We have handpicked 5 of the best hotel booking websites for cheap rooms

Hotel Booking Websites

Hotel comparing websites are great for narrowing down your requirements. The search tools and options for amenities and location will assist in pin pointing the ideal hotel. If you are not pleased with the rate offered go direct to the hotel. Just google the contact details for the desired accommodation. Then email them or call and ask for a price match or cheaper rate.

Budget Hotels

No one wants to spend big when on a quick trip. A good night’s sleep and clean room is all you need. You’re not going to admire the hotel décor. So, it’s important you don’t pay for aesthetics. Budget hotel chains have developed into perfect stopovers for travellers.

Private Villas

More suited to the holidaymaker wishing to have privacy and usually a private pool. Villas and apartment rentals are a luxury option for the family and couples away from home. Untold settings worldwide and truly a unique experience if within budget.

Hotel Booking Websites

Hotel booking websites can save you loads of bother when looking for the right room or accommodation. Keep in mind they are all on commission so try and be savvy with your choices. Sometimes it pays to cut the middleman out after have you found a room.

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The best and most reliable hotel search engine booking websites when looking for cheap hotel rooms

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts

A quality hotel chain with an inclusive price range from Days Inn for the stop over traveller to beautiful boutique hotels. All spanning the globe with locations like the US and UK, all these come with a welcoming smile. Best rates guaranteed and price match lower rates. Special hotel room rates for group bookings. Discounts and award-winning hotel rewards program.

The best hotel booking websites

The top 5 best Hotel Comparison Websites

uk.trip.com

1: Trip.com

About: Trip.com can help you find all types of accommodation around the world. Its really easy to use, reviews come back stating that the speed of the booking process. Above all is the speciality they give when looking for hotel rooms in Asia specifically China, Malaysia and Thailand. With featured hotels in many cities across China in Beijing and Hong Kong. Don’t let me put you off trying to find great deals elsewhere in the world with trip.com. Because they do cover all other global destinations. You can Customise your journey with trip.com whether you’re a business traveller or Spanish holidaymaker. That’s not all don’t worry about the difficulty of buying Chinese train tickets they can help. Customer services at trip.com speak many languages including Mandarin and Korean not to forget the ever popular Japanese. Finally, they can also assist with finding the cheapest flights to Japan and other Asian destinations.

History Summary: It was originally called Gogobot but was rebranded in 2016 to trip.com. The Ctrip Group the world’s second biggest internet-based travel agency is the parent company of Trip.com. They acquired it from the original founders Ori Zaltzman and Travis Katz in 2017 who built it to be the social network for travellers. These two tech guys were also the founders of the social network site Myspace. Another travel related website, Skyscanner is also under the umbrella of Ctrip.com Int Ltd. Based in Shanghai China, Ctrip provides travel services which include hotels and accommodation bookings. Most notably you can book Chinese train tickets the most practical way to tour China by train.

Best Buys: Japanese hotel deals. Points-Plus with every hotel booking. Best for Asia/China hotel coverage. Sakura season save on Japan hotels.

trivago.co.uk

2: Trivago UK

About: Trivago is a hotel and accommodation price comparison website that offers travellers comprehensive meta search results. They have millions of hotels and different accommodation styles to choose from. The results can be filtered for houses/Villas or apartments, not just traditional hotels. Filter options to select when searching cover star ratings and numerous popular amenities like saunas and restaurants on site. Hence this all helps to provide a tailored perfect stay. Not only that the website hosts a lively interactive travel community. Furthermore, independent guest reviews and useful hotel photos all help to make the right choice.

History Summary: The concept for Trivago was born in 2005 in the proverbial garage like lots of other internet start-up businesses. Founded by Peter Vinnemeier, Stephan Stubner and Rolf Schrömgens. They were all students at Leipzig business School a private school based in Saxony, Germany. Stephan Stubner later left Trivago to pursue his professorship. That’s when Malte Siewert came onboard in 2006 when Trivago went live. It was the first hotel room metasearch engine in Germany. After receiving financing in 2006/2007 the expansion begins into the rest of Europe. Later going into the US and Asia markets. Subsequently in 2013 Expedia the US based global travel technology group buy 62% of Trivago the German hotel room search engine.

Best Buys: Budget luxury boutique hotels. Get the trivago mobile app. Guest ratings search feature. Searches hotels and booking websites.

agoda.com/en-gb

3: Agoda UK

About: Although you can search for flights with Agoda it is predominantly an hotel booking website. If it’s an hotel room you want at a low price then Agoda should suit the service. Contained within the search parameters is the option to include guest houses, B and Bs and resort villas, holiday parks for families. Filtering the results will help to narrow down your specific hotel or accommodation needs. Excluding or including resort locations and hotel amenities. Try Agoda Homes where accommodation is listed by the homeowners solely for the user of the traveller. With two million properties and growing in over 200 countries. They are fast becoming one of the big hotels booking services. If your looking for budget UK hotels try this link.

History Summary: Cofounded by two long term friends Michael Kenny and Robert Rosenstein in 2007. Although the partnership with Agoda goes back to 2002. Both travel enthusiasts with Michael being hotel specialists and Robert having a love of the internet. Agoda was acquired by Priceline in 2007 for an estimated $15 dollars. Both Michael and Robert still have leading roles in the business. This online hotel reservation agency is based in Singapore. It’s another one owned by US based Booking Holdings the travel fare aggregator. Who also own Kayak.com and Priceline.com along with further travel and tourism sites.

For the record because these companies are affiliated this does not mean the search result prices will be the same. Best Buys: Hotel rooms in Phuket Thailand. Book airport transfer rides instantly. Agoda Homes listed by the homeowners. Earn points on “your” loyalty scheme.

uk.hotels.com

4: Hotels.com/UK

About: Hotels.com is at the top of the tree for online accommodation websites. This is because they are just so consistent with offering cheap hotel rooms. A big help is the combinations of multiple options to select the right location and hotel specific amenities. The reward scheme is not to be sniffed at, it’s worthwhile collecting hotel.com reward points for frequent hotel stayers. The accommodation offered is not just traditional hotels. When it comes to holiday rentals Hotels.com’s available options cover everything from luxury resort bungalows to private Marbella apartments and villas. If you’re on a budget you can also factor cheap hostels in to your search requests.

History Summary: Started by two entrepreneurial lawyers with lots of travel experience between them Robert Diener and David Litman. A little unusual for two lawyers to be one of the first travel booking website start-ups. Launched in 1991 it was initially named Hotel Reservations Network (HRN). In 1999 they sold the majority of the company 80% to Inter Active Corp for 150 million dollars. Both went on to have other travel related technology companies. Hotel.com is now part of the US based Expedia group of travel sites. Which has TripAdvisor.com and Orbitz among a host of other travel booking sites in the group.

Best For: Cheap London hotel stays. Email savings with “Secret Prices” Save up to 50% on deals of the day. Collect 10 nights get 1 free with rewards.

otel.com

5: Otel.com Out of Business

About: Specialising in discounted hotel rooms for the business guest and pleasure travellers. Otel.com’s goal is to create a one stop shop for your accommodation needs. They aim to provide travellers the lowest rates on hotel rooms. It’s a decent functional website with a straight forward navigation and layout. Making it easy to choose your accommodation selections. Reviews across the internet are a mixed bag but that can be said for most hotel reservations websites.

History Summary: Otel.com is part of the Met Global Group founded by Metin Altun. Metin was born in Bingol Turkey in 1974 he now lives in Istanbul. After university he went into the tourism industry specifically hotel promotion and management. He helped build the Best Western hotel brand in Turkey with great success. With his background in hotel tourism and his interest in domain names and the internet.

This led the way into Otel.com a website launched in 2004. Initially aimed at Turkish tourism and hotel market but now offering worldwide discount accommodation rates. To be honest the reviews online for Otel.com are not very favourable the Trustpilot score at the time of writing is 5.9 on a scale of 1 to 10. Best For: Turkish Hotel Bookings. Get 5% off email voucher on bookings. Popular cities hotel guides. Also book tours and activities.

How to book hotel rooms with comparison sites

Hotel Booking Comparison Websites

Hotel aggregator booking sites have come under the spotlight recently for using underhanded tactics. Enticing customers with the best room rates and misleading strategies. In the UK they have been given guidance to rectify bad practise This comes after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raised serious concerns. They all claim to offer the cheapest room rates and we know that’s not possible. There not perfect and have been known to make the best paying commission hotels come higher on the results list.

The online accommodation booking industry on the whole as promised to improve. This is a victory for the British holidaymaker. The biggest players in the hotel booking business make firm pledges to change bad practise. To conclude they are still a very useful resource for finding a cheap hotel room and there is no need to avoid them overall. Just be wary there not your friend they just want your money! A lot of people just use them to match their hotel room requirements. Before sneaking off to contact the hotel direct to see if they will beat the rate.

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