10 Ways To Find Hotels At The Best Price
By Paul Wilson | Published
10 Ways To Find The Best Price On Hotels
Planning a trip has become increasing difficult as there are so many options to choose from. After finding a hotel that suits all your needs you need to ascertain whether you are getting a good rate. When you ask a travel agent or refer to a brochure for rates what you get is the generally quoted rate for room. But if you are wise you can get a better deal and save a lot of money.
Surf the net and see what online travel sites like Expedia, Hotels.com, or Travelocity are offering. Or you could browse the hotel web site to find a good deal. Many sites list special offers as well as discounts.
Use a search tool to like BookingBuddy.com or Travel Axe to compare various offers and rates.
Look for what is known as lowest rate guarantee these are mainly on offer online but are subject to advance booking and very harsh cancellation policies. Even if the price offered online is attractive do call the hotel up and see if they are willing to better the rate.
Opaque-pricing travel sites like Hotwire or priceline do offer good rates for good hotels. The only downside is you cannot specify a hotel. All you can do is indicate where you want accommodation. The reservation needs to be made online and is non refundable and one cannot change plans or cancel.
Consider purchasing an Entertainment book discount for between US22 to 45. Becoming a member entitles you to discounts of 50% on the rack rate of member hotels. But these discounts are only available when the occupancy rate of the hotel is less than 80%. Check out the great options at: http://www.entertainment.com/discount/home.shtml.
Ask about weekend rates. Often hotels that cater to business travelers have great rates on what they consider off season, weekends.
If you plan your trip well in advance you could get a discount of 50% or more during off season.
Some hotels have special rates for members of AAA, American Automobile Association and other professional bodies or clubs. Call the hotel of your choice and ask them if they do have such schemes.
If you are traveling in a group ask about group rates or family rates. Most hotels have different options for multiple bookings. Some even offer a day or two additional stay at no extra cost.
When you leave the airport or railway station or just drive in to a town stop at a gas station and find out if they have hotel coupon booklets. These many a time have great offers for visitors.
To get the best deal you need to be thorough as well as flexible. Just as you spend time sourcing air tickets at bargain prices you can do the same for hotel bookings. Read all travel offers carefully, set aside any discount booklets your bank or credit card company sends you for use when you travel. If you are smart you will save quite a lot.
About the Author: Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for Discount Hotels , the premier website to find help on Hotels including topics on discount hotels, cheap hotels, hotel and resort information, make online hotel reservations, hotel deal, special hotel offers and more. He also freelances for the premier Affiliate Programs site Affiliate Programs site.
Around The World Unique Hotels
By: Mary Hanna
Though hotels are all similar in that they all have beds and other accommodations to make staying there much more homelike, there are some very unique hotels in various parts of the world that challenge the concept of the traditional hotel.
The unique treetop hotels in Costa Rica, Kenya and other parts of the world where the hotels are built with very large living trees making up a substantial part of the hotel structure. The treetop hotel in Kenya is built into the trees surrounding a watering hole for the many species of animals that forage there. When you leave the main dining room to go back to your room you are always accompanied by a guard for protection from wild predators. The Ariau Towers in Brazil, near the city of Manaus is in the middle of the Amazon on the Rio Negro and is a similar type of living tree hotel.
Ariau Amazon Towers is another unique hotel, located 35 miles from Manaus, Brazil where the Rio Negro and Ariau Creek meet. Built entirely at the level of the Rainforest Canopy, Ariau's towers are linked together by 4 miles of strong wooden catwalks. This architectural wonder affords visitors a unique communion with the regions teeming plant and animal life while leaving the fragile eco-system completely undisturbed. Bill gates invested in the hotel and had modern telephone / internet connections installed.
Straight out of Neromancer, the Sci-Fi book by William Gibson, but only for the Japanese as of yet, the unique capsule hotels are an economy type of hotel with extremely high occupancy capabilities. Most capsule hotel compartments are only about 6 ½ feet by 4 feet by a little over 3 feet. These hotels are not recommended for large or very tall people. This amount of space certainly gives one enough room to read or sleep, but not much else. Of course if you’ve got wireless internet the possibilities are considerably expanded.
Capsule hotels are not necessarily frequented primarily by lower income people, but are used by many types of people for many different reasons. For about $25-34 per night, a tired working person who stayed out too late drinking and missed the last train can get a night’s rest. There are often discount rates for those wishing to nap for only a couple of hours during the day.
There are several cave hotels throughout the world in such places as Australia, Spain, Turkey, the United States and several other countries. Rooms in cave hotels typically have the entire walls or even two or three walls made out of the mountain or other hard sediment formation that the hotel is built into.
For instance there is the cave hotel in Southern Australia, an Underground hotel and casino, in Coober Pedy.
The Desert Cave Hotel allows you to experience dug-out style living, underground shops, bar and opal display areas. Sleeping underground is a very unique experience. Quiet, cool, dark and airy, the rooms seem spacious with their high ceilings.
The unique Desert Cave Hotel, famous as the only international rated underground hotel in the world, allows you to experience dug-out style living. It’s the experience to enjoy if you are in the area.
They have all of the amenities, fine dining, a pool, a beautiful spa and a well equipped gym.
There is one underwater hotel in the entire world that can be reached without the aid of scuba gear which is really a unique hotel. The Utter Inn located in Lake Malaren, Sweden features one large room and visitors can simply walk down into the hotel while viewing underwater. This same company also has an undersea lodge in Key Largo, Florida that does require scuba diving to reach.
The Utter (Otter) Inn in Sweden is a small floating house with a deck for sunning. Its uniqueness is that you descend the stairs into the lake. The bedroom is like an aquarium but you are the fish. There is an inflatable boat so that you can visit a near by un-inhabited island to swim and sun. You will have to buy the deluxe package to have dinner delivered to you (by boat, of course) in the evening.
These are the few totally different and unique hotels around the world. Be adventuresome and check one or two of the out.
Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.
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More About Mary Hanna: Mary Hanna has traveled the world by Air and Ship while writing eBooks, Software Reviews and Practical Articles on Internet Marketing, Cruising, Gardening and Travel. Visit her websites at: www.CruiseTravelDirectory.com and www.CruiseGold.com You can read more of her articles at www.ArticleBazaar.net
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