Lodging CHECK HOTEL and MOTEL RATES Travelocity Hotels.com Expedia Lodging Tips One of the more unpleasant travel surprises is to check into a hotel, paying what you believe to be a good price for the room, only to find that another guest, staying in the same category room and who booked at the same time as you, is paying only 50% of your room rate! You can avoid this unhappy situation by investing a few minutes checking for the best hotel rates. The Web makes it easy! Most travelers know that there is a huge variance in the ticketing prices charged by airlines. Fewer know that hotel room pricing is also extremely variable. The average hotel has a virtual myriad of rates that are scattered all over the pricing spectrum. The amount that you pay has a lot to do with how much information you have gathered and how well your situation (arrival and departure dates, number of nights and type of room needed) fits into the hotel's inventory. "Rack Rate" For every hotel and motel room, there is an established price--known as the "rack rate." This is the price that will generally be quoted to you when you ask a simple "how much is a room on such and such a night?" If you agree to the room price quoted, the hotel will be more than happy to book the room for you. It's when you ask "do you have any special plans?" that the quoted rate will often be slashed. Getting the Best Room Rate There are a couple of ways that you can help yourself to getting the best hotel room rate. One way is to take advantage of one of the online services who deal in hotel rooms on a daily basis. Their volume carries a lot of weight both with hotel chains as well as individual properties. A few examples are Hotels.com, Travelocity and Expedia. Another way is to handle the "negotiation" on your own. This will require that you call a number of hotels and "ask the questions" Do you have any special rates? What special packages do you have available? Will I qualify for a corporate rate? Is there an AAA rate? or sometimes, a simple "what is the best you can do?" will get the kind of response that you are looking for. Hotel rooms are an extremely perishable commodity. Every night, those that are not occupied at, say 9:00 or 10:00 PM, "spoil." It makes sense for a hotel or motel, as long as it can recover its costs of operation for that room (and make some profit) to rent it to you. For the hotel, it is better to get $50 for a room with a $125 rack rate than to not rent the room at all. Lodging Safety Upon arrival, check all locks (including safety latch). If not working, notify management immediately. Familiarize yourself with fire escape routes. Take advantage of in-room or hotel desk safes. Consider leaving the radio or television playing when you leave the room. See Travel Safety for more hints on safe travel. CHECK HOTEL and MOTEL RATES Travelocity Hotels.com Expedia
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