Last Minute .com

[admarlow]

How soon until you want a hotel room should you book it on last minute.com to get the best price??, same day???

[KebabMeister]

Depends really.  Some hotels you can get some really good deals whereas other hotels don't go down in price much at all.  Definitely good for deals in London though.  I managed to get a 4* room with air con reduced from �140 to �29 a couple of years ago and that was on the night before I stayed over.  The receptionist couldn't believe how cheap it was since it also included a full English breakfast.

[Buenchico]

As KebabMeister has indicated, there isn't a precise rule on how to get the cheapest rate. (Otherwise everyone would wait until exactly the same moment!). Some hotels will offer their lowest rates immediately before occupancy but others use the 'Ryanair flights' model. (e.g. If I want to book a flight to say, Sweden, with Ryanair several months in advance it might cost me �4.99. 3 weeks in advance it will quite likely cost �0.01. Booked one day before travel it will be well over �100!). So it's incorrect to assume that waiting until the very last moment always gives the lowest price. Additionally, you might well find that the hotel is fully booked anyway!

Another false assumption is that lastminute.com always has the cheapest prices. My personal preference for hotel bookings would be www.needahotel.com

Chris

[Mrs_Pegasus]

I recently read that if you are cheeky you should ring around and haggle with the hoteliers.  I know plenty of people who this has worked for.  I recently stayed in London, B&B for �40 for 2 people.  The hotel was standard, cheap bar underneath and it was en suite.  It did the job!  In the foyer it advertised rooms at �110 per night!

Try Activehotels.com as well, plenty of bargains there.  And if you are happy to go and look for your breakfast then you can get further discounts.