<p>We will be starting the college search with S2 this spring, and will need to do a few overnights.
Do you tend to have better luck making reservations through the hotel directly, or by using one of the many online travel services? We found out this year that making our reservation directly with Hyatt online did not offer the same flexibility it would have if I’d picked up the phone and called them instead (re: changes and cancellations).</p>
<p>Key would be guaranteed room, price, and flexibility re: changes.
Just wondering-- Thanks</p>
<p>I book mostly online directly with the hotel. I’ve never had a problem and their policy about changes was the same whether it was done online or by phone. If I am not sure about something, I do call them directly.</p>
<p>You might want to call though to ask if they have any discount agreements with the colleges you will be visiting. I was able to snag some good deals that way.</p>
<p>I check the travel websites and the hotel websites every time. I usually find the hotel websites have better prices, but last summer I got a better rate through orbitz for the hotel I wanted - I did a search for coupon codes and got a good one that brought the price way down. I ALWAYS search for promo or coupon codes for hotels I like. You really have to check both suppliers & hotels to know where the best rate will be at any given time.</p>
<p>Check if the schools you are planning to visit have special rates at nearby hotels, then call the hotels directly and make reservations. You’ll have the flexibility to cancel without penalties until the day of your planned arrival, and the prices are great.</p>
<p>I check the websites for ideas, but I book my airfare directly with the airline, and my hotel directly with the hotel. I’ve been burnt more than once booking with a travel “site”. Flights got “changed” (and not for the better) and the travel site couldn’t help me at all. Airlines were reluctant to do so as I hadn’t booked with them. I book directly…makes it easier to deal with issues.</p>
<p>Agreed with above poster. If you are visiting a college and are booking a hotel in that town…mention the school. Often the hotels have college discounts. The college website might also have information for visitors. If nothing else, it will tell you which places are nearby.</p>
<p>We took a few days to tour last summer. We could not beat priceline’s “name your own price” (advice we got about an area on CC) for one night. We were very pleased, but once you book that way, you have prepaid and that is it. </p>
<p>We also used a free night that we had earned through a million years of reward point savings. We used it on that trip because we felt the hotel was overpriced (not too many hotels in that rural area). Again, that helped with cost, and it was a regular chain hotel that we use.</p>
<p>For the other nights, we shopped around using some recommendations on this site as a starting point. We looked at other online travel sites, called the hotels directly, and just shopped for the best deal. We only used Priceline’s name your price service for one night.</p>
<p>I get good prices with Orbitz. I never liked priceline but they do work. Hotels have a limit of how many $90 rooms they sell. Likely the one next to the elevator and the one next to the ice machine. I get the best price and best room when I call the hotel direct and tell them I saw the location of the hotel on line and it had some excellent reviews. (like yahoo) then pleased with the compliment they give me a good price for a quiet room.
Ive post my own reviews on hotels when I love em and when I got a pit.
Check with the school to see if they have a promotion code fir an open house.
Remember the hotel properties target the college areas as the occupancy rates are good. So be sure to remind them you are looking for a special place for the next 4 years.</p>
<p>Priceline seems to work best near urban areas. If someone thinks that theory is off, please let me know. Another CC poster clued me in when I could not get a hotel room while bidding for one in several more rural locations. It just so happens that the nice hotel where I was successful at bidding was in a more urban area, and I felt that I got a true bargain.</p>
<p>An important tip – if you use Priceline or Hotwire familiarize yourself with the info on the sites biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com. They will post lists of which hotels show up for the various cities in the star levels/regions for Priceline and which hotels have which amenities for Hotwire. The advantage to this is that if you’re bidding on Priceline for say Washington DC - Dupont Circle - 4 stars, you will see the various hotels that people have been getting. You can then research these hotels and see if you would be happy at any of them. If that’s the case, you can feel comfortable bidding. If you see that there’s one dud of a hotel, don’t bid on Priceline. Also, you can see posts of other bidders to see what price they’ve had accepted. For Hotwire, it’s a similar concept, but more precise. On betterbidding.com you can see the list of hotels and their amenities (such as business center, pool, laundry facilities) for the location/star level that’s showing up on Hotwire and match them up. I got a Kimpton hotel (Hotel Palomar) in DC that way last spring break for a college visit for $80/nt and the going rate was closer to $250! Sometimes it’s worth it, sometimes it’s not. It’s fun to try to figure it out, though.</p>
<p>Ditto Thumper, check the lowest prices at various websites and then book directly with the hotel/airline for best cancelation policies. Always tell the hotel reservation person the lowest price you saw on web sites, they have every incentive to meet it. Then call back the day before you are to travel, not mentioning your reservation and ask what the best price they can give you is. Hotels will often lower their price last minute if occupancy is low. And also ask for the AAA rate, it often beats my good corporate rate!</p>
<p>College towns may not be as impacted by this economy, but we have gotten killer deals on all travel in the past few months as no one is vacationing. Also a great time to use your frequent flyer miles for upgrades. Business class cabins are empty. Availability is much better than I’ve seen it in a decade.</p>
<p>I agree with hmom5. I generally check Expedia and hotels through the Southwest Airlines site. I don’t like priceline and have never had any luck with orbitz and hotels.com. Then I will go to the hotel’s website. I usually call the hotel directly rather than book online unless I’m absolutely sure of my travel. Websites often require you to pay at time of booking which leaves no flexibility for change. </p>
<p>Also if you’re visiting a hotel near a university, sometimes they have special rates for parents. I got a far better price by calling the hotel near S2s school directly than anywhere online, and I could have cancelled whenever I wanted.</p>
<p>Another tip: if it’s a chain hotel, big or small, join their club online. When you check in, say you are a member and ask if they can upgrade you. With low occupancy, they usually will even if you’ve never stayed in one of their hotels before.</p>
<p>Wow - Thanks-
Priceline, Orbiz, and Expedia seem to be the big three. When I was looking for hotels on Tripadvisor today, I noticed that all their websites pop up and you can compare prices.
Hadn’t thought of asking for rate specials re: particular colleges. Someone recently told me she almost always saved a bit with her AAA card as well.</p>
<p>Former hotel manager here. Go to expedia and see what rates you can find. Then call the hotel and ask about discounts, AAA, Senior Citizen, mention the school, ask “is that the best rate you can offer”. If the rate is higher than expedia, tell them so. Sometimes they will tell you that they can’t offer that rate over the phone and you should book with expedia.
As others have mentioned, expedia makes you pay up front and their cancellation policies are often more stringent than the hotel. If you can make the price equal, always book through the hotel directly.
If you start asking around, often the hotel will find a midweek, tuesday in January, or whatever discount. Particularly if they have a lot of rooms still available for that night.
Tripadvisor is great for hotel reviews but as with most of the online reviews you do have to take them with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Thanks, ebeeee-
The stringent cancellation policies are what I want to avoid. Not because I plan to cancel, but because we’re undecided so far as to needing one or two rooms, depending on how many of us are going.</p>
<p>You cannot cancel with Priceline, Expedia, etc. so you have to deal with the hotels directly and will have to pay a little more for flexibility. Go to [Reviews</a> of vacations, hotels, resorts, vacation and travel packages - TripAdvisor](<a href=“http://www.tripadvisor.com%5DReviews”>http://www.tripadvisor.com) and decide where you’d like to stay. Call a few hotels and ask if they give a university discount, which I’ve found to be better than the AAA discount. AAA usually saves you between 10-25%.</p>
<p>Do remember to ask about AAA…I often forget! Also if you check a chain’s website, they will frequently list all their discounts. </p>
<p>TripAdvisor and such sites do tend to collect crabby people’s reviews. I’ve read ones where people complain about a cracked tile in the bathroom or a spot on a carpet in an elevator and say ‘I’ll never stay <em>there</em> again’, for goodness’ sake. I’m sure their homes must be spotless but all I care about is a clean room and a firm pillow.</p>
<p>I have used Tripadvisor to choose hotels all over the world. IMO, it’s spot on if you read it through the right lens. Always keep in mind the top rated hotels are almost never the best/top of the line hotels. They are usually value hotels as the majority of posters tend not to be luxury travelers. Read the whole post to figure out if it’s a broken tile complainer or something important to you is or is not there. Scroll down for the luxury hotels, they are there too but will usually have fewer reviews.</p>
<p>There is also a site called something like myhotels.com that has actual video of hotels. And Youtube has a surprising number of hotel videos, especially for resort and luxury hotels.</p>