van plan to book a city trip soon? Ho, stop! With these five tips, you are now standard cheaper in hotels:
Stay in a business hotel during the weekend
This is especially an ideal tip if you are going to make a city trip over the weekend. Admittedly, they are often not the most inspiring accommodations, but in a business hotel you are often a lot cheaper than when you go for a ‘normal’ one. How is that possible? Business hotels mainly rely on the weekdays. Indeed, when businessmen and women are at work and just then need an overnight stay. As a result, many of these hotel rooms are empty on the weekends, which means that the price during these days is lower in 90% of the cases.
You often stay a little further from the center, often at conference centers in the area, but in most cities public transport is very close and you can still be in the bustle of the city in no time.
Skip the breakfast
In the Netherlands, we are quite spoiled: go to an average hotel here and you will spontaneously get choice stress from all the sandwiches, toppings, granola / muesli options and drinks that are displayed for you in the morning. But abroad? It is often a bit disappointing there. Especially when you consider that an average breakfast can easily cost € 17.50 or more per day. You have to stuff a lot in to get that out.
So skip! And put your morning soil outside the door. There is always a supermarket, or — just a bit more fun (and tastier) — a bakery or coffee shop around the corner where you can get a lot of food and drink for the € 17.50 you have now saved. And the coffee is often a hundred times better. Win win.
3. Book directly through the hotel itself
Quite honest: I actually always book my hotel stays through Booking.com. Out of convenience and because you often have the option to cancel for free. I would definitely recommend that you keep doing that (so book with Booking.com with the free cancellation option), but add one more action.
Contact the hotel itself, tell them you’ve booked the hotel room at Booking.com for the specific amount and ask if a discount is available.
A little cheeky, but hey, cheeky ones have half the world. That discount is often simply possible. How is that possible? Accommodations almost always have to pay a commission (often tens of percent) to external booking sites, including Booking.com. They will therefore lose that commission anyway if you leave your booking there. There is a good chance that they will love to take some of that amount, because if you book directly with them, they will still have more left at the bottom of the line.
A win for you and a win for the hotel.
4. Last-minute offers: HotelTonight
Do you want to leave last-minute? Even then, Booking.com is still your friend, but you also want the HotelTonight app on your phone. This free app offers all kinds of last-minute discounts from hotels up to a week before arrival. Hotels prefer not to have empty rooms. They would rather earn something than nothing at all. Scrolling never hurts, but there is a good chance that you will see a nice offer. Good to know: your reservation can no longer be canceled.
They are mainly active in America and major European cities, but Amsterdam is also possible!
Join a hotel chain
I wrote about it before : it definitely pays to join a hotel chain. Even if you only stay once or twice in one of their establishments in the coming years. Many chains have a so-called loyalty program. This generally gives you a standard discount on an overnight stay and if you go often enough, you can even spend the night there for free. In addition, as a member you are at the front of the queue for free upgrades or a late checkout, which is always nice!for more beautiful places visit traweloo
