Cheap Hotel Rates
Nearly everyone wants a cheap hotel from time to time. You may want a luxury hotel for a particular trip or celebration and then the cheapest thing you can find for a family trip or highway stop for a few winks at night.
How do you find the cheap hotel rates and at what risks?
1) You can do an online search and then sort by price. This is usually the default ranking on most travel website with one catch. They sort by price with the highest commission ranges listed at the top.
The risk: You will probably have to re-sort by price to get all the hotels in that city.
2) Grab last minute deals sight unseen. Some websites like Priceline and Hotwire were formed with this premise. You put in the criteria like a star rating and neighborhood and they book a hotel for you sight unseen. You find out the name of the hotel after you are charged. The downside of this is that your idea of ratings and neighborhoods may not match theirs.
The risk: More than once, we've had somewhat negative experiences with this type of deal. Although the hotel rates are good, the front desk people turn cold when you check in. We have been treated noticeably different when they see the bargain rate on their screen. One example of this treatment was at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. We also got a room with the view of a crumbling wall which we were surprised even existed in the design of the hotel. We wouldn't think that an hourly employee would take this attitude on by themselves so it would seem that management is to blame. And we've heard from many travelers on this same tactic. We stayed on a bargain rate at a La Quints Inn this spring that didn't have any soap in the room. We asked at the front desk and they said the delivery was late and it should come in soon. On the way back to the room, we noticed the housecleaning carts with stacks of soap bars. Simple mistake, mismanagement or do the bargain rooms come without soap? Why have someone stay in your hotel if you are going to mistreat them and make sure they badmouth you? We don't know.
3) You can just go direct with certain cheaper hotel brands like Motel 6, Econolodge, Rodeway, Travelodge, etc. Just pick one you like, find their locations and stay with them when Crowne Plaza breaks the budget for a particular trip.
The risk: Not all the locations are the same. Motel 6 is the most consistence of all. We have seen great differences in other chain names. Some are wonderful and some make you want to run away upon sight. We try to list when a place was built and this is often a good indicator of condition for some brands like a Travelodge.
4) Save even more and call a few independent motels. We list every place we can find in a town. Unlike all the big box sites, we don't just list those that pay a commission. There are some fantastic motels out there that can be had for $30 a night or even less.
The risk: If you don't know the place, the independent motel could also rent by the hour, have bullet holes in the bathroom window (we've seen it) or be connected to a lively night club. You may want to put the address in Google Maps and try to see the motel from above. It's not guaranteed but you may get a feeling for the surrounding area. Does it look decent or does it look like an industrialized war zone?
How do you find the cheap hotel rates and at what risks?
1) You can do an online search and then sort by price. This is usually the default ranking on most travel website with one catch. They sort by price with the highest commission ranges listed at the top.
The risk: You will probably have to re-sort by price to get all the hotels in that city.
2) Grab last minute deals sight unseen. Some websites like Priceline and Hotwire were formed with this premise. You put in the criteria like a star rating and neighborhood and they book a hotel for you sight unseen. You find out the name of the hotel after you are charged. The downside of this is that your idea of ratings and neighborhoods may not match theirs.
The risk: More than once, we've had somewhat negative experiences with this type of deal. Although the hotel rates are good, the front desk people turn cold when you check in. We have been treated noticeably different when they see the bargain rate on their screen. One example of this treatment was at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. We also got a room with the view of a crumbling wall which we were surprised even existed in the design of the hotel. We wouldn't think that an hourly employee would take this attitude on by themselves so it would seem that management is to blame. And we've heard from many travelers on this same tactic. We stayed on a bargain rate at a La Quints Inn this spring that didn't have any soap in the room. We asked at the front desk and they said the delivery was late and it should come in soon. On the way back to the room, we noticed the housecleaning carts with stacks of soap bars. Simple mistake, mismanagement or do the bargain rooms come without soap? Why have someone stay in your hotel if you are going to mistreat them and make sure they badmouth you? We don't know.
3) You can just go direct with certain cheaper hotel brands like Motel 6, Econolodge, Rodeway, Travelodge, etc. Just pick one you like, find their locations and stay with them when Crowne Plaza breaks the budget for a particular trip.
The risk: Not all the locations are the same. Motel 6 is the most consistence of all. We have seen great differences in other chain names. Some are wonderful and some make you want to run away upon sight. We try to list when a place was built and this is often a good indicator of condition for some brands like a Travelodge.
4) Save even more and call a few independent motels. We list every place we can find in a town. Unlike all the big box sites, we don't just list those that pay a commission. There are some fantastic motels out there that can be had for $30 a night or even less.
The risk: If you don't know the place, the independent motel could also rent by the hour, have bullet holes in the bathroom window (we've seen it) or be connected to a lively night club. You may want to put the address in Google Maps and try to see the motel from above. It's not guaranteed but you may get a feeling for the surrounding area. Does it look decent or does it look like an industrialized war zone?
Labels: hotels
posted by - A at
12:59 PM
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