Nowadays, it isn’t true that you have to be rich to be able to travel. You can get cheap air tickets and hotel and you’re ready to hit the road. These days, it takes only a few minutes to find a cheap hotel anywhere in the world. Luckily, it’s possible to find cheap hotel room all over the world and when you manage to keep your standards, you don’t have to pay travel agencies for overpriced hotels.
Where to Search for Cheap Hotels – Best Websites
There is an infinite number of websites (some of them are good, some of them rather worse) where you can look for various types of hotel rooms. We picked 3 best websites which are good enough to start with:
The first and simplest option is this website Booking.com, probably the best one of all. There are hundreds of thousands of hotels, vacation apartments, bed and breakfasts, and hostels all over the world. You can filter the rooms by various parameters, by their locality, etc. The website is in many different languages and has the 24/7 customer support hotline.
It is a comparison web of similar websites as Booking.com, through which you can compare all prices for the same hotel. Prices for one room can differ a lot, and you can reveal that at Hotelscombined.com.
The times of dirty, bed-bug-infested hostels have long gone, thank God. However, such idea about this type of accommodation still remains on people’s minds. Actually, hostels are sometimes of higher quality and more comfortable than hotels for example in Asia. Today’s hostels have wifi, a laundry room, a fully-equipped kitchen, and they often serve breakfast. So, there is no reason to avoid them. If you decided on this type of accommodation, definitely try searching via HostelWorld.com.
The service offering accommodation via homestay network is becoming more and more popular now. It may range from a sofa in someone’s living room to a large suite with a swimming pool and a view of the sea. If you want to try Airbnb, we are sharing Airbnb travel credit (good for up to $37) to use for your next booking.
Beautifully furnished room in central Florence. Just a little patient for searching and you can have this room for a couple of Euro.
When It Is the Best Time to Search Cheap Hotels
If you want to find cheap hotel, think about that when you’re booking your stay. Try to avoid Christmas and other holidays when there is almost no chance to find anything at a low cost. The same applies to a high season. For instance, try to compare hotel room prices anywhere in Italy in August and September. In August, there are summer holidays in Italy, and prices are at their highest. And to be honest, you definitely don’t want to be in Italy during that season because it is literally overcrowded there.
Our Tricks: How to save on hotel rooms
Moderate your requirements. That is the most important rule if you want to save money when it comes to hotels. When you travel, you spend most of the time outside anyway, relaxing by the sea, sightseeing, or playing sports. You leave the hotel in the morning and come back late in the evening. Reconsider whether you really need a four-star hotel when you just sleep there; a simple room in a small pension could be sufficient for you.
Now, we will share a simple but effective trick with you. There is a possibility to make a free reservation via Booking.com with an option to cancel it. Such option can cost little more but it pays off. Firstly, it serves as some kind of protection for you to get your money back in case you won’t be able to go. Secondly, you still have a chance to look for cheaper hotel. It happens to us often that we find a better or cheaper hotel at the same website, and then there’s nothing easier than canceling the previous reservation and making a new one. However, pay attention to the deadline until which it is possible to cancel the reservation without a cancellation fee.
Do you like a little bit of adventure? Try to travel at night, by train or bus. It is a usual way of traveling in many states (this type of traveling is ideal in Peru and Bolivia), it is comfortable, cheap, and it saves you time and money for hotels.
If you like nature, you can start camping during your travels. You can find a place to build a tent, cook breakfast in the morning, and take a shower in almost any corner of the world, and it’s always considerably cheaper than any hostel – Our South-West Us Road Trip. You don’t even have to go to camping sites, as it is legal to camp almost anywhere in many countries. Owning a tent or just a hammock allows you to visit outlying places where you could hardly find any hotel for example Oman.
Also, it would be perfect to rent a car while camping – We recommend to rent a car on Rentalcars.com or Skyscanner.net. Then, you could have absolute freedom and you wouldn’t be limited by hotels or transportation anymore.
The cheapest and most free traveling – just a car and tent. This way, we spend a few bucks for traveling in Oman.
Other Options: Things You Might Not Know Yet
Besides such traditional hotels, there are a few other ways of how to find cheap or even free overnight accommodation. These ways usually require longer planning; they also pay off when you travel long term.
It is a worldwide social network of people who share their space for a sleepover, no matter if it’s a couch or a room. The system is based on mutual recommendations, so don’t expect that you can travel the whole world without paying for accommodation. Well, you can but it’s better to start with offering your own couch. For more information, see this article on Couchsurfing.
It unites farms worldwide. You can put your shoulder to the wheel and get accommodation (sometimes even food) for free. It’s volunteering, or, in other words, accommodation as a reward for the work you do. You will learn new skills, learn about new cultures and make a lot of new friends.
If you plan to travel long term and don’t mind staying somewhere for a long time, housesitting is perfect for you. People will let you stay in their homes for free and in return they want you to look after their house, or even their pets, while they travel.
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Some great tips and websites to get started when looking for places to stay!
Thank you Jessica !
Hello! I know this is kind of off-topic
however I had to ask. Does operating a well-established blog like yours require a massive
amount work? I’m brand new to writing a blog however I do write in my diary everyday.
I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my own experience and feelings online.
Please let me know if you have any recommendations or tips for brand new aspiring blog owners.
Thankyou!
I like that you provided some tips on how to find cheap and comfortable hotels such as moderating your requirements. It is important to determine if you really need to book an accommodation in a five-star hotel when you will mostly be spending most of your time outside. You can probably just opt for a cheaper accommodation. This way, you would be able to save a lot on your budget and spend it wisely. If I were to book for hotel accommodation, I would make sure to keep this in mind. Thanks.
Hi Bobby, I must admit, you are absolutely right. This is exactly the way how we think about spending money. For us is the most important if we can find clean bed and that’s it 🙂 We are not traveling to the expensive hotels and resorts and spending the day in the pools. But of course depends on each taste. Anyway thanks for great comment.
I love your tips for finding cheap and nice hotels to stay. It makes sense that moderating our requirements would make it easier. My wife wants a lot of things when we travel, so I’ll have to talk her down a bit.
If you want to travel cheaper, it always starts with your requirements 😉
This is some really good information about booking a cheap comfortable hotel. My sister is trying to find a good hotel for her vacation with her son this summer. I had no idea there are so many different places to check for a cheap hotel. It is good to know that going to a smaller room would be good.
Hi Ivy, thanks for comment. To find a good accomodation is always difficult. I hope this article can help you a little bit to find what your sister is looking for.
Your tips on how to find a cheap and comfortable hotel simply amazed me! What I really love the most is that you focused on how you could save but can still enjoy your stay. Who wouldn’t be liking it anyway? Hahaha, this really makes sense, thank you so much!
I am glad that you like our tips 🙂 I hope it will help you on your next vacation.
It’s great to know how to find a hotel. I like how you listed all of these websites to look at during the down season. We’re trying to travel more, so I’ll remember all of this.
Hi Silat, thank you for yur comment, I hope this list could be useful for you
Glad I stopped by your blog. I liked your point on moderating your accommodation expenses. Yes as out of 24 hours only 9 hours we are in hotels and paying a huge amount of that 9 hours is totally waste. Nice blog. Good work.
Hi Patel, thank you for nice comment. I am happy to hear it !
Important tips given by you. Staying in the heart of the city typically costs more. Save a few bucks by staying away from the city center, but near public transportation for easy downtown access.
Yeahh, it’s always about compromises and depends on the situation, on the city, but yaeh, the most on the budget you have.
Thanks for this advice for finding a good hotel. I’m glad that you mentioned to try to avoid booking during the holidays. This also sounds like a good time to go to a hotel without worrying it’s going to be too crowded or loud.
Thank you Taylor for nice comment, I am happy you like this article. There is always a lots of possibilities how to find accomodation, I remember old times, when we were walking all street and knocking on the doors of the hotels, if they have a vacancy. …but it is long time ago.
A massively insightful article, these come so handily. Thanks a million.
Thank you for comment, I am happy you like it
Thanks for the information
Hey Nice Article,
Thanks a lot for sharing the list of the website through which we can get cheap hotels.
But still, there are many websites which are not familiar but provide great services. One of the websites I usually prefer is
https://rainbowhospitality.com/
Here you get all the solutions such as Hotels, Flights, trip etc
There is many websites where you can book hotels, but the list here contain website which we use. Anyway thank you for your tip…
That’s good to know that you should avoid the popular travel season when you are looking for a hotel. I would think that if you could book it enough time in advance that you could get a better price for a room for a trip during the popular tourist times. I’ll have to give that a try the next time I plan for a family vacation.
Hey Tom! this is a very helpful blog, for finding a cheap hotel, I visit multiple websites which is mentioned in this blog, I like Airbnb site.
I am grateful that your article mentions the importance of avoiding large holidays such as Christmas when booking a hotel to ensure that you can get a room. My husband and I are interested in traveling to Sarina next summer to get a break from our usual lives. We’ll look into motels in the area that can accommodate the two of us.
Very valuable information, it is not at all blogs that we find this, congratulations I was looking for something like that and found it here.
I am glad that is helpfull post 🙂
Airbnb is great but I always seen to have issues when I travel with my husband we can never seem to find a decent place or in a decent area that allows 2 people! But thanks for sharing this post 🙂
You are right, that’s why we are writing here about more services than just Airbnb.