In an article on how to find the best hotel deals, Dan Serra who writes about money management for The Gazette in Colorado Springs cites a Consumer Reports finding. According to the magazine, you might have better luck with striking a bargain if you call the hotel directly. Better yet, show up without a reservation. Without a reservation you often have better bargaining power. These are general recommendations. There are exceptions for hotel bargain hunting. Here are some other tips from this Consumer Reports guide:
1. Join a loyalty program. This helps you earn free nights and discounts. My tip: If you recently stayed at one of the hotels in a chain and want to stay in another one use your earlier stay as a bargaining chip. I did this last summer with La Quinta Inn. We stayed in two different ones in the Denver area two weeks apart. We used the bargain we got with the first stay to get the second stay’s deal.
2. If you are flexible with dates you can get a better rate. My finding: Last week we almost stayed at a Marriot Courtyard in the Washington, D.C. area. Because we were going to stay over on a Friday night the price dropped considerably, even for the Thursday night rate.
3. Book early, but check in right before your stay. This way you may get a discount since the hotel wants to lock in your business, but the price might drop later. This reminds me that I need to book a hotel for our August trip to Montana. The night before our flight back to Columbus we need to stay in Bellingham, Washington. Our flight is too early in the morning to stay with our friends who live in Seattle.
4. Ask for lowest rate when you call. My experience: When I recently made hotel reservations in Owenboro, Kentucky for my cousin’s wedding in August, I checked the on-line price and also asked when I called. The AAA rate is better than the deal the hotel gave for wedding guests.
* Odd Zen writes under his photo on the Flickr site gives this bit of sage wisdom when finding a vacancy: Often the best hotel when road fatique hits is the first one you see. I bet in that case, money isn’t really an issue.