What hotel reservation websites did we use recently?

Following the American saying "put your money where your mouth is", we list below the online travel agencies we used to book hotels for the trips taken during the past 6 months:

RatesToGo -  Campanile Chalon sur Saone

RatesToGo -  Kyriad Nevers Centre

RatesToGo -  Kyriad Auxerre Appoigny

TravelPony - Park Inn by Radisson Nice Airport

AccorHotels - Ibis Sisteron

Hotelopia - Best Western Paradou

OnHotels - Best Western CTC Verona

HotelsClick - AC Hotel by Marriott Brescia

TravelPony - Steigenberger Hotel Linz

Apart from the above, we also burned some thousands of old points at several Hilton and IHG properties.

As you can see, we do not have an absolute preference for any particular website, but regularly check all of them to ensure we get the best deal for each property.

Surprises may appear because of specific promotions or discount codes.

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40% discount at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill

This deal is offered by TravelPony, with free cancellation up to 72 hours before check-in date. This promotion gives a 40% discount compared to the Hyatt official website or the large online travel agencies.

Click on the link below to go to the deal page and see the promo code to be used: 

40% discount at the Hyatt Regency Washington - use code SCARY8

The code should be typed on the right-hand side of the payment page, in the "Summary" section, in the field "Apply Promo Code".

Let us know how this offer worked for you.

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40% discount at the Hilton Budapest City Centre*****

These discounted rates at the 5-star Hilton Budapest Royal Castle District include breakfast and are sold by OnHotels, an UK-based online travel agency.

The promotional rate is available also for week-ends. 

Click on the link below to open the deal page in a new window:

40% discount at Hilton Budapest City Center, including breakfast

In the payment window, make sure to use this 5% OnHotels discount code.

Thus, the rate arrives at less than €80 per double room per night, breakfast included, which is 40% less than the price offered by the Hilton official website or the large online travel agencies, like Booking.com, for example.

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Best hotel deals to stay in Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

Cheap hotel deals in Cinque Terre are hard to come by and even harder when you are looking for the best quality / price ratio for your Cinque Terre accommodation.


We usually stay away from guest houses because of the lack of any standards whatsoever. Being in a guesthouse means being at the mercy of the owner, with no other authority to complain to in case of problems. We do make some exceptions to this rule, though.

As usual, we do not consider hostels, or any form of accommodation with shared bathrooms. Also, we penalize properties that do not offer free in-room Internet, which should be as ordinary as toilet paper these days.

These are the recommended hotel deals for your Cinque Terre holiday:

NH La Spezia - located in the largest town in the area, it is the only international 4 star property around. It offers free Wi-Fi and a free varied breakfast 

Hotel Il Saraceno - a 7 room property located in Volastra, a small village on the hilltop above Manarola. Free WI-Fi, parking and continental breakfast

Albergo Marina - a 2 star family owned hotel in Sestri Levante, a short train ride from Cinque Terre. Reviewers speak greatly about the very good value for money dinner at the hotel

Oasi Hotel - a 3 star hotel located in Levanto, only 15 minute train ride from Cinque Terre. Perfect for those who want to combine trips to Cinque Terre with sunbathing at the sea, this property offers free Wi-Fi and breakfast (including hot cooked to order egg dishes)

Albergo degli Amici - a 3 star hotel located in the centre of Monterosso al Mare (the northernmost of the 5 villages). The best location, with free Wi-Fi and breakfast

Albergo Suisse Bellevue - 3 star property located outside Monterosso al Mare, offering a free shuttle into town. Great views of the sea from the hilltop location, with free Wi-Fi and continental breakfast

Park Hotel Argento - a 4 star property located in Levanto. There is little to fault about this hotel, however the price is rather high, so we left it at the end of our choices

When we visited the area we also stayed at the Holiday Inn in Genoa, however we do not recommend Genova because you loose 2 hours each way by train to reach Cinque Terre.

Let us know where and how were your stays in Cinque Terre.

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The best hotel deals for Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany

As we were looking to spend a week-end in this Bavarian castle region, we compiled the list of cheap hotels around Neuschwanstein Castle. Cheap hotels does not necessarily mean low quality, as we are always looking for the best quality / price ratio.

We looked on a 5km radius around the castle, so that you can choose to walk or drive from / to your hotel. When you go by car, best is to leave the car in the parking lot at the foot of the older Hohenschwangau Castle and then stroll to the more famous and younger castle.

There are no hotels part of big international chains - all of them are family owned traditional hotels (or guest-houses).

We looked for properties that fit a budget of around € 100 per night for a double room. Anything more is just not worth it.

We excluded properties that do not offer any Internet connection or parking. We excluded also hostels (or any property with shared bathrooms).

Here we go with our list of the most affordable hotels for Neuschwanstein Castle, starting with the cheapest ones (we left out those that are of such poor quality, that you risk ruining your vacation):

- Haus Magnolia, self-catering apartments in a traditional building, with free Wi-Fi and free parking;

- Casa Patrizia, self-catering apartments in a traditional building, with free Wi-Fi and free parking;

- Hotel Hanselewirt, breakfast included, free Wi-Fi and free parking;

- Landhotel Huberhof, breakfast included, free Wi-Fi and free parking;

- Landhotel Guglhupf, breakfast included, free Wi-Fi and free parking;

- Hotel Weinbauer, breakfast included, free Wi-Fi and free parking.

Let us know if you have stayed at any of these properties (or others) and how was your stay.
 

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Top 10 cheapest hotel booking websites

If you were wondering which are the cheapest hotel booking websites, we've prepared the top ten based on our past experience.

Maybe you might have never heard of some of them, but we advise to test try them, to see what kind of prices they provide.

Remember to always check the "Current discounts" column on the right hand side of our blog, where the active promo codes are listed.

So, here we go, these are the top 10 cheapest online travel agencies in our opinion (not necessarily in this order):

• Amoma.com


• Hotelopia.com 


• HotelsClick.com 


• Otel.com 


• Hotel.info 


• HotelQuickly.com 


• EasyClickTravel.com 


• Trip.com 


• CheapTickets.com 


• HotelPlanner.com 

Let us know if you were particularly happy with any of the above, or with another one which is not included in this top 10 best hotel reservation websites.

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2013 Oktoberfest hotel deals in Munich, Bavaria, Germany

The traditional Oktoberfest will be held in Munich (at the place called Theresienwiese) between 21 September and 6 October 2013.

More details about the event can be found on its official website: www.oktoberfest.de/en.

Given that prices usually soar the closer we get to the event, we prefer making a free cancellation booking when we find a good deal (the "safety net") and then continue to check from time to time to see whether something better comes up.

We searched the best quality / price ratio hotels for three night stays during the second week-end of Oktoberst (27-30 September 2013) in a double room, breakfast included (after a long night on a beer diet, a hearty breakfast is a great way to start the day).

We looked only for hotels with a guest rating higher than 7.5 on booking.com, within a 2 kilometers radius from the venue (Thereseinwiese), so to walk to the hotel and avoid the taxi fares:

- Derag Livinghotel Prinzessin Elisabeth**** at a total price of 754$ from ebookers (877$ from booking.com);


- Hotel Belle Blue Zentrum***  at a total price of 815$ from ebookers (949$ from booking.com);

- Vi Vadi Hotel*** at a total price of  861$ from EasyClickTravel, or 974$ from ebookers (1 117$ from booking.com);



- Hotel Meier City Munchen*** at a total price of 995$ from ReiseExperten (1 070$ from booking.com);



- Citadines Arnulfpark Munich**** at a total price of 1 000$ from ebookers (1 150$ from booking.com);


- K+K Hotel Am Harras**** at a total price of 1 021$ from ReiseExperten (1 589$ from booking.com); 

- Eurostars Grand Central**** at a total price of 1 025$ from AlphaRooms (1 708$ from booking.com); 

- Hotel Cocoon*** at a total price of 1 033$ from ebookers (1 191$ from booking.com); 

- Conrad Hotel de Ville Munchen**** at a total price of 1 040$ from booking.com;

- NH Munchen Deutscher Kaiser**** at a total price of 1 045$ from ebookers (1 188$ from booking.com);

- Cocoon Stachus*** at a total price of 1 064$ from ebookers ( 1 225$ from booking.com);  

- Maritim Hotel Munchen at a total price of 1 065$ from ebookers (1 176$ from booking.com);

- Treff Hotel Munchen City Centre**** at a total price of 1 103$ from ReiseExperten (1 175$ from booking.com);

- Leonardo Hotel Munchen City Center**** at a total price of 1 118$ from ebookers (1 275$ from booking.com);

- Arthotel Munich*** at a total price of 1 156$ from ReiseExperten (1 385$ from booking.com);   

- InterCityHotel Munchen**** at a total price of 1 216$ from booking.com;

- BestWestern Atrium Hotel**** at a total price of 1 278$ from ReiseExperten (1 441$ from booking.com);   

- BestWestern Hotel Cristal**** at a total price of 1 306$ from BestWestern or booking.com; 

- Carat Hotel and Apartments Munchen*** at a total price of 1 316$ from Expedia (1 596$ from booking.com);    

- Fleming's Hotel Munchen City**** at a total price of 1 323$ from Expedia (1 340$ from booking.com); 

- Sheraton Munchen WestPark Hotel**** at a total price of 1 367$ from ReiseExperten (1 448$ from booking.com);   

- Mercure Munchen City Center**** at a total price of 1 383$ from AccorHotels or booking.com;  

- Asam Hotel Munchen*** at a total price of 1 390$ from hotel.info (1 552$ from booking.com);   
   

- Le Meridien***** at a total price of 1 480$ from ReiseExperten, or 1 606$ from Olotels (1 942$ from booking.com);      

- Sofitel Munich Bayerpost***** at a total price of 1 714$ from DHR (2 283$ from booking.com).


Remember that the prices above were valid at the date of this article (10 February). If you need any help, leave a comment and we'll be glad to help you with your search.

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Cancun all-inclusive deals for 2013

The best times to go to Cancun are fast approaching (we recommend the months of April and May, since it is not too hot and humid, but still warm enough to have a true beach holiday).

We compared the offers of various online travel agencies for Cancun, for 1 week (4 - 11 May 2013) for 2 adults, on an allinclusive basis. We looked only for Cancun holiday resorts where the total price was maximum 1 500$ (or 750$ per person).

See the table below for our finds (with light blue is the best price and with light orange the second best price):

We excluded properties which have a guest rating below 7 on booking.com.

Also, we are very cautious when booking hotels below the 7.5 rating (after all, it should be a pleasant holiday and not a nightmare to forget).

Our top choices would be:

- Temptation Resort and Spa - the destination to be for those looking for a relaxed atmosphere in an adults only environment. At a total of 845$ for two persons, it's a steal compared to the 1 800$ the big three are selling it;

- Barcelo Tucancun Beach Hotel - less than 500$ per person per week for a great property (8.7 guest rating). Also, the fact that it's part of the Barcelo chain is comforting.

See the banners of the travel agencies if you want to look for availabilities:

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Last minute hotel deal for the Rio Carnival 2013 - 57% discount

The annual carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil will take place between 9 - 12 February 2013.

There is still time to make arrangements to take part in this famous celebrations and enjoy the samba parades, the street parties and the night balls.

We found this great deal for those 3-nights for 2 people in Rio de Janeiro, during the carnival extended week-end:

- Sheraton Barra Hotel and Suites***** with a total price of 997$ (332$ per night) from HotelClub (part of the Orbitz group) - see print-screen below:

The same room costs 2 326$ from booking.com or Expedia. That means you save 57% on this last minute deal from HotelClub.

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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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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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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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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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Discounted hotel rates from LateRooms at Park Inn and Radisson Blu in the United Kingdom

Book until 6 December (for stays until 31 January 2013) for special hotel prices (breakfast included) at Park Inn by Radisson and Radisson Blu hotels in the United Kingdom.

To go to the deal page, follow this link to LateRooms.

Several examples for 2 nights over the week-end 21-23 December (breakfast included):

- Park Inn by Radisson Cardiff Centre, sold at a total price of 150 euro by LateRooms, while booking.com sells is at 229 euro;

- Park Inn by Radisson Aberdeen, sold at a total price of 122 euro by LateRooms, while booking.com sells it at 189 euro;

-  Park Inn by Radisson York City Centre, sold at a total price of 152 euro by LateRooms, while booking.com sells the same room at 229 euro.

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4 star hotels in Paris, Vienna and Leipzing at discounted rates from HRS

The daily deals feature from HRS strikes again.

This time with great offers at 4-star hotels, breakfast included:

- Hotel Marceau Bastille in Paris, France at 89 euro per night (booking.com sells it at 155 euro, without breakfast). Only 4 days left to book stays until 9 February;

- Jufa Hotel in Vienna, Austria at 49 euro per night (booking.com sells it at 69 euro, without breakfast). Only 2 days left to book stays until 28 Febrary;


- Parkhotel Diani in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany at 49 euro per night (booking.com sells it at 80 euro). 3 days left to book stays until 24 February.

To go to the deals follow these links, depending on your preferred language: the UK, the French, the Italian and the German website.
 

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Expedia 72 hour sale in Paris, London, Milan and New York

The 72 hours sale from Expedia is really appealing this week: great hotel deals in major cities.

To take advantage of the sale, follow the link to the dedicated Expedia page.

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 UK48SAVE10 in the field "Enter a coupon or promotion code".

We took some examples:

- in Paris, two nights over the week-end 21-23 December at the Best Western Anjou Lafayette*** have a total price of 123 GBP (152 euro), while on booking the same room costs 232 euro (50% more);

- the Radisson Blu Hotel at Disneyland Paris**** for 3 nights over the Christmas period, for a family room (2 adults and 2 children) has a total price of 575 euro (breakfast included), while on booking the price is 656 euro (about 15% more). Even better, Expedia also offers a free dinner for the happy family;

- Starhotels Ritz**** in Milan, Italy costs 175 euro (breakfast included) for 2 nights over the week-end 21-23 December. The same room is priced at 202 euro by booking (15% more);

- Lancaster London**** costs 163 euro for 2 nights over the same week-end, while booking sells the same room at a total of 297 euro (80% more);

-The New Yorker Hotel**** costs 384 euro for the same period, while booking shows it at 426 euro (10% more).

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2012 Black Friday hotel sale from BookIt.com

From now until Friday at mid-night, take advantage of great travel deals in North America from BookIt part of the the Black Friday travel promotion.

Simply follow the link from the banner below to go to the offer page:

There are many hotels where you get rates approximately 20% lower than at booking.com. Several examples for 2 nights over the week-end 21-23 December:

- W New York has a total price of 365$ from BookIt and 526$ from booking; (more than 30% saving)

- Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel has a total price of 443$ from BookIt, as compared to 579$ from booking (almost 25% saving);

- Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta has a total price of 200$ from BookIt as opposed to 252$ from booking (20% saving);

- Stratosphere Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has a total price of 90$ from BookIt and 108$ from booking.com (more than 20% saving).

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20 USD hotel voucher from Zuji (part of Travelocity / Lastminute.com group)

Zuji has a good offer valid until 31 March 2013: book a flight with MasterCard and receive a 25 Singapore Dollar voucher for hotel bookings (that should be approximate 20 USD or 16 EUR).

Click on the banner below to see more details on their website:

Considering the upcoming winter holidays, that should be a good travel deal to take advantage of.

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