When the time for leisure finally arrives, depending on our age and life choices, a holiday at work, or a summer break, or maybe even a winter break, we are undoubtedly entranced. It’s time to save money and have some fun, or just rest in the nicest way possible. We then in a heartbeat start, or a little earlier, with longer notice (which is much better!), planning our trip and coming face to face with the most common human conundrums in organizational matters.
Firstly, how do we choose the cheapest means of transport, such as a flight, cruise or a bus? And of course, how do we find the cheapest hotel, but yet the best one for the duration of our holiday?
If you are curious about how to make the best possible choice on how to find a hotel best suiting you, that will also be a cheap place to stay, this article is for you!
How to look for and book cheap hotels?
What do hotel best deals really mean to us? Well, it usually depends on our budget. For some it will be under $10 a night and for others something in the region of $500. Then there are those for whom cheap accommodation means free accommodation - so sleeping at a friend's house, under a bush in the woods or in the open air. But that is not the focus here. So, how do you look for the best hotel prices?
Use price comparison websites
A bit like buying a used car, the range of hotels can also be compared on websites. All you have to do is enter the number of people, the length of stay and, of course, the location, and the artificial intelligence will show you the best price for hotels in no time.
Here are some example sites to do so:
Search for last-minute options
Last-minute offers are probably the best option to book hotels cheap for a holiday, not only in terms of hotels cheap, but also in terms of transport itself, such as flying. There are websites offering accommodation for one or two nights released at the last minute, for example if previous bookings are cut short. However, this is not always the best option. If you are traveling a short distance, it will actually turn out to be a great deal, but when you are planning a longer journey and the offer appears during peak season, it may turn out that with the increased travel costs, the whole thing will not turn out to be a saving at all, and you may even end up paying extra.
Here are the examples of sites and apps where you can find a hotel last-minute:
Search for accommodation other than hotels
A hotel is of course not the only form of accommodation you can use when going on holiday. If you are traveling alone - look for a room or a studio, if you are traveling with a group of friends - a cottage or a multi-room flat. Hostels are also cheaper than hotels - the name hostel does not mean you will be sharing a room with a dozen other people, unless you want to. Don’t worry, hostels these days offer loads of single or double rooms, even with a separate bathroom, or a bathroom shared by a smaller number of rooms (not, for example, a whole floor).
If, on the other hand, your trip involves constant movement, such as visiting several states in the US in a row, or traveling through several European countries over a short period of time, motels - businesses that provide basic hospitality services (at lower prices than typical hotels), such as a room to sleep in and breakfast or a general buffet with hot meals, usually located along major national highways - are also a cheap and quite convenient option. So, summing up, the hostels and motels have basically the cheapest rooms you could find.
Choose a neighborhood further away from your destination
Unless we're going on a trip purely for leisure, it's usually some big city, with lots of attractions, restaurants, sights and so on. However, you have surely already noticed that such places tend to cluster in city centers, so the closer to the city center, the more expensive. We suggest you try and search for hotels, rooms, flats and other types of accommodation as far from the center as possible. However, other than looking for a cheap place to stay, remember to plan ways to get to your destination in some easy and not too expensive way!
Use your privileges
Look for places that offer discounts for pupils, students, pensioners or even veterans. Yes, there are some! Discounts are also sometimes available for people with disabilities or pregnant women. Find out if the hotels you are looking at offer special conditions discounts, and you may even be able to save some money to spend in other ways, such as eating out at a local restaurant thanks to them! Also, some workplaces offer hotel discounts to their employees, as exemplified by airline pilots. Perhaps the company you work for also offers discounts to local hotels, but you don't know about it yet?
When to look for the cheapest accommodation?
It is impossible to give a specific date, but there is one key point that we certainly need to bear in mind if we want to sleep as cheaply as possible. This is about advance booking. Firstly, and most importantly, before the holiday season. If we are planning to go on holiday, let's get down to finding and booking a hotel a month or even three months beforehand. The price will certainly be lower than in high season, when hotel owners deliberately increase their prices to cash in on desperate tourists who will pay more just to have somewhere to sleep. Also, during the off-season it is advisable to book hotels in advance, as long as you are planning an event slightly in advance. Did you know that you can pay up to twice as much for an overnight room rental as you normally would?
