TechnologyTravel

Best Hotel Booking Sites

We wanted to write a post about the best hotel booking sites. We have entered dozens of sites, we have done research and we have evaluated a lot of local and foreign hotel booking site. Holiday should be one of our favorite things. Your holiday is also will be more beautiful to find the best hotel.

Here I write a little personal as Cemal Alp Solak. Personally, I like to travel. My favorite hobbies are exploring new places, going to places I didn’t go or visiting my favorite places again. When I decide to go somewhere, I set up my flight ticket first. Then I visit hotel booking sites to choose where I want to travel. Compare prices. Then, according to my budget, I look for the best way to get the best room. After making the reservation for my hotel room, either pay the price or when I go to the hotel facility. But I don’t have any problems in my head anymore.

After that, if taking a visa is necessary for my destination, I’ll start thinking about it, otherwise I’ll wait for the day I pick up my passport and go to the airport. And I usually complete these organizations months ago to bring the trip cheaply, with dozens of days left to end. Eventually I board my plane and started the journey towards the my hotel room which I bought via the hotel booking site. I miss all these things…

What are the our criteria for the best hotel booking sites

We looked for a specific date (June 3 – June 9, 2019), the city (London), the number of people (two adults), the type of facility (3-stars hotel) and the breakfast option included in the price and we looked at the price recommendations brought by the hotel booking sites. If possible, we stopped on hotels less than 5 km from the city center. We also took into consideration the filters, search and use facilities that the sites offer while searching.

We made the searching on April 7, 2019. The facilities and prices that we tell you in this article, the results of hotel booking sites as of the day this article was written. When you read the text, the price and results will change. Take this into account. The goal is to introduce you to the best sites already, you will find your own searches, the best result according to the features you are looking for.

Some of the sites we provide in our article are working directly with accommodation facilities and hotels. Some sites make comparisons between hotel booking sites and find the best room for the best price.

When booking a hotel, it is of great importance that the season and travel date you choose are far or close. In winter places such as ski resorts, where winter vacations are popular, summer prices are high in summer, sea, sun and beach resorts. For summer holidays, you might consider making a reservation from February. Thus, you can make your summer holiday almost half the price of the early booking. As we say yes, there is trouble but it is even important to have a penny when holidaying at these days and money exchange rates. Please make early booking and feel comfortable.

Here are the best hotel booking sites based on our criteria.

Best Foreign Hotel Reservation Sites

1. Booking.com

Booking the best hotel booking site of the world
Booking the best hotel booking site

Booking.com is one of the oldest and most known hotel booking sites. The Netherlands-based company is one of my favorites, and I would say it’s the hotel booking site I use most.

Booking.com offers cheap accommodation options like thousands of hotel rooms, apartments and even hostels all over the world. As soon as you enter the site, you enter the top search bar, where to go, check-in check-out dates and how many people will stay. As soon as you click on the “Search” button, the codes are running behind and the facilities appear in front of you.

Don’t be afraid if you come across the most expensive hotel options. The type of facility (hotel, hostel, apartment), the number of stars, you want to do at the hotel, special offers, dining options, nearby symbol buildings, room and hotel facilities, neighborhood, facilities for disabled people, chain hotels, such as room accessibility. Filter by criteria. Then set the price to the lowest, not the highest, from the toolbar above the top facility. Thus, the room you want to start at the most reasonable price.

We choose to stay 6 nights in London between June 3 and June 9, 2019, at least 3 stars hotel and we choose a double room with breakfast included in the price. We see the Ibis Styles London Walthamstow as the first choice. And the price of 6 nights, including taxes and fees is $412. Not bad for an expensive city like London. Then we chose hotels that are less than 5 km away from the city center. This time we came across the Islington Inn as the cheapest option. Its price was $649. If you have a history on Booking.com and you review the hotels you’re staying, you can subscribe as a Genius member. So you can take advantage of the 10 percent extra Genius discounts.

One of the best features of Booking.com is that it has a quality comment system. Thus, you can read the comments of those who have stayed in the facility you want to make a reservation before you can make your final decision according to these comments. After making a reservation, you either pay the room price directly through the site or you can pay when you go to the hotel when you reserve your room with a refund guarantee. All booking information can be sent to you by email. You can use the reservation documents you have printed in the visa process.

Other features of the Booking.com site include the flight search service cooperation with KAYAK, car rental service and finding restaurants with OpenTable cooperation.

2. KAYAK

 You can also check the KAYAK website for a hotel reservation.
Kayak.com among in the best hotel reservation website

You can also use the KAYAK hotel search engine to find out the prices of other hotel reservation sites as well as for flight search. When you make a search, the prices of hotels that come first can be higher than others. Because the results are ranked first by recommended hotels. So after searching, you can sort the hotel rooms from cheap to expensive by selecting the above filter (unfortunately the eye is a little hard to detect, just above the top of the hotel, right on the right).

From the options on the left menu, the facilities star rating, rating score, night base points, type of facility (hotel, motel, holiday village, guest house, guesthouse, hostel), free breakfast, parking, internet services, hotel chain, hotel name, location , neighborhood, different facilities (spa, terrace, parking), ambiance (beach, romantic, family, luxury, spa, airport, stylish, budget, boutique, business hotel, casino, historic, eco-friendly, highway, skiing) can filter by. You can also make flight + hotel search on KAYAK.com.

We choosed again 6 nights in London between 3 June – 9 June 2019, at least 3 stars hotel, including the breakfast, and choosed the price of the hotel room by the cheapest room. OYO Arinza Hotel was the first choice. And the 6-nights price was $360, including taxes and fees. Excellent price for London.

Other features of KAYAK.com include car rental, restaurant search, cruise ship tours search and vacation packages.

3. Agoda

Agoda.com hotel searching site
Agoda.com offers a great choice of accommodation at a variety of hotels.

Agoda has started its business life with more Asian-oriented hotel booking sites, and not it is allowing you to find facilities all over the world, but is still quite strong in countries like Malaysia and Thailand. In the United States, it has made significant investments, low price options are able to come to the fore. But don’t think you’ll always get the best results over Agoda. But do not forget to look at this site when booking.

Again from 3 June to 9 June 2019 we searched a 3-stars hotel room in London. We saw at the top the Baywater Inn Hotel with a price of $112 per day as the best option including breakfast. However, when you search the site, a countdown timer is placed above the best offers, and the remaining time to get it at this price is indicated as instant. It’s a tactic of creating a sense of urgency. But if you like the offer and hotel, don’t think too much, book your room, because you may not see the same price when the time is up.

4. TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor hotels search engine
Visit TripAdvisor.com to find the best hotel room for the best price.

TripAdvisor similar to HotelsCombined, you can view the prices of various hotel reservation sites. When you search on TripAdvisor, which is one of the most famous travel sites in the world, you will be first sponsored, then give the cheapest price, the hotel room, the names of the booking sites that offer offers for this room and the prices coming from the cheapest to the most expensive. One of the most important features, except for the most known hotel booking sites to search on less known sites. TripAdvisor is negotiated with Booking.com and the booking prices are more expensive than other sites, even if it is more expensive.

Of course on TripAdvisor from 3 June to 9 June 2019 we made a room search for 2 people in a 3-stars hotel in London. For this, first, after searching with the date, city, number of rooms and the number of people to stay, we used the hotel as a type of hotel on the left, the number of stars as the type of breakfast, the sorting including breakfast, and the sorting from the cheapest price. Thus, we provided the cheapest result, not the sponsored result. According to these filters, the best result came from a facility called Viking Hotel. The Booking.com price for this facility was $63,20 per day, including taxes for $454 for 6 nights. However, TripAdvisor made the best price per day for $51 and for 6 nights as $370 from Agoda.com. So it is possible to save around $86, which is not less.

5. Hotels.com

You can search the hotel room via Hotels.com.
Hotels.com is among the popular hotel search sites.

Among the most known hotel booking sites, Hotels.com offers a wide range of filter options for those looking to find the best hotel room by planning their stay in the best possible way. When you search the hotels, you will find a balanced list of high-level and low-level hotels in around the city center. Prices are generally on the same level as other foreign hotel booking sites.

In the search results on the site, some hotels are separated by a gray color and are listed as “No available room on your chosen dates“. We couldn’t make sense of the sorting of hotels that were not available on selected dates. Of course, as many hotel booking sites same as this site “only 1 room left for this price” in the results for warnings on the users “I need to reserve this room because someone else book than before me.” Most of websites want to create sense of urgency on users.

Again on Hotels.com, between June 3 and June 9, 2019, we searched for at least 3-stars hotel rooms for two persons, including breakfast, in London, and we have listed the results from the cheapest to the most expensive. However, this time we have added the nearest hotels to the city center. The proximity to the city center using the search filter, of course, prices increased. The cheapest price came for The Wellington Hotel, and was priced at $1101 for 6 nights.

6. Priceline

Finding hotels from to our secure online booking form.
It stands out for its design and ease of use among the best hotel booking sites.

With its beautiful design and easy navigation, Priceline is one of the outstanding hotel booking sites. In fact, the hotel booking sites are all close to each other in terms of price and room variety. That’s why beautiful design and easy availability are an important feauture for sites to be different from others. When you search on this site, high-rated hotels in the city center, as a priority.

When you search the site, you first see all accommodation facilities at normal prices. However, you can find more advantageous room rates by clicking on the Express Deal button from the menu above. In this option, you cannot see the name of the hotel or facility you reserved until you reserve the hotel. Also, if you click Member Deals from the above buttons, this time, you will be able to see for special prices for Priceline members.. And if you click on the right button Private Rentals, you can also search apartments as AirBNB.

We again searched on June 3 – June 9, 2019, we made a 3-stars, double-room search in London. For the best price, was came from Miter House Hotel in Nothing Hill area. Between these dates, the price of a double room for one night was $116.

7. HotelsCombined

 HotelsCombined.com hotel search engine
HotelsCombined hotel search engine

HotelsCombined is a hotel search tool that you can use to find the best hotel room at the best price, not only from hotel booking sites but also from hotels’ own websites. You can also find the price of different featured rooms in the same facility. You can also see prices, including taxes and without taxes. HotelsCombined will give you a total price if you are staying for a few days instead of giving you a nightly rate. You have also noticed that when you search on hotel booking sites. Some sites offer nightly rates, while some sites offer total price of number of days. In our opinion it is better to give the total amount, to know exactly what you spend from your pocket, before coming to the purchase stage.

When you use the HotelsCombined site, make sure that the price you see is the same as the price you see when you go to the hotel booking site. Because the purpose of this site is not to sell you the hotel room directly. As we said, ensure you find the best priced hotel booking site.

As always we searched on the HotelsCombined site, from June 3 to June 9, 2019, we choosed a double room in a 3-stars hotel in London. First result came from Otel.com and it is Central Park London hotel with a special price of $701 including breakfast. Then we applied the Bed & Breakfast filter on the left side. At this time the lowest price came from Hotel Blue Bells and 6 nights price was $659. It is not bad.

8. Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz

 Hotels booking sites owned by the same company from Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz.
Hotel booking sites Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz owned by the same company.

Expedia is a hotel booking site based on Expedia Inc., just like Travelocity and Orbitz. Although these three websites belong to the same company but the search results may vary slightly. We have found the best results in these three sites as the best results in our test searches, but the rankings of the facilities found below ranged in these three sites. Although the ranking was different, the prices of the hotel rooms were the same in these three sites.

We made a double room search with breakfast in a 3-stars hotel in London between June 3 and June 9, 2019 again. Even from the filter, we chose London city center, close to Hyde Park. Tudor Court Hotel, with a price of $100 per day, came to the as the best priced facility.

The Expedia site also offers some services such as flight search, flight + hotel search, car rental, cruise ship search, as well as other hotel search sites.

9. Trivago

Trivago.com is simple in its has simple design.
Trivago.com is simple in its has simple design.

Trivago is a hotel room search engine tool for best price and also gives priority to rankings to the sites it works with, but you can find the best priced option using filters.

Trivago draws attention with its simple design similar to Google. When you get to the main page, you don’t see anything other than to search for your hotel room. You make the first search by selecting the location, date, room number and the number of people to stay. After you can optimize your search using filters.

We make a search as always for June 3 – June 9, 2019 in London, at least 3-stars hotels in the city center, at least 5 km away, and we made a room search for two persons and breakfast included. As the best choice, we arrived at the Manor Hotel at £ 484 per day from the Hotels.com site and for $362 for 6 nights. The price was great but this hotel has 2.5 stars. What a half star means?

10. Google

Google Hotel Search lets you find your hotel room.
Working with Google Maps, Google Hotel Search can help you find the best priced hotel near the city center.

Internet search engine giant Google, also offers quite nice tools for hotel search or even flight search. Google Hotel Searches integrated with Google Maps will show you the name of the hotel, its features and booking options when you click on a price.

We were looking for a double room, bed and breakfast, at least 3 stars facility in London between June 3 – June 9, 2019 and we have used the cheapest price filter. However, Google brings the results from such as the hostels and these facilities have the common toilet used. There was also no filter option for proximity to the city center. That’s why we chose a cheap-priced property near the city center, as the hotels and prices on the map appear on the right. Located in Ilford Hill, OYO Townhouse was came forward with a good price. When we clicked on this facility, Google’s price comparison page came to us. We found for the best night price at $67 which came from the Booking.com site.

It is really useful to take advantage of the power of Google Maps in hotel searches. When booking a hotel, you can also use advantage of Google. You should keep this thing on your mind.

Conclusion

In this article we have discussed the best hotel booking sites. The important thing is to buy the best hotel room at best price. So before you decide to spend some time in the above mentioned hotel reservation sites will be useful for your research.

In general, when booking hotels through all hotel booking sites, you should note that the prices you come across are for limited periods. So if you are satisfied with the hotel room, the price and the other features that will affect your decision, we can say that it is good to book your hotel room or purchase it exactly the day you search.

After planning your holiday, we recommend that you buy a travel insurance to prepare for bad surprises.

After returning from travel, you can also rate the hotel through the hotel booking sites and, if possible, review the city you were visiting. Because many people choose their vacation and hotel room by considering the comments of others. Do not keep your experience to yourself! We wish everyone a good holiday.

We expect your contributions

If you think we have forgotten to put a website into the list, you can always make your contribution to our article as a comment. We will read, take into consideration and complete the missing places.

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2 Comments

  1. Hi Alp, and thank for this post. There are a few new ones, here, that I haven’t tried yet.

    I’ve used Booking.com and Hotels.com fairly often. What’s nice about Hotels.com is that they keep track of all your nights, and give you the 11th night free. So that’s a nice bonus.

    Booking.com has always given me great customer service as well.

    We hear a lot about Trivago from TV commercials, lol. But I haven’t tried them yet.

    Whenever we travel, I always check for the lowest prices using these types of sites. They are very helpful and have saved us much money over the years.

    Cheers,
    Suzanne

    1. Hello Suzanne,

      Thank you for your nice comment. Yes you should look other sites for booking a hotel because you can find more cheaper price for same room. I prefer Trivago because you can find the best hotel prices with booking comparison sites as Trivago, HotelsCombined, TripAdvisor, Priceline etc… Cheers…

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