Renting Car - Hotel Room Strategies For Finding the Best Room at the Best Price

Not so much, if you're in the teeny space over the disco with no air conditioning. Chances are that you'll enjoy your stay, corner suite with a great view, quiet, if you have a roomy. A great hotel room can spell the difference between a great vacation and a mediocre one.

almost all of us have checked into a hotel room that looked nothing like the one on the hotel's web site, And hotel web sites are famous for their puffery. You don't really know if you'll agree, unless you know who's giving the hotel rave reviews. But they can also mislead you. Sites with user-generated content like Tripadvisor can help. And rooms, and we still end up in some disappointing hotels, both on- and off-line, we do tons of research before we travel, in fact. But it isn't always easy to find the perfect hotel room.

Here's our advice for how to find the perfect hotel room: There are several things you can do to make sure that you end up with a room that you'll love at a price you think is fair.

Include them on your list. Or places to go after dark? Shops you've heard about? Are there restaurants you want to try? Or Tripaddiction are good places to start, frommers, travel websites like Fodors. Figure out what things you'll want to see and do there. 1) Do some research about the destination first.

So stay someplace central. You won't want to spend two hours every day getting to and from your hotel, if you have two days in Paris, and remember. But the less you'll spend on transportation, the more expensive the hotel will be, the closer in you stay. You should choose a hotel that's close to the places you want to visit, otherwise. You can be flexible, or you don't mind paying for taxis, are comfortable taking public transportation, if you love to walk. You'll probably find that many of them are clustered together. 2) Highlight those places on a map of the city.

Book a superior room or better. And generally undesirable, in a bad location, standard rooms are cramped, in Europe especially. And that's usually not a room that you want, bear in mind the first price listed is for the cheapest hotel room, when you're comparing hotels. So it shouldn't be too hard, most travel sites will lets you search by location. Start looking for hotels there, 3) Once you have identified one or two neighborhoods that would be convenient for you.

While an awful place that has both may be a three-star property, a really charming hotel with no restaurant and no elevator may only have two star. The number of stars awarded often just denotes which facilities a hotel has. Be aware that the star-rating system is different in every country and it doesn't always reflect how nice a place is, also.

Confirm it in advance, or breakfast in bed to make you happy, a cocktail, if it takes CNN. Like clocks and English-language televsion, many hotels abroad lack some of the amenities we take for granted. Don't assume the hotel will have them -- send an email to make sure they do, if there are any services or facilities that you need to be happy.

Ask the hotel if they will honor it, if there's a better rate available through one of the travel sites. You're more likely to get an upgrade, and when you book directly. Not someone else's, it's their problem, if you do have a problem. Book directly with them, if the hotel has the same price on their web site. Sometimes a better price is for a less expensive room. Just be sure you're comparing apples to apples. Travel sites like hotelscombined compare prices in an instant. The next step is finding the best price. You should have two or three hotels in your price range in neighborhoods that will be convenient for you, 4) By now.

The money you'll save isn't usually worth the risk, unless you're traveling very soon or purchasing travel insurance. Be careful about saving money by choosing a nonrefundable rate that must be paid in full at the time of booking.

The best time to change rooms is before you open your bags. Make sure it has everything you need and that it's acceptable, then when you get to your room. Go over any special requests with the front desk, when you check in. It's easier to make other arrangements from home than it is once you're there, if the hotel has somehow misplaced your reservation. It's also not a bad idea to reconfirm your reservation in writing a week or so before your arrival. 5) Always take written confirmation of your reservations with you to the hotel.

It can give walk-ins incredible deals, if a hotel has more than enough vacant rooms. Consider going without reservations, so if you're traveling off season. Occupancy rates are way off. This one isn't much better, and so far. 6) Last year was a tough one for hotels.

Even sites like Travelocity have last-minute specials, these days. You can sometimes find really great deals. 7) Another strategy is to make reservations well in advance that can be cancelled without any penalty and then visit travel sites that specialize in last-minute travel about a week before you leave.