My Favorite Sites for Booking Hotels

Another common question I get asked is what are my favorite sites for booking hotels or other accommodations.  The truth is, there are so many.  So I’ve decided to split this series into two parts: 1) just for hotels, 2) other accommodations (e.g. bed and breakfasts, vacation rentals, etc.).  This part will focus only on the sites I use and recommend for booking hotels.

1) Booking.com

I love the layout of this site.  It’s not only user friendly, but it provides lots of pictures, which is important to me when selecting a hotel.  And behind TripAdvisor, it has probably the most robust Reviews section I have come across.  What’s more, you can filter based on overall review score, which really helps weed out potential disasters.  And even though I mainly use this site for hotels, they do list guest homes, apartments, and other forms of lodging.  Booking.com also has a fantastic app.  Definitely one of my favorites.

2) Trivago

Relatively new to the hotel booking scene, Trivago has made quite an impression.  Trivago scans over 260 other booking sites (including booking.com) and some great deals can be found.  Not only that, but Trivago presents the results in a simplistic, easy to read format.  And if you liked Momondo’s smiley faces approach for airfare, then you’ll be equally as entertained with Trivago’s smiley faces based on the overall score of the property.

3) Hotels Combined

While the layout might resemble Booking.com, the inventory is different and the pricing options are almost always the lowest, so it remains one of my go-to sites.  There’s nothing overly fancy about this site, but since I first heard about it several years ago, it’s always been a solid option for finding hotel deals.

4) Hotel Tonight

Just like Hopper is best used as an app for airfare, Hotel Tonight is best used as an app for booking last minute hotels.  Although Hotel Tonight has recently expanded their coverage so that you can book hotels tomorrow and the week ahead, it’s bread and butter remains booking last minute hotels at discounted prices.  The only drawback is that it only covers select cities domestically and internationally, so if you’re traveling to a smaller market city, Hotel Tonight might not cover it.  However, for the cities it does service, Hotel Tonight is an excellent resource for getting a room when you might not have planned for one ahead of time.

5) Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)

These sites include Priceline, Orbitz, Expedia, etc.  Pretty much everyone has heard of these sites, and people tend to have their personal preferences among them, but is one really better than  the others?  The answer is: it depends.  I know, cop out.  But seriously, each site offers different incentives and discounts for booking on their site.  It all depends on how many nights you need, what region you’re traveling to, what activities you like, and so on.  An easy way to compare the discount offered by each, consider using Coupon Heaven or RetailMeNot to see what kind of discounts each OTA or individual hotel chain is offering.

6) Hotels.com

I don’t use Hotels.com as often as the other sites on this list, but it’s worth noting that after booking 10 nights (doesn’t have to be all at once) using Hotels.com, you get 1 night free.  Another feature I like about Hotels.com is the wide range of filtering options it provides.  So if there is a specific type of hotel you like or landmark you want to stay near, you can filter for those options among others.

As you can see, there are quite a few options for booking hotels that, when used properly, can potentially save you a lot of money.  This is not an all-encompassing list, but these sites represent my favorite hotel booking resources.  Also, keep in mind that this list is mainly for hotels.  It doesn’t include sites dedicated to bed and breakfasts, vacation rentals, hostels, etc.  Those sites are laid out in Part 2 of booking accommodations.

What are your favorite sites for booking hotels?  Why?  Leave a comment and let everyone else in on the secret!