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Here is a step by step process for booking a hotel room at the lowest rate

1. Research hotels on Orbitz (or whatever traditional booking system you prefer: Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com, etc. I will use Orbitz as the example for simplicity).
2. Next, go to Hotwire.com (US only) to see if there is a nicely priced property in comparison to what you found on Orbitz. Hotwire does not show you the property name, but it does give you the price, the general location, star rating, and amenities. The prices on hotwire are sometimes as much as 40% off the best price you will find elsewhere. If you are outside the US go to Step Three. Yesterday, I booked a hotel in Denver. The best price on Orbitz was $86. I got it for $57 on Hotwire. That is a 30 per cent discount. Not bad.
3. But you do not need to stop there. Read the full story

Economists study how naive people subsidize cut rate hotels.
The New York Times has an interesting article about the work of two university professors from Harvard and MIT/Princeton who say savvy people take advantage of good deals by avoiding the hidden costs that suckers pay.

The smartest strategy, they say, is for the sophisticated consumer to choose the service with the most hidden charges and highest add-on prices, but then avoid paying those added costs. The sophisticated consumer takes advantage of that, the naive pay all the fees.

For example, you see an offer for a hotel room for $75 (which costs the hotel $100 to provide). The guy checking in behind you also rents a room, but will rack up $70 in fees from the minibar, the phone and garage parking (all of which cost the hotel $20 to provide). You, on the other hand, were not tempted by the minibar, used your cellphone for calls and took public transportation to the hotel. The other guy subsidized your room.” Boing Boing