Hotel Savings!

Normally when we travel, I have used Priceline to book our hotel. After having a couple of negative experiences with them, I decided to shop travel differently. Priceline has a feature called "Name Your Own Price". This feature is good if you don't care what amenities your hotel may have. You can choose how many stars your hotel has but in my experience, you don't always get what you ask for. The deal on Priceline's "Name Your Own Price" is that once you get the hotel, you are locked in and there is no backing out. And when they say "no backing out", they mean it.

I did a "Name Your Own Price" with Priceline and asked for at least a 2 star hotel. The price I got was very good, however, the hotel itself was definitely not a 2 star. Not only that but the hotel was cheaper on another site where I didn't have to take the hotel blindly. I complained to Priceline. They matched the other site's price but when I told them about the reviews on this hotel and said it was not a 2 star, they refused to budge. So, I was stuck. I told them I usually use Priceline but that after this, I was trying other avenues and they didn't care. So.....this time I tried another avenue,

I found a really neat site called trivago.

www.trivago.com

When you are getting ready to travel, you can type in the city and what amenities you want. Then, trivago searches all the hotel websites for best prices. 

We are getting ready to take our fall vacation soon. I searched a few cities on trivago and found a really nice hotel with a pool, whirlpool, breakfast, and exercise room for only $51.00 per night. I was able to see all the photos before choosing the hotel and knowing they have breakfast can be a great money saver. They had a picture of the breakfast bar so I know it is more than a granola and an apple with coffee. :) 

I have gotten hotels for about $42.00 a night on Priceline, which is a great deal but you are not guaranteed breakfast which can definitely cost more than $9.00 per day depending on which route you take. You are not guaranteed a pool which I really wanted as well and know I got with trivago. 

So far, I like trivago because you can see all the hotel prices side by side and I don't have to call and haggle if I found out the price was lower elsewhere. So, I booked our hotel for $51.00 a night through expedia and I know I got what I wanted.

Happy Savings!