For the brave, it is always worth calling the hotel that you want to stay at on the day that you intend to arrive, or possibly the day before. Hotels will often be prepared to offer substantial discounts on the day, as from their point of view an empty room is a complete waste of money. If you are feeling particularly bold it is even worth telling the hotel what you are prepared to pay and asking them if they have any rooms available.
This is a particularly effective way of going about getting a really good deal if you are traveling to a city that has several hotels, it is out of peak season and you are flexible in terms of facilities.
If you are not feeling quite so bold in terms of leaving it until the last minute, you can phone the hotel a few days in advance. Whilst you may not get the total bargains, you are still in a good position to negotiate, particularly if you are traveling out of season. If you are targeting a specific hotel, check out their cancellation policy. For example, if a specific hotel requires at least 3 days notice to not charge for a cancellation, then this is the point where they are most likely to receive the most cancellations. Hotels will then be eager to fill these spaces.
Another good way to utilize the cancellation policies of hotels is to book a relatively cheap chain hotel that allows you to cancel free up until the day of travel. Then, on the day you can phone around other hotels to see if you can get a better deal. If you do then you can cancel your previous booking without penalty; if you do not then you will still have a roof over your head!
Negotiations over extra free nights or discounts will generally only work with smaller regional hotels, as the larger chains have a central system and they will not normally negotiate directly with a guest. Bear this in mind when you are selecting your targets!
Facilities such as swimming pools, fitness centers, satellite televisions all add to the costs of a hotel. Consider this carefully. Are you paying extra for facilities that you don't want, won't need and don't even notice? If you are after a cheap base, then avoid hotels with extra facilities as this will almost invariably add to your costs.
Many travelers would benefit from seeing real, candid views of hotels before they stay in them. TVTrip was designed to do just that. TVTrip is an independent web site which was set up in order to allow visitors the unique opportunity to explore hotels before setting foot in them. Film crews visit hotels, and take videos of them, so that you can see the area you will be staying in, and the quality of the room before you book.
Since all the hotel videos are taken by professionals, they only have a limited number of hotels listed, although the listings do cover most major cities, such as London and Glasgow in the UK, and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam are included in their European coverage.
The site seems like a great idea. You select where you will be visiting, and they give you a listing of hotels in the area. Select a hotel that interests you, and you get a details page which includes a map of the area, a detailed description of the hotel, a listing of amenities, and a video-breakdown of the hotel, which includes an overview, and a look around the different rooms they have available.
The site seems to be housed on a good server, the videos are clear and crisp and buffer very quickly, then stream smoothly without any stuttering or pausing. The videos give you a very good indication of the size and quality of the room, and there is no 'clever camera work' done to make the rooms look bigger or nicer than they really are. The good thing is that if the hotel is in a rather run-down looking part of town, that is clear on the overview too. You won't surprised to see the hotel location once you get there, you will know about it in advance.
The main problem with TVTrip is the limited coverage. We travel quite regularly, and go to a number of different countries, but the cities that we tend to visit are not included in TVTrip , most likely because they are not common tourist destinations. Only one place we pass through regularly is included, London, and the listings they have are all expensive, high class hotels which are mostly out of my price range.
If you are a frequent traveler who visits 'tourist cities' often, and your budget allows you to stay in more expensive hotels, then this web site can save you a lot of disappointment, since you get to see what awaits before even making your reservation. If you are faced with a choice between an expensive three star hotel, or a cheaper four star one, and the lack of a swimming pool is not important, then TVTrip may help you make an informed choice based upon the size and quality of the room, instead of taking a gamble based on the hotels own photographs, or trying to guess if the 'user' reviews on tourist sites are accurate.
It is worth checking TVTrip on the off chance that the hotel you are considering is listed, but until the site expands to cover more hotels we think it is just a nice idea, and a fun tool. Apparently, they plan to allow visitors to share their own videos, and when that happens, we think it will really take off, and that it will be something that every traveler should consult before booking their hotel.
Both Sai Vallejos & Darlene Berkel are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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