Finding the right hotel in 2019
Booking a hotel is easy these days, but finding your absolutely best deal can be a challenge. You face almost too much information, and you can spend days chasing down a minor discount. I don’t see any data on the best times to arrange your hotel deal, but you have lots of outfits claiming to get you the best deals. My current hotel strategy recommendation involves several steps for finding an appropriate hotel in just about any destination.
Start with the broadest net: If you know your destination but don’t have any specific hotel already in mind, start with a metasearch system that checks a bunch of booking agencies:
TripAdvisor, Trivago and other big metasearch systems compare rates from dozens of individual sources, and list the best ones, with links to their websites. But beware that not all price postings are equal: Some apparent lowball prices are often for advance-purchase noncancellable rates. And nobody includes resort fees in initial search results.
Check a big online booking agency: Booking.com, Expedia, or some other OTA can often locate your best option. Booking.com is also a good source of allaround details about each hotel it lists — information that the metasearch folks don’t show. I have a bad back, for example; I have trouble with stairs, and Booking.com notes whether a hotel has an elevator. Waikiki hotels.
Check the map: In many cases, you may have a specific location in mind — near a rail station or airport, park, visitor attraction, whatever. Most hotel search sites allow you to narrow your choice to a sub-area within a destination, but I prefer a map. Most hotel search systems also map hotels, but I also check my target area on Google maps.
Look for an opaque rate: An opaque rate on Hotwire or Priceline — where you know a hotel’s star rating but not its exact identity until you buy — can often be a lot less than a regular rate. I’ve used both and always found a good accommodation at the 4-star level or higher; anything less invites disappointment.
Check the promotions: Short-term flash sales can provide a big cut the cost of an accommodation, and there’s a whole cottage industry of systems that notify you of these deals as they arise. AirfareWatchdog, Your Travel Insider, Travelzoo, Dealbase and GoSeek are among the options. You have to sign up, and then you receive daily or weekly bulletins by email.
Check the unconventional sources: Look at Airbnb if you’re looking for a room in someone’s house or a B&B; FlipKey, HomeAway or a curated rental agency for a vacation rental.
Check the hotel’s own website: Typically, a hotel or its chain’s own website is the only place you’ll find out about loyalty-program, AAA, senior and other discounts, as well as promotional packages. Also, big chains are increasingly limiting free Wi-Fi and loyalty point earning to travelers who book direct.
Decide and book: Book your best option. For a big chain hotel, normally book direct unless you can find a really great flash sale or opaque deal; make sure you get free Wi-Fi and loyalty points. But keep in mind that the modest AAA or AARP discount they typically offer is your fallback position only when you can’t find a better deal.
For small or independent hotels in Asia, Europe or the Pacific, book through one of the big OTAs. There’s a downside to booking through an OTA: The hotel knows you’re buying by price and will likely not give you its best room. But if a problem arises, you can address it through a big OTA with leverage over hotels and a legal presence in the U.S., a far easier process than trying to negotiate a solution long distance on some other continent.
Unless it’s a really great deal, or an opaque deal, avoid booking at a nonrefundable rate. If something delays your trip or if you’re disappointed by the accommodation when you arrive, all you have at risk is the cost of one night.
A: Marriott should have charged you for only one night since you stayed for only one night. I think you deserve a full refund — not credit at the Marriott Miami Downtown/Brickell.
Overcharges are common in the hotel business. I’m still trying to resolve one of my own for a hotel in Santa Maria, Calif. You’d think that being a consumer advocate who specializes in travel would help. But no. I have to wait in the same line as everyone else.
Here’s where I went wrong with my case: I didn’t check my folio immediately when I left the property. If I’d reviewed my final bill, I would have caught the error and fixed it right then and there.