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You are probably very experienced at surfing for the best price on flights for your next vacation but it is a fact that most of us simply contact the hotel of our choice and ask for a room. But there is a big market in cut price rooms at some of the very best hotels around the world. How to find those deals involves just three easy steps. First, check the hotel website or the site for the parent group which will show all their brands on the same web page. For example, Le Meridien is part of the Starwood Hotels group: sister chains include Sheraton, Westin, St Regis and Four Seasons. Often you may find some good seasonal special offers on the company website, this will give you an idea of the benchmark price so that you can look around for a lower price room rate. Remember to check whether the room price includes breakfast!

Now you can check out the online booking sites that specialise in hotel rooms and short breaks. The best ones include Travelocity, Expedia and Superbreak. The biggest fluctuations in room rates will be for City Hotels in major capital cities. If you want to stay in a country house hotel retreat, you are unlikely to get a better rate than the one offered by the hotel on their own website. I would always recommend checking the hotel’s website before calling them as even the smallest independent hotel may offer initernet-only offers. These will not be mentioned if you phone the hotel direct.

For hotels on the coast, some of the European Tour Operators have deals on hotel accommodation in their sunshine resorts in the Mediterranean. For example Thomson
now offers accommodation-only deals at competitive rates in many resorts.

There are two ways to check for the best room rate, depending on your patience and attention span. First, you can check a couple of the hotel booking sites mentioned above and find two or three prices for your chosen hotel, returning at the end to the one that offered you the lowest price for a room at the hotel in question. Second, you can go to one of the meta comparison websites that are now springing up online, such as travelsupermarket.com. These sites search several portals to get you the best price, so you can get them to do the legwork for you.

Just a few points to remind you of when booking hotels online:

• Check the cancellation fees if you book through an online agency: they are usually higher than of you had booked direct with the hotel. Cancellation for illness is normally covered by your travel insurance, but if you might just change your mind, make sure you know the costs in advance.
• If a hotel booking search engine offers you an alternative hotel, find out as mush as you can before booking. In cities, the cheapest deals are on outlying hotels that could be several miles from the city centre.
• Make sure you are getting a confirmed booking from the hotel search sites, not just an indication of availability. You would hate to arrive there late at night to find there is no reservation in your name!
• Find out what is included in your quoted rate: room only, room and breakfast or half board? If the hotel has leisure facilities can you use these for no extra charge? Is there free Internet access from your room? Make a fuss if the hotel tries to charge for this, as there are plenty of hotels with free Wifi connections for guests.

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