WFMW: Hotel Bargains

For when you want to take a vacation, or you have to go somewhere & need a room for a night (or more), but you want to save money on the room, what do you do? We usually use Hotwire. Hotwire lets you put in search parameters and gives you results with "star ratings", amenities, and prices. The prices here have always been much lower than what I could find anywhere else and I've never had a problem with the room or hotel that I've received.

The first time David & I used it I was very leary. We were going to the ACC basketball tournament in Charlotte, and everywhere I looked for rooms they were coming up either full or priced around $200/night. We talked about camping, but really wanted to stay closer to the city. He finally found a room on hotwire that claimed to be 2.5 stars, for $29 a night. YES! $29 a night! Like I said, I was very leary - I expected us to get there & find a dump. I figured it was worth going ahead & booking, with the understanding that if it was a dump we lost that money & we'd find somewhere else to stay, even if it meant getting out of the city.

I was so surprised when it told us the hotel was a Candlewood Suites. No, it's not a top of the line hotel, but 2.5 stars is pretty accurate. Most importantly, when we arrived it was very clean, quiet, a GREAT hotel that I would stay at again, and a GREAT GREAT bargain! I LOVE a good bargain!

Other good deals - one of my best friends booked a room at a 4 star in NYC for $89/night. Turned out the hotel was the Waldorf. We went to Hawaii for our 5 year anniversary - booked a 5 star room for $129/night - when we checked the hotel's website the best rate was $439/night. We never would have paid that much for a room, but it sure was nice to stay there!

We booked a room for our vacation coming up - $79/night for a 4 star. Booking through the hotel site, the best rate is $176/night. I like saving money.

I know a lot of people like priceline so what I do is check hotwire first, to see what the best rate I can get (and I won't stay at anything less than what they claim is 2.5 stars). Then I go to priceline and put in a rate that is a little lower than what I get on hotwire. If they match my price, I've saved even more money; if they don't, I go book on hotwire.

I love a bargain and now that we're a one income family it's even more important to save money. That is what works for me. For more great tips, head over to Rocks In My Dryer.