Life For Less

Sometimes the best vacations are out of reach simply because of monetary reasons. Nothing would be better than taking your kids to Disneyland for a week or have a couples retreat to Bali, but it can be hard to scrape together enough pennies to finally reach these incredible destinations. Luckily, the best hotel deals often give you enough room to chase down these amazing vacations without completely breaking the bank.

Finding the best hotel deals isn’t always easy, especially if you’re looking for deals on luxury hotels and resorts. The first thing you need to find is the company (or companies) that you want to stay at. More often than not they will have exclusive deals on a property page that you can link back to to find the best deals at that location. Offers like “stay X number of nights and get 1 free” are very common, and a great tool to use if you’re planning an extended stay.

Depending on the size of your booking you can also look for savings outside of rooms. Families looking to travel together should look into renting residences or villas to help cut down on costs. While the upfront cost may be a bit higher in theory, these larger accommodations give you access to amenities more akin to your home – multiple bathrooms, fully functioning kitchen, separate living and sleeping space, etc. These amenities, while simple in their own right, actually add a lot of diversity to your vacation. Having a kitchen area allows you to buy food that can be stored and cooked in the villa itself, reducing the number of visits you need to take to restaurants. Restaurant add up fast, especially with larger groups, so while not a deal in its own right, this helps with travel savings a lot.

There are a lot of companies that will also offer a reduced rate in larger accommodations for extended periods as well. When booking a longer stay, make sure you call and ask if there are any savings – more often than not you can get great savings on hotels, resorts, residences and villas that aren’t listed on websites and just need to be asked for. Asking for extended stay discounts or for additional amenities aren’t uncommon. If you’re looking to stay in a room instead of a residence or villa, ask about complimentary breakfasts, as more often than not hotels are willing to throw this in if you’re staying for a week or longer.

Of course, there are always sites like Expedia, Travelocity and many others where you can look for savings on hotels and resorts. While these are great, the only problem you might run into is changes to your reservations. These types of sites are often “no refund, no change” once the booking has been made. If you’ve booked the wrong day or changed your mind about going, too bad, you’re locked in and getting out can be a huge problem. While the savings are great, make sure you’re absolutely certain before booking with these.

Moving back to dealing directly with the hotels, make sure you check their official publications. Many times there are exclusive offers in travel magazines, brochures, newsletters, emails, etc. Understandably, you don’t want to have your inbox inundated with emails from every hotel chain under the sun, but for the ones that you really enjoy, it’s definitely worth signing up for their emails and getting their latest updates. Keep in mind that hotels are geographically independent, so just because the Hilton has a deal in New York does not mean they’ll have the same deal in Portland.

Try to book your vacation in off-seasons times. Staying a week or two before or after a busy season will often net you with lower prices before any additional discounts. Hotels need to keep up their booking rates and understand that they can’t charge the same prices year-round. It’s pretty obvious when you consider timings like Spring Break or Christmas, but have you considered the impact of staying in a hotel in September versus July? The same goes for plane tickets as well – timing your vacation will often give you the best savings without many (if any) changes year-round.