation.
Clever Ways
Now for some more clever ways to save money on your hotel room. Firstly, booking a hotel suite a year in advance will usually yield a discount, as will booking at the last minute. In both situations the hotel are happy to secure the booking and are willing to take a slightly lesser rate for it, particularly in smaller hotels where there is a direct correlation between occupancy rates and the person working at check-in. Of course this will require you to ask for a discount when booking. But don’t be afraid – it’s more common than you’d think in this type of situation.
A variation on the last minute booking is by finding an online hotel suite auction. Kept under wraps, these are websites where leading hotels auction off rooms that don’t look likely to get booked for a much discounted rate in order to try and fill them up. By checking out these websites you can find great deals of highly rated hotels across the world for next-to-nothing, at a fraction of their usual room rate.
Whilst the world is becoming more aware of how to go about finding cheap hotel suites, there are still plenty of ways you too can save money on your next hotel suite – whatever your requirements – using these simple, everyday methods next time you book.
