We all dream of traveling to far-flung destinations and staying at ultraluxe hotels, but nobody likes to break his/her wallet on a holiday. When booking a room at a luxury hotel, you will have to choose whether you want the cheapest price for that room, or whether you want to pay more for enjoying extra perks and/or flexibility. I hereby present you my tips for saving money and getting the best deal at a luxury hotel.
Think I forgot one? Share your own travel tips in the comments section or take my poll below.
- Inspiration for finding the right hotel
- Tips for when to book
- Tips for booking a room at the cheapest rate
- Tips for booking a room with (complimentary) extra perks
- Tips for staying for free at luxury hotels
- Key points
INSPIRATION FOR FINDING THE RIGHT HOTEL
- Be inspired by my luxury travel blog. Every week, I post top 10 travel lists and reviews of luxury hotels. You can subscribe to my newsletter (3x/week) and/or follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Each Saturday, I also publish a full tour of a luxury hotel on my popular Youtube channel.
- Visit Kiwi Collection, a great website featuring the finest luxury hotels in the world.
- Read travel magazines, such as the Conde Nast Traveler and Travel&Leisure.
- Read Tripadvisor reviews.
- Read Flyertalk reviews (google the name of the hotel + flyertalk).
- Watch Youtube clips of hotels (you can find some examples on my Youtube Channel).
TIPS FOR WHEN TO BOOK:
- Do not book too late as the top luxury hotels will often sell out months in advance. Do not count on a last-minute deal (which are not offered by most top hotels anyway).
- When you want to save some bucks, travel in the shoulder season (e.g. summer months for the Caribbean, autumn months for the Maldives), but try to avoid the worst months weather-wise as you may find yourself very disappointed despite the fact that you saved a lot of money!
TIPS FOR BOOKING A ROOM AT THE LOWEST PRICE
- Most of the time, the lowest room rate can be found on the aggregator websites Trivago and Hotelscombined. These aggregators verify hotel prices at hundreds of other hotel booking sites (e.g. Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com, Otel.com, Hotelopia.com, Ebookers, etc…) and show where you can book the cheapest rate. Try it out for yourself here:
- The member-only websites Jetsetter and Secret Escapes (which do not feature on aggregator websites) negotiate temporary, special rates with some of the world’s finest hotels, which can represent a discount of up to 60% (room only or room with breakfast). Membership is free and without hassle (just submit your name and email address). Sign up for the Jetsetter, Secret Escapes and Vacationist newsletters, so that you stay updated about their temporary offers. Read here why I love Jetsetter so much, and here why I am a fan of Secret Escapes.
- Always compare the price that you found on aggregator or member-only websites with the one featured on the official hotel website to make sure that it is the best price indeed. Do not forget to click the “special offers” section that is present on most hotel websites (and which an save you lots of money).
- If you find elsewhere a lower price than the one offered on the hotel website, make us of a Best Rate Guarantee. Not only will the lower room rate be matched, you will often receive an additional discount as well (of up to 25%)!
- Make use of discount coupons that you can find anywhere on the internet (google the website of hotel name + coupon). For example, Hotels.com is one of my prefered hotel booking websites that regularly sends out 10% discount coupons by email (albeit not for the big hotel chains though).
- Except when staying at one of the big hotel chains (Starwood, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, Hilton), I always try to book my hotel stays through the website Hotels.com and you can read here why. In a nutshell: Hotels.com is not only very generous in matching the best price that you may have found on another websites, but you also collect credits towards free hotel stays and they have always have discount coupons on offer.
- Sign-up for the newsletters of your preferred hotel (chains) or booking website. They often email coupons or advanced notifications when they’re having a sale.
- Stay for free by using hotels points and credits that you collected in a hotel loyalty program (albeit very few of the top luxury hotel chains offer that option though). Click here for more info.
- Stay for free or at a highly discounted rate by keeping an eye out for erroneous rates on this Flyertalk post.
TIPS FOR BOOKING A ROOM WITH (FREE) EXTRA PERKS
- Some of the world’s most exclusive hotel brands (e.g. Aman resorts) will only display the best rates on their official hotel website (so do not waste your time trying to find a lower price on an aggregator or member-only website as you won’t find one).
- Check the hotel website directly for packages that include extra perks like spa credits, breakfast, or complimentary nights.
- Absurdly, when booking a room at a top luxury hotel, it is sometimes advised not to book it directly on the hotel website, but rather through a Virtuoso travel advisor. Not only will they create unique journeys and explorations in every corner of the globe, but more importantly, you will also get free access to special amenities and receive complimentary perks (e.g. upgrades, dinners, etc …) which is not the case when you book the same rate via the hotel directly. All hotels were you can enjoy the Virtuoso extra perks are listed on their website. If you are an Aman junkie, like me, then Virtuoso is the only way to book your stay. Read here why I love Virtuoso so much. My preferred Virtuoso travel agency is Classic Travel, not only because of their excellent service, but also because they have an online booking tool.
- Holders of an American Express premium or Visa Signature credit card can also benefit from extra perks when they make the booking via their credit card travel office and/or pay with their credit card. Contact your local credit card company to find out whether they offer this travel service.
- Elite members of hotel loyalty programs will receive several benefits during their stay, ranging from late check-out and complimentary WiFi to suite upgrades and breakfast. Click here for more info.
- Elite members of Cathay Pacific‘s frequent flyer program (Marco Polo Club) are entitled to special benefits (e.g. early check in, late check out, room upgrade, complimentary breakfast) with partners such as Hilton, Hyatt, Fairmont, Marriott, Langham, Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La, Swissotel, Peninsula, Swire and Ritz-Carlton. While some of these deals only apply to hotels or rentals in the Asia-Pacific region, others do not; the Mandarin Oriental benefit is applicable worldwide, for example.
TIPS FOR STAYING FOR FREE AT A LUXURY HOTEL
You can always try your luck to score a complimentary stay at a luxury hotel by reading my tips for getting free hotel nights.
KEY POINTS
- Inspiration: this website + the Kiwi Collection.
- When money is an issue: book outside the high season.
- Cheapest room rate: mostly found on Hotelscombined, Trivago, and/or the official hotel website. Always check all 3 of them.
- Best Rate Guarantee: match a lower rate and receive an additional discount.
- Free extra perks: book a package on the hotel website, through a Virtuoso travel agent, or via your credit card travel office.
- Complimentary stay: subscribe to of a (hotel) loyalty program.
- My preferred hotel booking websites: Hotels.com, Jetsetter and Classic Travel.
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Booking a hotel is not a big task, these days….. But what sort of hotel you want to check in and what is your budget affordability that matters on the first priority.
I went through the whole post above and trust me I found it pretty informative and helpful.
I am sure many people will able to book a better hotel on their respective budget at the place where they want to send their vacation.
Thank you so much for sharing this post here with us!!
try http://www.luxuryescapes.com for great hotel packages, a little like secretescapes but more defined content
My wife and I love to travel, but it can be expensive. So, I appreciate your tips for booking a hotel at a lawyer price. I’m definitely going to try and use the websites you mentioned to compare prices so that I can get the lowest one possible.
No doubt, this blog is really helpful for the people who are travel lovers. However, the problem to these people is the high expenses of staying and other travel accommodations. Definitely, this is very beneficial for them to save their hotel charges.
But, I want to tell you something about Goflyla. Goflyla is an emerging website in world, so you can also try Goflyla for booking hotels and other travel requirements at lower rates as we have the best travel partners. Hotels.com is one of them which offers the various Hotels com discount code to help its users to find the affordable hotels with great services.
There are ample of options available to book hotels in cheap prices but from my point of view the best way to book hotels through mobile devices is by downloading different travelling apps which you can compare each of them in respect to their prices and their services too.
I love your tips for booking a hotel. It makes sense that it’s smart to compare prices found on a third party site to the official hotel’s sight. I’ve never thought about that before! My wife and I want to travel this summer, so we’ll definitely remember that.
Nice tips, thanks. What’s your opinion on booking flight and hotel separately, ot in a package that many travel booking sites offer? Thanks
I found it helpful when you explained that it can be a good idea to use discount coupons when booking a hotel. My wife and I are wanting to take a short road trip to visit her sister for a couple of days. We were thinking it would be a good idea for us to stay in a hotel one night, so these tips you shared will be very helpful to us.
Thanks for this overview – for flights I use http://www.skyscanner.com which is pretty easy to use and gives a lot of options. For hotels I use http://www.privateupgrades.com which is a alternative to FHR with better customer support. Hope the crisis is over soon and we can read many more of your helpful reviews soon!
I use https://www.getaroom.co.uk which has a great range of hotels, apartment and holiday rentals plus a clever price checker which keeps an eye on prices for you.