How to Book a Cheap Hotel Room

This a travel hack post focused on branded hotels.

To avoid confusion, let me state straight away that the aim of this post is not to suggest that branded hotels are the best option when booking a hotel room. I always search on Kayak, Hotels.com or Trivago to make sure I am getting the best value from my booking. The key advantage of paying in cash is you have the widest possible choice of hotels, locations and dates.

I use branded hotels for two specific reasons;

1) It is easy to acquire status with a hotel brand and this status can provide a substantially better experience at no additional cost

2) Branded hotels have loyalty programs that can be used to earn free stays or significant discounts

Now, remember Hotels.com have their own reward program called Welcome Rewards that provides a free night for every 10th stay. This I consider to be the industry standard and what I aim to beat on any hotel booking that I make at a branded hotel.

TopCashBack offers 8% cashback available for Hotels.com

 

Hilton

Hilton is the first branded hotel I will examine. Hilton have the following brands in their portfolio.

• Waldorf Astoria


• Conrad


• Hilton


• DoubleTree


• Embassy Suites


• Hilton Garden Inn


• Hampton


• HomeWood Suites


• Home 2 Suites

The Hilton HHonors program has suffered a devaluation recently that has made more difficult to book their aspirational properties. If you chose Hilton as your hotel brand of choice then I would highly recommend reading the implications of the devaluation of their program.

The main travel hack I use for Hilton is the Corporate Benefit Partner Rate as outlined here by Loyalty Lobby.

You use code PR13CB in the promotional code box.

This gives you a prepaid rate that could be a substantial discount to Hilton’s best available rate. You must have definite plans in place if you want to use this rate.

It is important to check if Hilton is running any other promotions at the time of your booking as those promotions may offer a more substantial discount. For example, at the time of writing, Hilton is offering 33% off on stays of 3 or more nights.

Hilton runs points promotions on a regular basis, the current one is the Daily Grand.

TopCashBack offers 5% cashback for Hilton online bookings.

 

Starwood

The Starwood hotel portfolio includes the following brands:

• Sheraton


• Meridien


• Loft


• The Luxury Collection


• Westin


• Four Points


• St Regis


• W Hotels

Starwood has a website for late bookings for their European properties that can offer significant discounts, www.beatthetimer.com.

Starwood runs points promotions on a regular basis, the current one is Double Take.

 

Priority Club

 

 

 

 

Priority Club, soon to be renamed IHG Rewards Club, has the following brands in its portfolio:

• InterContinental


• Crowne Plaza


• Hotel Indigo


• Holiday Inn


• Staybridge


• Candlewood

It can be rewarding to book at least one Priority Club stay every 6 to 12 months as promo codes exist that offer significant points bonuses for people who have not stayed at a Priority Club property for a while. These bonus codes are supposed to be targeted but can be used by any account. For example, there are two current promo codes, at time of writing, both offering 1,500 points for a stay within the next 90 days, code 7641 and 2656. There is also another code for 5,000 bonus points for a two night weekend stay, code 7637. You can register the codes here. Only use the codes if you have a stay planned. You can book a stay for as little as 5,000 points with the pointsbreak promotion. So, if you get Platinum status and use both codes you will have enough points for free stay.

There is no cashback available for Priority Club at the moment.

 

Club Carlson

The Club Carlson portfolio of brands includes:

• Carlson Rezidor


• Radisson Blu


• Radisson


• Park Plaza


• Country Inn & Suites

If you can gain Club Carlson Gold status you can take advantage of two amazing offers.

• Stay 2 nights, pay for 1. Dates must be consecutive and include a Friday or Saturday. The rate is


•  for the first night and the second night is free. Search for properties with promotional code RSGP1P1


• Stay 4 nights, pay for 2. Dates must be consecutive and include a Friday or Saturday. Rate shown is for the first 2 nights and the second two nights are free.  Search for properties with promotional code RSGP2P2

 

TopCashBack offers 5% cashback for Radisson Hotels.

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How To Get Hotel Status

If you took advantage of the Le Club Platinum offer then you can do a Status Match to the other hotel brands, apart from Starwood. They only require a screenshot of your account to prove your Platinum status then they will offer you the equivalent status with their hotel. They do this because they want your business. Starwood are different in that they offer status matches if you complete a stay challenge, like stay 15 times within 90 days. You can also get hotel status through the American Express Platinum card, or through hotel-branded credit cards, such as Hilton, or Priority Club.

If you did not take advantage  Le Club Platinum offer then do not worry. It is the fourth time within the last 12 months that such an offer has been made so there is a strong chance that a new offer will appear over the next few months. I will, of course, bring you the details on this website as soon as it happens.

How to Book a Cheap Hotel Room