Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 13, 2006)

A room with the view – that is what everyone dreams about. And, for many people, that works well. But if you are on a budget but still want to vacation in style, you may want to ask for a room without a view. Certain rooms in the hotel may be harder to sell, but these rooms can be discounted heavily, especially in four and five star hotels. So, if you have been wanting to go to a premium hotel but you are dreading paying five star prices, here are some ideas to vacation on a budget but in style.

The Deal:
Stay in a four or five star hotel without paying four or five star prices by finding the rooms that the hotel must deeply discount.

How:
1) Check standard and discounted rates via the hotel’s website and aggregator websites such as:
Kayak.com

2) Call the hotel’s in house reservation department and inquire about the rates. (The in house reservations department is usually found by calling the hotel’s operator. The general rule of thumb is that if you are using an (800) number, it is probably not an in-house reservations department.) After listening to the list of rates, ask to speak to the reservations manager. Ask about any of their “less desirable” rooms and if any discounts are available for staying in this kind of room. (I recently was able to find a room at a 4.5 star hotel at 50% off by agreeing to stay in a first floor room.)

3) Check the hotel’s website. Do a google search for any recent experiences at the hotel to see if anyone has had any luck with such deeply discounted rates.

The Inside Scoop:
Most hotels have these less desirable rooms, but not all hotel will discount these rooms. Some high end hotels will not even sell these rooms and prefer to keep them only for an emergency. You may need to convince the reservations manager to sell you such a room, but if you do, you will save a ton. Some examples of such deeply discounted rooms include: (1) rooms at the ski slope that view the main entrance or rooms at the ocean that view the parking lot, (2) rooms with Murphy beds or smaller/non-standard beds as opposed to a King or Queen bed, or (3) rooms in an unrenovated section of the hotel.