Getting the Best Hotel Rates

So it's time to book a hotel in some foreign city that you have never been to before. Like most people you'll head to TripAdvisor or booking.com, ratestogo.com and similar sites. The nagging question you'll have is "did I get the best deal?" Sometimes the best deal is not just the price you pay, but the room location, a special offer that has nothing to do with price but everything to do with saving money--like getting a free tour instead that may actually be worth more than the discount on a booking service.

What I do when I travel since the big booking engines never give you the web address or e mail of the hotels they list, is immediately go to the country's national tourist board website or the city's official website. These sites always have an amazingly complete list of all the hotels--and it gives their e mail and web address, not to mention their direct line phone and fax.

If you have Skype or some other VOIP (voice over internet phone), and you've checked out the best offer on the booking service sites, it's time to call the hotel and simply TELL them what offer you have on booking.com or whatever other site you used and say that you'd like to book direct to save them the commission (which is 6-15% so you do the math as to how much you can ask for--like a room upgrade, free meal at their restaurant, etc.). Last but not least there are a growing number of in city and in country hotel websites created by locals who don't get a commission but simply charge a listing fee. Sites like these allow and encourage DIRECT booking to the hotels they list.

My sister is going to Croatia for example, and she found http://www.thehotelsofsplit.comwhich is a good example of one of these "listing sites". So when you Google or Yahoo hotels and the name of the city, try adding in words like "the hotels of" or "listing of hotels in" and see what comes up. The ultimate goal is getting to speak to the hotel directly and challenging them to beat the best offer. And with 6-15% to play with on say $150 room, that really adds up.

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