How to Get Better Deals on Hotels

Getting a good deal on a hotel can sometimes feel impossible.  And sometimes, it actually will be.  Last year, I went to the US Open (golf) at Pebble Beach in California, and hotels (and motels) were running at $400 minimum per night, and most were booked to capacity.  I ended up staying in San Francisco, more than a 2 hour drive from the golf course.  In these types of situations, all you can do is choose between paying a boatload to be close to where you want to be, or choose to stay further away.

In more "normal" situations, there are a few ways to get some deals.  The easiest methods are ones that many people know about, but only few seem to take advantage of:

1. Special rates.  Take advantage of that AAA or AARP club membership that offer special rates at the majority of hotels.  Most of the time, these rates discount the BAR (Best Available Rate), but can sometimes end up being more expensive than the hotel's pre-paid non refundable rate.  Keep in mind though that the AAA rate is refundable most of the time, so if the difference is small, book the AAA rate.  Of course, sometimes the AAA rate can be cheapest outright.
2. Use an opaque website.  Websites like Priceline and Hotwire can offer significant savings.  These sites are "opaque", which means that they only disclose the exact hotel after you have paid.  It sounds odd, but it seems to work.  For Hotwire, they disclose the neighborhood of the hotel and it's star rating, and disclose a price.  If, for example, a 4 star at Los Angeles Airport for $74 sounds good to you, book it!  In the case of Priceline, you choose which star rating and neighborhood you want, and choose the price you want to pay.  Within a minute, Priceline will tell you if your bid has been accepted.  If it is, they charge your credit card and disclose which hotel.  If not, your credit card will not be charged.
3. Get to know a local hotel.  A lot of times, if you call the hotel directly, talk to someone in sales, and ask for a locals rate, they will sometimes offer unpublished rates at significant savings.  This really comes in handy when the in-laws are in town.
4. Purchase the points.  It sounds like a backwards way to get a good deal, but this can sometimes work out.  For example, in Starwood's hotel loyalty program, 3000 points is enough for a hotel night at some properties.  Those 3000 points can be purchased for $105 which can be less than what the rate is at that hotel.  For NYC (which is one of the most expensive areas for hotels in the the US), you can purchase enough Priority Club points for $128 for a few different Priority Club properties in Manhattan, which is an excellent deal for Manhattan.

Happy saving!