Best hotels for Venice Carnival 2013

The 2013 Carnival of Venice will take place between 26 January and 12 February.

The best times to go are in one of the three week-ends included in this period, because it is on Saturdays and Sundays that most celebrations take place.

Below we will show the hotels with the best quality / price ratios for 3 nights, breakfast included, (check-in Fridays, check-out Monday morning) for the first week-end of 25-28 January 2013.

We are looking for hotels either in centre, within walking distance of the main sights, or outside the centre, but with regular public transportation service - either by bus or by boat.

As a general impression after doing an extensive search for Venice hotels: we would rather stay in a new 4-star hotel in Mestre, a suburb 10km from central Venice, with good public transportation links, than stay in outdated historical buildings in the centre transformed in hostels / hotels / B&Bs with poor services and facilities. It's too much of a gamble with these old buildings and their owners (see reports from customers on booking.com).

• Quality Hotel Delfino Venezia Mestre**** at a total price of 84 euro from FareBuzz or 103 euro from Travelation or 105 euro from CheapOair (using this discount code) or 108 euro from Hotels.com (using this 10% discount code) or 120 euro from lastminute.com and booking.com;

• Hotel Tritone**** at a total price of  140 euro from FareBuzz or 170 euro from Hotels.com (using this 10% discount code) or 178 euro from CheapOair (using this discount code) or 190 euro from lastminute.com, booking.com and HotelClub; 

• All Seasons Venezia - Marghera**** at a total price of 143 euro from AlphaRooms or 147 euro from Olotels or 159 euro from DHR or 174 euro from HotelsClick or 202 euro from booking.com;  

• NH Laguna Palace**** at a total price of 165 euro from AlphaRooms or 168 euro from Olotels and HotelHippo or 171 euro from DHR or 184 euro from HotelsClick;

• Hotel Plaza**** at a total price of 139 euro from FareBuzz or 195 euro from HotelsClick or 214 euro from lastminute.com, HotelClub and booking.com;  

• Hilton Garden Inn Venice Mestre**** at a total price of 186 euro from Olotels or 196 euro from HotelsClick or 280 euro from booking.com; 

• Antony Hotel**** at a total price of 173 euro from ZleepingHotels or 187 euro from Hotels.com (using this 10% discount code) or 197 euro from CheapOair (using this discount code) or 208 euro from lastminute.com, HotelClub and booking.com;

• Hotel Panorama**** at a total price of 179 euro from FareBuzz or 210 euro from lastminute.com, HotelClub, HRS and booking.com;

• Best Western Plus Quid Hotel Venice Airport at a total price of 155 euro from FareBuzz or 192 euro from Hotels.com (using this 10% discount code) or 202 euro from CheapOair (using this discount code) or 214 euro from lastminute.com, HotelClub and booking.com; 

• Best Western Hotel Bologna**** at a total price of 214 euro from Hotels.com (using this 10% discount code) or 238 euro from lastminute.com, booking.com and from HotelClub;

• Hotel American-Dinesen*** at a total price of 252 euro from Hotels.com (using this 10% discount code) or 269 euro from HotelsClick or 280 euro from lastminute.com, booking.com an from HotelClub;

• Eurostars Residenza Cannaregio**** at a total price of 232 euro from FareBuzz or 253 euro from Hotels.com (using this 10% discount code) (for a deluxe room with canal view) or 280 euro from HotelClub and booking.com;

• Best Western Hotel Olimpia Venezia*** at a total price of 333 euro from hotel.info (for the superior room) or 375 euro from booking.com;

• Ca' Angeli at a total price of 293 euro from booking.com;

• Carnival Palace Hotel**** at a total price of 305 euro from FareBuzz (for a deluxe room with canal view) or 370 euro from Hotels.com (using this 10% discount code) or 411 euros from lastminute.com, booking.com and from HotelClub;

• Best Western Hotel Bisanzio*** at a total price of 267 euro Olotels or 275 euro from Hotels.com (using this 10% discount code) or 306 euro from lastminute.com and booking.com;

• Courtyard by Marriott Venice Airport**** at a total price of 339 euro from FareBuzz or 373 euro from booking.com and Hotels.com;

• Foscari Palace**** at a total price of 470 euro (for a deluxe room with canal view) from booking.com;

• Starhotels Splendid Venice**** at a total price of 468 euro from Hotels.com (using this 10% discount code) (for a superior room with canal view) or 521 euro from CheapOair (using this discount code) or 557 euro from lastminute.com or 575 euro from HotelsClick or 578 euro from booking.com;

• Hilton Molino Stucky Venice***** at a total price of 524 euro from CheapTravelHunter (for a king deluxe with a view) or 562 euro from lastminute.com or 585 euro from Hotels.com and booking.com;

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Hotel review - Hotel Brilliant Plaza, Zalau, Romania

Good size and clean room and good breakfast.

The only downside is that the hotel's restaurant does not have a separate non-smoking room, so in the evening it's pretty foggy from all the smokers coming to have dinner.

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Hotel review - Hotel Ozone, Baile Tusnad, Romania

The hotel is new and looks very well, but there are few things that we didn't like:

- it is very difficult to get some hot water in the shower (sometimes you leave the water running for 30 minutes and still nothing);

- towels and toiletries are not refreshed daily;

- very poor breakfast;

- at the restaurant we waited more than one hour since we passed the order until we got the food.

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How to obtain free and fast Priority Club Platinum membership level

Priority Club is the rewards programme of IHG (InterContinental Hotels Grup), which gathers brands such as InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.

There are three membership levels: Club (entry level), Gold (medium) and Platinum (highest).

The main advantages of Platinum are the complimentary room upgrades, if available, and 50% more bonus points on each stay.

One way to obtain the Platinum level, other than staying 50 nights in IHG hotels in a calendar year, is to ask for a status match.

Let´s assume that you have the Hilton HHonors Gold level. If you don´t, check out our other post on how to obtain it here.

Thus, with the HHonors Gold obtained, send an e-mail to the Priority Club customer service (priorityclub@ihg.com) and ask that you would like a status match with your HHonors membership. Also provide along with your e-mail the following:
- your Priority Club membership number and name as it appears in your Priority Club profile;
- a scanned copy of the HHonors statement (print-it from your HHonors account), where it shows that you have Gold status.

You should receive a reply within one week.

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Up to 45% discount for car rentals in Italy

EconomyBookings.com is a low cost online distributor of rental cars.

They currently show up to 45% discount for car hire in Italy booked until 15 January 2013.

Follow this link to take advantage of the deal:




- a Volkswagen Golf in the compact car category costs 162 euro for 1 week rental during the period 8-15 March 2013 in Olbia, Sardinia, while Expedia charges 215 euro for a similar car in the same category (30% saving);
 - the same car during the period 15-22 February 2012 in Florence has the same price of 162 euro, while Expedia quotes it at 276 euro (40% saving).

We do not know exactly what is the latest pick-up date for which the offer applies, but it seems that until the end of March 2013 there is a good deal to be made (we tried a rental in April and the price was not that competitive anymore).

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Top 10 European hotels in 2012 by customer reviews

Hotel.info, a German based online travel agency which we often use, has just released its 2012 list of top 10 hotels in Europe, classified according to travelers' ratings.

These are the following:

1. Holiday Inn Express Leeds - East** in Leeds, United Kingdom, with a 9,8 out of 10 customer rating

2. Hotel La Quinta**** in Todtmoos, Germany, with a 9,6 / 10 rating

3. Hotel Goritschnigg**** in Velden am Wörther See, Austria, with a 9,5 / 10 rating

4. Kempinski Hotel River Park in Bratislava*****, Slovakia, with a 9,4 / 10 rating

5. Pansion Harmony*** in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a 9,4 / 10 rating

6. Hotel Arthur**** in Solignano Nuovo, Italy, with a 9,3 / 10 rating

7. Hotel General***** in Prague, Czech Republic, with a 9,3 / 10 rating

8. Hotel Le Funi*** in Cossonay-Ville, Switzerland, with a 9,2 / 10 rating

9. Angelo Hotel**** in Katowice, Poland, with a 9,2 / 10 rating

10. Sofitel Brussels Europe***** in Bruxelles, Belgium, with a 9,1 / 10 rating

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10% Expedia discount code for hotel reservations until 31 December 2012

A 10% hotel voucher code is available at Expedia for all reservations made until December 31, 2012, with hotel stays until June 24, 2013.

The discount is applicable to the Expedia rates ("Offre Expedia" in the French version), excluding taxes and fees, for a minimum 50 euro purchase.

To obtain the Expedia promo code and start the hotel search, follow this link to the Expedia France page. Please stay on that page, as the discount is only applicable when booked from Expedia France. If you do not speak the language, use an automatic translator such as that of Google Chrome.

Then proceed to the reservation as usual, and in the payment window look just above the credit card fields for the section "Saisir un code de bon de reduction ou de promotion" (""Enter a coupon or promotion code"). Type in the code you obtained and push the button "Utiliser un bon de reduction" ("Apply coupon").

As an example: 2 nights (breakfast included) over the first week-end of 2013 in Salzburg, Austria at the Mercure Salzburg City cost 134 euro, after a 15 euro discount with the voucher code (see print-screen below):

The same room costs 149 euro on booking.com.

Full terms and conditions of this deal here.

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15% Zuji hotel discount code (Travelocity / lastminute.com)

Zuji Singapore (sister site of Travelocity.com and lastminute.com) shows an attractive holiday sale on hotels: a promo code for 15% worldwide. Basically you get the same offers as with Travelocity.com and lastminute.com, but with the added benefit of a 15% discount.

The hotel voucher code is valid for purchases of minimum 300 Singapore Dollars (about 250 USD) made until 5 January 2013.

Follow this banner to get the code and open Zuji in a new window:



Ensure you check again this banner, as this offer is part of the 12 days of Christmas promotion from Zuji, where they add additional travel deals each day.

Remember that the currency is Singapore Dollar (SGD). Use a currency converter to see the value in USD or EUR before you make a purchase.

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50% Hilton Hotel discounted rates until 7 January 2013

Hilton has an unbelievable promotion for bookings and stays made until 7 January 2013.

Follow the link on the banner below to go straight to the Hilton deal page and see the full terms and conditions:

As an example, the Hilton Innsbruck over the Christmas period was quoted at 64,50 euro per night for a double room (that's 50% off the standard rate).

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How to get free Hilton HHonors Gold level status

There is a very quick method of obtaining HHonors Gold tier elite and thought of sharing.

It was this post on the Fat Wallet forum.

A friend of us tried it and it worked just fine.

Enjoy!

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50% off from Royal Orchid hotels in India until 6 January 2013

Royal Orchid is a chain of 21 upper class hotels in India.

They currently show 50% on selected hotels for the Christmas and New Year's Eve holidays (actually the promotion is running until 6 January 2013).

Follow this banner to take advantage of the deal:

We took the example of deluxe room for 2 nights over the New Year's Eve (30 December - 1 January) in the Royal Orchid Central Grazia in Navi Mumbai: it has a total 192$ on their website (room only), while booking.com shows the same room at 384$ (breakfast included).

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20$ CheapOstay discount code until 31 December 2012

A 20$ hotel promo code is available at CheapOstay for all hotel reservations made until December 31.

Simply go to their website, select for the preferred hotel and in the payment window, in the section where the rate is detailed, look for the field "Promo code", type in the code and push the button "Apply" - see print-screen below for the hotel coupon applied:

 Follow the banner below to get the code and start your hotel search:

We took an example: the Best Western Chavannes de Bogis near Geneva, Switzerland, costs 221$ (after the 20$ discount) at CheapOstay for 2 nights over the week-end 4-6 January 2013 - see print-screen above. The same room costs 241$ at booking.com (exactly 20 USD more expensive).

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10% Hotels.com discount code until 20 January 2013

The hotel promo code is available only on the Canadian website (the website is in English and you may select whatever currency you prefer - USD, euro, GBP, etc.). See print-screen below:

Proceed to the reservation as usual, then, in the payment window, look for the "Apply a discount code" caption, below the total price, on the right side of the screen, type in the code and push the button "Apply.

Follow this banner to obtain the code and start your search:



We tested the validity of the coupon with an example: the Best Western Premier Louvre Saint Honore**** in Paris, France has a final price of 438$ after a 45$ saving with Hotels.com promo code, for 2 nights over the week-end 4 - 6 January 2013 (breakfast included) - see print-screen below:

The same room costs 487$ at booking.com.

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35€ Airline Direct flights discount code

Airline Direct is a German based online travel agency.

They are currently running a good promotion: save 35 euro with promo code when booking for at least 2 travelers until 31 January 2013 (flights departing until 31 August 2013).

The coupon code is not applicable to low-cost flights, nor to flights within Germany.

The booking website is in German, but you may Google Chrome to help you out.

Search for your preferred flight and in the payment window, below the the credit card information, there is a section "Möchten Sie einen Geschenk- oder Aktionsgutschein einlösen?" where you have to tick and insert the promo code.

 Follow this banner to obtain the code and open the Airline Direct website.

Please double check before you validate your booking whether the code was successfully applied.

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Winter week-end offers from Crowne Plaza in the UK

Extend your holiday period with a week-end in the UK at discounted rates from Crowne Plaza.

The offer is valid from Friday / Saturday / Sunday nights until 10 February 2013 (to be booked at least 21 days in advance, but no later than 30 December 2012).

Follow the link on the banner below to go to the dedicated Crowne Plaza webpage:

A couple of examples for 2 nights over the week-end 18-20 January 2013:

- Crowne Plaza London - The City****, a two double deluxe room is at 375 GBP, breakfast included, while on booking.com the same room is at 475 GBP (almost 30% more expensive);

- Crowne Plaza Manchester City Centre****, a two double bed room is at 207 GBP, breakfast included, while on booking.com the same room is at 254 GBP (20% more expensive);

- Crowne Plaza London Kensington****, the King Club Room is at 340 GBP, breakfast included, while on booking.com the same room is at 448 GBP (30% more expensive).

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10% HotelClub discount code

You have one week, starting today, to take advantage of a 10% HotelClub.com promo code. HotelClub is an online travel agency part of the Orbitz group.

Follow the link on the banner below to obtain the 10% HotelClub voucher code and open the website:



Proceed to the reservation as usual, then, in the payment window, just above the credit card information, look for the section "Promotion code", type in the code and push the button "Apply and reprice" (see print-screen below):

We tested the validity of the coupon with an example: the NH Musica hotel in Amsterdam is priced at 263 euro for 2 nights over the week-end 28 - 30 December 2012 (breakfast included), after saving 27 euro with the coupon code (see print-screen above). The same room costs 335 euro at booking.com (20% more expensive).

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15% Expedia discount code until 20 December 2012

A 15% hotel voucher code is available at Expedia for all reservations made until December 20, 2012, with hotel stays until 30 June 2013.

The discount is applicable to the Expedia rates, excluding taxes and fees.

To obtain the Expedia promo code and start the hotel search, follow this link to the Expedia UK page. Please stay on that page, as the discount is only applicable when booked from Expedia UK.

Then proceed to the reservation as usual, and in the payment window look for the field "Enter a coupon or promotion code", just above the credit card information. Type in the code you obtained and push the button "Apply coupon" (see print screen below):

As an example: 2 nights over the last week-end of the year in Amsterdam, The Netherlands at the Dutch Design Hotel Artemis cost 177$ (or 109 GBP), after the 29$ discount. The same room costs 215$ on booking.com (so you get more than 20% off from Expedia).

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New Year's Eve hotel sale from Venere.com

A special promotion is currently run by Venere.com for bookings made until 22 December and stays for this holiday period.

With at least a 10% discount in cities such as Rome, Paris, Florence, Istanbul, Barcelona, Prague, Berlin, Budapest, London, Milan, Vienna, Amsterdam, Lisbon, there is something to choose from for everybody.

Follow this specific link to their page to get the special hotel rates automatically applied.

Several examples for a double room for a 3-night stay over the New Year's Eve (30 December - 2 January):

- Ramada Apollo Amsterdam Centre**** has a total price of 390 euro, while on booking.com the same room is 493 euro (25% saving);

- Hotel Lutecia Lisboa**** in Lisbon, Portugal has a total price of 184 euro (breakfast included), while on booking.com the same room is 252 euro (25% saving);

- Hotel Farnesina*** in Rome, Italy has a total price of 267 euro (breakfast included), while on booking.com the same room costs 310 euro (15% saving).

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Dinner offered for a 2 night stay with Superbreak in selected locations in the UK

Stay 2 nights and get the dinner free for the first night. This is the deal offered by Superbreak in several cities in the UK.

Superbreak is a UK based travel agencies specialised in short breaks in the UK and Europe.

Follow the link on the banner below to see the participating hotels and grab a deal:



Several examples for a double room, full breakfast and dinner on the first night, for the first week-end in January 2013:

- Crowne Plaza London Shoreditch****, total price of 215 GBP, while booking.com charges 252 GBP (20% more and without the dinner);

- Crowne Plaza Leeds****, total price of 155 GBP, while booking.com charges 185 GBP (20% more and without the dinner)

- Crowne Plaza Liverpool John Lennon Airport****, total price of 160 GBP, with the same price on booking.com, but without dinner.

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Hotel sale from Thistle

Thistle is a hotel chain with over 32 properties in the UK (10 of which in London).

They currently show high discount at all their properties for hotel stays until 14 April 2013 (reservations must be made at least 7 days in advance)

Follow the link on this banner to get the discounted hotel rates from Thistle:

Several examples for a double room for the week-end 28-30 December:

- Hotel Thistle Barbican*** in London, England costs 193 GBP for a deluxe double, while on booking.com the same room is 298 GBP;

- Thistle Euston*** in London, England costs 232 GBP for a deluxe double, while on booking.com the same room is 304 GBP;

- County Hotel by Thistle***in Newcastle, England costs 85 GBP, while on booking.com the same room is 98 GBP.

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10% discount at The George Hotel in Edinburgh, UK

Book with EasyToBook to get a 10% discount on stays any time of the year.

Click on the link below to go to the offer page and input your travel dates:

10% discount on The George Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland

In the payment window look for the "Voucher code" box and type the promo code ETB10PCAFRD13, just below the total price information and then push the button "Apply" (see print-screen below):

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Minimum 10% discount on selected Eurostars Hotels

Another good hotel deal from Eurostars Hotels (a chain of hotels with over 60 properties around Europe and the Americas: Vienna, Prague, Brussels, Barcelon, Madrid, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Budapest, Roma, Venice, Lisbon, Porto, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, New York).

Simply follow the link on the banner below to book the preferential rates:



Just some examples for the week-end 21-23 December, for a double room, breakfast included:

- Eurostars Hotel Embassy**** in Vienna, Austria, costs 138 euro (with free minibar), while on booking the price is 170 euro( only breakfast). That is at least 20% saving;

- Eurostars International Palace**** in Rome, Italy, costs 134 euro, while on booking the same room is 158 euro (15% saving);

- Eurostars Panorama*** in Paris, France, costs 221 euro, while on booking the same room is 245 euro (10% saving).

Make sure you compare the rate from the Eurostars website with those of other online travel agencies, to confirm that there is a deal to be made.

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Hotel voucher for 10% discount from Hotelopia (part of TUI group) until 31 December 2012

An special Christmas promo code for a 10% discount on hotel bookings made through Hotelopia until December 31, 2012 (stays until 31 December 2013). Hotelopia is a worldwide online travel agency part of the TUI Group.

Follow the link on this banner to get the code and start the reservation process. In the payment, llok for the field "Discount code" and type in the code you obtain below:

,

We tested the validity of the coupon with an example: the Best Western Saphir Hotel**** in Lyon, France is priced at 163$ euro for 2 nights over the week-end 21 - 23 December, breakfast included. Then, with the 10% discount code you save 16USD and the final price is 147$ (see print-screen below):

The  same room over the same period is shown at 266$ (breakfast included) on booking.

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Promo code for 12% hotel discount in Taipei from Zuji

A 12% hotel promo code is available at Zuji for hotels in Taipei, Taiwan. Bookings must be made until 17 December 2012, with stays until 31 March 2013.
 
Follow the link on the banner below to obtain the code on the Zuji webpage.

The promo code is valid on the Zuji Singapore website for first 50 customers making a purchase. The website is in English and the currency is Singapore Dollar (SGD). Use a currency converter to see the value in USD or EUR before you make a purchase.

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15$ hotel discount code from CheapOair until 1 February 2013

Take advantage of the winter holidays with hotel promo code from CheapOair.com.

Follow the link on the banner below to obtain the hotel voucher and search for your hotel:

We tested the validity of the deal with an example: the Holiday Inn Express Munchen Messe in Munich, Germany, costs 85 USD per night, breakfast included, for the last week-end before Christmas, while the same room on booking.com costs 119 USD.

However, please pay attention when searching for hotels with CheapOair, because for many hotels you may find better deals elsewhere, even after applying the 15$ discount.

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Hawaii flash sale from Orbitz

48 hour sale from Orbitz for 3 hotels in Hawaii, to be booked until 12 December.

Follow the link on the banner below and then go to the "48 hour sale" section:

We tested the deal with an example: the Hotel Aqua Waikiki, for 2 nights over the 21-23 December week-end, has a total price of 250$ (breakfast included), after the application of the 15% discount. The same room costs 290$ at booking.com, but without breakfast.

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8% hotel discount code from TripAlertz until 1 January 2013

The US based hotel discounter TripAlertz has a new hotel promo code valid until 1 January 2013.

Follow the link on the banner below to get the code and start your hotel search:

In the payment window, below the credit card information, look for the field "Promo code", type in the code obtained above and then push the button "apply code" to get the discount.

We found a really good deal near Miami: the Doral Golf Resort & Spa has a total price of 253$ for 2 nights over the week-end 21-23 December (after the 22$ discount), while the same room costs 433$ on booking.com.

As usual, please pay attention when you look for hotels on Tripalertz: while they show good hotel deals on some hotels, for others you may find better rates at your online travel agencies.

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Expedia 72 hour sale in Istanbul

The 72 hours sale from Expedia takes us to exotic Istanbul this week (reservations to be made until Thursday, 13 December and stays until 13 March 2013).

To take advantage of the sale, follow the link to the dedicated Expedia page. They advertise also offers for Dubai and Morrocoo, however we checked some of the hotels displayed and they do not seem to have better prices than booking.com or other online travel agencies.

An additional 10% discount is applied to the hotels where it is written "Hotel promotion": in the payment window, just above the credit card information, type in the hotel voucher code UK50SAVE10 in the field "Enter a coupon or promotion code".

We took some examples of good hotel deals in Istanbul:

- two nights over the week-end 21-23 December at the Lalinn Hotel, breakfast included, have a total price of 65 GBP (82 euro), while on booking the same room costs 128 euro (50% more);

- a double room, breakfast included, over the same period at the Hotel Ipek Palas has a total price of 86 euro, while on booking the price is 106 euro (about 20% more);

- Hotel Sarnic Istanbul costs 140 euro (breakfast included) for the same period. The same room is priced at 165 euro by booking (15% more).

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Discount for 2-night stays at UNA Hotels in Italy until 31 January 2013

UNA Hotels is a chain of quality hotels spread around Italy (Milan, Rome, Naples, Venice, Bologna, Bari, etc.).

So far we have stayed in Benevento, in Campania, and we were happy with the conditions (see review on our blog).

Their current promotion is as follows: stay 2 consecutive nights and get a 30% discount. Follow the link below to obtain the code and search your hotel:

Get a 30% discount in all UNA hotels in Italy

We tested the deal with the UNA Hotel Bologna, where 2 nights over the week-end 18-20 January 2013 cost a total of 138 euro (breakfast included). The same room is 168 euro on booking.com.

That's a 30% discount on UNA's flexible rate, but it's not really 30% discount compared to what you can get on other travel websites like booking.com.

Even so, it's 30 euro discount, which is still a good deal (about the same discount was shown also for other UNA hotels in Milan and Rome).

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