Best Discount Hotel Deals

Professional thieves tend to hang around hotels and resorts, especially the lobbies, looking for tourists and travelers that are easy pickings.  Here are some travel tips that may help you feel more safe and secure in your hotel room when you are traveling, or are on vacation.

Try and book a room that is on the second, third, fourth, or fifth floors, as ground floor hotel rooms  are more susceptible to break ins.  Keep in mind that rooms above the fifth floor may not be  accessible by many fire engine ladders if a fire breaks out in the hotel.

Check to make sure that the door to your room locks properly, and that all windows or sliding doors open, but also lock securely.

It may not be a good idea to hang a “please clean the room” sign on the door knob when you go  out, as it signals to a would be thief that there is probably no one in the room.

It is advisable to not give out your room number to anyone that you don’t know and trust.

There are small, battery-operated, motion-sensitive, burglar alarms that can be hung on the inside hotel door knob, or there are wedge-shaped alarms that you can wedge under the door that will accomplish the same thing.  Some of the best ideas are simple. If someone tries to open the hotel room door, the alarm will go off.

There are two less sophisticated methods you could use. You can move a chair in front of the hotel door, or wedge a standard rubber door stopper under the door.  Either of these methods are also effective.

When you are making plans for your next business trip or holiday, saving on costs should be a priority. Regardless of whether your destination is a neighbouring country or a faraway land, discount accommodation will allow you to save more money on your hotels so that you can concentrate more on activities instead. 

These accommodations offer discounted rates on a regular basis if you know where to find them. The best part is any category of accommodation can offer discounts, from modest budget hotels to luxurious five-star hotels. Below is some useful advice that will help you net the best discounted hotel rates so that you can enjoy great savings every time you travel. 

Use discount coupons and coupon codes 

Discount coupons can not only save you a lot of money on your hotels, they can often be found and used with minimum effort. Search newspapers, entertainment books and coupon books issued by welcome centres for some of the most attractive hotel coupon deals and cut them out. 

Alternatively, you can also go online to conduct a search for specific online coupons that apply to your destination or hotel chain. To use them, simply enter the coupon codes when prompted by the hotel booking portal which you are booking your hotel with. 

It is always prudent to thoroughly study the requirements outlined in the coupons, such as having to stay for a certain number of nights. By spending some time to search for these coupons, you can stand to enjoy considerable hotel discounts that could save you enough money for a future stay. 

Book last minute hotels 

Last minute travelers can get to enjoy some attractive discounts from hotels which still have available rooms during the period of your stay. These discounts are offered in a last minute bid to bump up occupancy rates, especially during less busy periods. 

If you do not have a fixed travel date, or if you are travelling during a period when hotel bookings in your destination are likely to be slow, you can wait till the last minute to book your hotels. All you have to do is to browse through newspapers or websites to pick out the best deals. 

Be more flexible with location 

A slightly different hotel location may also net you more attractive discounts, especially for hotels which are a little further from major tourist sights. Hence, do not just settle for a particular hotel when you can also consider others which may require a little more walking. You might be surprised at the difference in prices compared to the prime location hotels, which would translate into considerable savings. 

Asking around never hurts 

Getting information about hotels offering the best discounts can be as simple as asking around. Relatives and friends can enlighten you about the discounts at hotels that they have stayed in the past. 

It also does not hurt to ask the hotels themselves, including just before check-in, about any other discounts that you may be entitled to. There may even be seasonal promotions that coincide with major festivals or events in the vicinity.

The recent economic woes and collapse of the housing market is leading some investors to consider non-traditional property investments – specifically buy to let hotel rooms – as safer bets compared to traditional buy to let and renovation projects.

Under normal circumstances the phrase ‘non-traditional investment’ would not be associated with playing it safe, but the investment market at present is far from ‘normal’. The uncertainty in the financial markets and the collapse of both property prices and mortgage lending, have hit property investors hard. For those investors looking for a good place to park their retirement funds, safety and diversification are key factors.

The idea that you can buy hotel rooms might seem like a strange concept but its growing appeal is down to these very same motivators. Experienced hotel and resort development companies invite individual investors to buy hotel rooms within high-end hotel developments. Investors who buy hotel rooms see returns from both capital growth and regular income from rooms let.

Buy to let properties have always offered savvy investors a keen return, but as mortgage rates climb faster than rents can go up, many have been left out of pocket. Moreover any time the property stands empty means hefty monthly mortgage repayments and no income.

Buy to let hotel rooms offset these risks by basing the investors’ income on the performance of the hotel as a whole, not their individual suite, and so provide a regular income level. Even a half full hotel can provide a solid return on investment for private investors who buy hotel rooms.

Of course, having all your eggs in one investment basket is still a risky move, which is one of the reasons why buying hotel rooms is often viewed as a way to diversify an existing portfolio. Buying a hotel room is much more of an investment in tourism than a straight property play.

It’s a fact that particularly appeals to those planning for retirement as, provided you don’t need the free stays on offer, you can even buy hotel rooms via your self-invested personal pension (SIPP) scheme.

Case in point, a recent development in the upmarket tourist town of Sesimbra is offering freehold luxury suites on a buy to let basis.

Keen to attract secure investments the developer is also offering to cover all closing costs and paying cash back to early investors.

Of course, for those not buying via a SIPP, investors also get the perk of free stays in the hotel as well – a little bit of luxury to part the dreary economic clouds.