What is THE straight dope for best hotel prices?

[RickJay]

Here's the deal. At some point between October 8 and October 16 I'm gonna just go somewhere for 2-3 days, probably to one of any number of cities that will be hosting a baseball playoff game at that time. Since the precise playoff matches are not yet set I don't know for sure where I will be going; any one of Boston, NY, LA, Detroit, who knows. My plan is to go, see a game, and spend some time just doing whatever shit comes to mind.

Since I don't plan on sleeping in my car, I need to stay in a hotel. And price matters. Truth be told I've never paid a lot of attention to hotel prices in the past because I always travel on business and I just stay in whatever hotel the customer suggests.

Oh, and I don't want to just stay in a fleabag. I'd prefer a hotel with a restaurant, a fitness room, and GOOD Internet.

How, really, do I find the very best deals? A million websites claim to have deals, but I do not trust them. I trust Dopers. Should I wait until the last minute? What websites are best?

[samclem]

Trust the Dopers in IMHO. They're full of factual opinions. Moved.

samclem Moderator, General Questions

[Neptunian Slug]

How hard are you willing to work for the deal?

I am a fan of Priceline and Hotwire. But you can't rely on those completely.

My typical routine is to book a hotel room at a hotel where I can find a price with which I am comfortable. As the date approaches closer I start checking www.biddingfortravel.com and www.betterbidding.com to see if people are scoring deals that beat the price I have already booked. I would say about 60-75% of the time I can. The folks who post on those boards can help with identifying hotels on Hotwire or offering bid strategies on Priceline. If I get a deal, then I can cancel my other hotel room.

If that's something you don't want to deal with, you are stuck with the big four. I have used all four. Often prices are similar, often there are some discrepancies. I recently booked a room on Travelocity that was about 50% of what the other three offered. However I can say the same about Expedia and Orbitz as well. They have deals with certain hotels and can often give a better rate. So when I am looking, I check all four.

Sometimes you can get package deals on the hotel websites that aren't available elsewhere.

I can tell you that when I have booked at a minimum of 3* on Priceline and Hotwire, I don't end up with a complete bomb of a hotel. Sometimes you get a Holiday Inn which isn't the lap of luxury. You may get rooms that are a bit tired or service that can be indifferent. But the Fawlty Towers, they certainly are not. If you get up to the 4* and 5* joints, you get more luxury, but may often spend more on parking, internet, etc.

Just looking at your needs, I would say you are in that 3* Hilton Garden/Courtyard by Marriott realm. Most, if not all will have some sort of fitness room. Many will have free internet and often free parking. I get this sort of product on Priceline and Hotwire a lot. I scored these places for $35-$70 in LA, San Francisco, Montreal.

There is an art to getting the best deals on these sites and its not everybody's cup of tea. I would say in about 10 minutes I'll start getting flamed for committing the sin of recommending these sites to you from everyone who has ever had a bad experience with them. I can take it. Because I know that I stayed in the Grand Hyatt New York a couple of months ago for $125 and most of the other douchebags were paying $225 for the same room.

[astro]

I used priceline and got a double room in a 4 star hotel in Chicago for $ 75.00 a night for Thurs & Fri. Be aware that taxes and hospitality fees in many areas can add a good chunk to your cost.

[astro]

Originally Posted by RickJay

Oh, and I don't want to just stay in a fleabag. I'd prefer a hotel with a restaurant, a fitness room, and GOOD Internet.

Oddly the better hotels want $ 10 - $15 a night for broadband Internet the cheaper hotels often have it for free.

[RealityChuck]

Bidding sites like Priceline will give you great deals, but I don't use them because I usually want a hotel in a specific location. If I go to DC, for instance, I need to be sure I'm near a Metro stop, and there's no way to guarantee it.

I find a two-step process is best:

1. Go to Orbitz or Expedia and do a search for hotels. Find the hotel you want.
2. Go to the hotel website. You can usually find a deal as good if not better. (It helps if you're a member of AAA.)

Actually, most of the time I just go to the website directly, then check elsewhere. It's always cheaper at the hotel, since the other websites charge more than the hotel charges them. If they hotel is willing to sell the room for $110, they may even make more money if Expedia sells the room for $120.

It also helps to know the chains. Marriott, for instance, has several levels: Renaissance, Marriott, Courtyard, and Fairfield Inn (plus others). A Courtyard will be less than a regular Marriott, and a Fairfield Inn even less.

Another way to get a good deal is to show up at the hotel, go to the front desk and ask their price. If it's more than you want to pay, say, "that's too much. Thanks anyway but I'll go somewhere else." If the hotel clerk is smart, they'll say, "Maybe there's something I can do for you." It doesn't help the hotel''s bottom line if potential customers walk away. (Of course, this doesn't work if the hotel is heavily booked.)

[blondebear]

I've had pretty good success with Priceline, too. Never got stuck with a "fleabag", and I've gotten amazing deals in Chicago and Boston. Betterbidding and biddingfortravel are both good resources for first-timers. They have fairly up-to-date listings of the hotels in each area, so you know what kind of place you're likely to get. The "free re-bid" methodology is a bit arcane for the casual user, but the basic concepts are pretty straightforward.

It's kind of like eBay in that you shouldn't bid any more than you're willing to pay--including taxes and fees. It's also worth checking ahead of time how much they charge for parking. If you have patience and time, start out with low-ball bids; if they aren't accepted, you can try again in 24 hours. Good luck!

[Roland Orzabal]

If your destination is a large enough city for Priceline ninjitsu* to be effective, and you're okay with any "X"-star hotel within a certain zone, that's pretty much always your best bet IME. Failing that, HotelsBot has served me well in the past.

*A method of getting multiple rebids by gaming the zone selection; I'll elaborate if anyone wants, but I think it's fairly well-known.

[lobotomyboy63]

FWIW I once had to stay in Indianapolis at the last minute and the hotel was a nightmare, unless you're a flea. Pulled back the covers and...there's the TV guide. Yeah, they didn't sweat the small stuff and it was clear they weren't spending their money on dental care either because [slaps self]...

Ahem. A local told me that when the Indy 500 starts, the cost of that room would be totally exorbitant and people would pay it. Point being, if you're going to a city that has playoffs, you may encounter a similar issue. I'd reserve early and lock in a price if you can.

[even sven]

On the other hand, if you have reason to believe the hotels won't be full, you will always do better walking in. I'm a former desk clerk, so I know this quite well.

The online places always have highest prices- they take their cut, which is passed directly to the customer. It's probably better to make the reservation by directly calling the hotel (which is why all the online places hide the hotel's phone numbers.)

But walk in is always best. They want to sell those rooms, and any money is better than no money.

You can always negotiate on a walk in. The price the clerk gives you is probably just something they made up based on a snap judgment of you. In reality they have a pretty broad range- I'd regularly have a range from $79-$49.00- and if rooms weren't moving I might even go lower. So it always pays to ask for a lower price. Also- the AAA discount- that means nothing! Hotels will generally give a 10% discount to anyone who asks for one for any reason. So go ahead- ask if there is a teacher's discount or a veteran's discount. There probably will be!

The initial price offered is based on how much you seem like you will pay vs. the likelihood of you trashing your room. The idea to pass yourself off as a European- they won't pay much, but they will be good guests. If you look like you are unkempt, in the company of loose women, a local or otherwise shady looking, you will get charged more. Minivan family people will get charged more because they are usually pretty demanding guests. If you are dressed too nice, the clerk will figure you have money to throw around and ask for more. The idea is to look like a responsible but not extravagant person. Think khakis and a polo shirt. Maybe drop some wholesome reason for why you are in town. Don't drive a crazy car.

[Countrypolitan]

I usually stay at Motel 6, since I travel with my dog. I've found that if the Motel 6 has indoor corridors, it's one of the nicer ones. If the rooms open to the outside, find another one. Sometimes they have a good online rate that's a bit lower than the discounted walk-in rate. No free shampoo or continental breakfast, but a lot of them have free wi-fi.

[Hari Seldon]

My son once booked a room somewhere. He called the hotel and was quoted a price of $180. He asked if they had anything cheaper and was told there were some at $170. After a couple more iterations, he got them down to $130 or so and they would go no further. So he took it. He did not have the impression when he checked in that he had gotten any especially cheap room.

[Covered_In_Bees!]

Originally Posted by Roland Orzabal

If your destination is a large enough city for Priceline ninjitsu* to be effective, and you're okay with any "X"-star hotel within a certain zone, that's pretty much always your best bet IME. Failing that, HotelsBot has served me well in the past.

*A method of getting multiple rebids by gaming the zone selection; I'll elaborate if anyone wants, but I think it's fairly well-known.

I would like you to elaborate. Thank you.

[lost4life]

I'll add my vote to the Hotwire/Priceline + BetterBidding combo. It hasn't failed me yet. Do be aware that there are no refunds.

On Priceline, you can't rebid on the same hotel combo, otherwise people would start real low and just keep raising their bid by $1.00 until it was accepted. If you change the dates, quality, or the location of a hotel you're willing to stay at, you can rebid. The trick is to bid on a 4* in the section of town where you want to stay. If it's not accepted, you add a different section of town that has no 4* hotels (the location/quality is listed) and raise your bid. It will allow a rebid, but because the new section has no 4* hotels, you're essentially just rebidding on the location you want.

If that's not clear, I can give some examples.

[Covered_In_Bees!]

That's awesome! Thanks.

[Neptunian Slug]

Originally Posted by even sven

On the other hand, if you have reason to believe the hotels won't be full, you will always do better walking in. I'm a former desk clerk, so I know this quite well.

The online places always have highest prices- they take their cut, which is passed directly to the customer. It's probably better to make the reservation by directly calling the hotel (which is why all the online places hide the hotel's phone numbers.)

But walk in is always best. They want to sell those rooms, and any money is better than no money.

My dad did this a lot when we were young and went on vacation. Honestly, I tried it a couple of times and I got nowhere. I was quite suprised to hear from you that it still goes on.

[Covered_In_Bees!]

Originally Posted by Neptunian Slug

My dad did this a lot when we were young and went on vacation. Honestly, I tried it a couple of times and I got nowhere. I was quite suprised to hear from you that it still goes on.

You're probably not correctly brandishing your piece when you try to haggle. Do you have your pistol stuck in the front of your pants? So when they start getting difficult you just adjust your pants and shirt a bit to show it off. Works all the time in movies, trust me.

[Roland Orzabal]

Covered_in_Bees!, lost4life's post is the essence of it, but you can get a lot more rebids than you might think if you play your cards right. You get a rebid anytime you change your zone selection, but you can't subtract zones you've already selected, so you've got to do it in the correct order.

The first thing you'll want to do is check a couple forums (the ones listed above are good sources) to determine where your bidding range should begin. Take the best deal that people seem to be getting for your destination and approximate dates, and subtract a few bucks.

Then, make a chart of the zones in your destination city, and the maximum number of stars available in each. For example, let's say I've got six zones. I want to stay in Zone 6, and of course I'd like to stay in the best hotel possible in the price range I'm looking for.

Zone     Stars

  1        4
  2        4
  3        2.5
  4        2
  5        3
  6        4

The first thing I do is try a bid on a four-star hotel in Zone 6. My bid is rejected.

I can now rebid, but I'll have to add a zone first, or else it won't let me. If I add Zones 1 or 2, my bid might be accepted by a hotel in that zone, and I don't want to stay there. So, I add Zone 3, which doesn't actually have any four-star properties, and I can now rebid on a four-star hotel confident that my bid can only be accepted within Zone 6. But, dang, that bid gets rejected as well.

Now, here's the tricky part. I could add Zone 4 and continue...but once I do that, I can't rebid using Zones 3 or 4 without making yet another addition. So, what I do now is start a new bid, and select Zone 4 and Zone 6. Priceline counts this as a new selection, so I take another shot. Rejected again. Damn you, Shatner! But, since I didn't lock myself out of both zones on the last rebid, I can now add Zone 3 to this bid, and take another shot.

Repeat as needed. Using this method, and cycling through each zone combination in the proper order, I can get myself seven rebids. If I have a fourth zone with no four-star hotels, that number increases to fifteen. (If you need more than fifteen rebids, I suggest incrementing your offer by more than a dollar per bid, cheapskate.) Plus, if you lower the number of stars you're willing to accept, you can repeat the whole process as needed.

That's the explanation, now here's the algorithm.

X = the zone you want to stay in
A - D = zones that do not have your target star value available

• First bid) New bid: X
• Rebid #1) Rebid screen: X, add A
• Rebid #2) New bid: X/ B
• Rebid #3) Rebid screen: X/ B, add A
• Rebid #4) New bid: X/ C
• Rebid #5) Rebid screen: X/ C, add A
• Rebid #6) New bid: X/ B/ C
• Rebid #7) Rebid screen: X/ B/ C, add A
• Rebid #8) New bid: X/ D
• Rebid #9) Rebid screen: X/ D, add A
• Rebid #10) New bid: X/ B/ D
• Rebid #11) Rebid screen: X/ B/ D, add A
• Rebid #12) New bid: X/ C/ D
• Rebid #13) Rebid screen: X/ C/ D, add A
• Rebid #14) New bid: X/ B/ C/ D
• Rebid #15) Rebid screen: X/ B/ C/ D, add A


Hope that helps. Happy bidding!