Travel Guides

Top tips for cheap holiday accommodation

By Garnet Roach

garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

Taking the time out to find the best deal on your accommodation can save you cash as well as getting you a better hotel and leaving you with more money to spend while you're away.

Follow our top tips to save cash and get the best possible accommodation.

Go online

The internet lets you compare prices on just about everything, and hotels and holidays are no exception. Huge hotel discounts mean that almost 60% of holidaymakers now search for the best deals online, with more than half booking their trip over the internet (Get Safe Online, July 2010).

But while the internet lets you take advantage of the very best prices around, as well as allowing you to easily compare deals from different providers, it’s important that you use a known, trusted site when the time comes to book your accommodation.

Be flexible

One of the best ways to get a great deal on your accommodation is to be flexible with your dates. Weekends are invariably more expensive than weekdays and travelling during the off-season also offers huge savings.

Booking in advance can get you some good deals but being able to travel at the last minute will get the biggest possible discounts. Many websites advertise “secret hotels” with huge markdowns. They’ll tell you where it is and what star rating your secret accommodation has, but you won’t know the name of your hotel until you've made your booking.

You will get a description of your hotel though, and you might be able to find out which hotel you're booking simply by Googling it as many websites take their description straight from the hotel’s own website.

Try a package holiday

Many people think that searching for your flights and hotel separately will save you money, but you shouldn’t rule out a package holiday - especially if you're heading off to a popular holiday destination.

Booking your accommodation as part of a package holiday could also get you breakfast every morning or even half or full board - leaving you with even more spending money.

Do your research

It’s easy to get excited about all the cheap deals to be found online, but you need to take a moment to do you research before you book.

Check out blogs like the Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree or the Travel Pod blog for tricks and tips from fellow travellers. You can also use sites like Tripadvisor.co.uk for reliable reviews on thousands of hotels, hostels and even camp sites around the world.

Always make sure that you're booking through a secure site and if you book through a tour operator, make sure that you’ll be ATOL (Air Travel Organiser’s Licensing) protected. It’s also a good idea to book with your credit card for further peace of mind. Under “section 75” of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, your credit card issuer is liable for any purchases you make between £100 and £30,000. So you’ll be protected even if your tour operator goes bust.

The cheapest accommodation

If you really are on a tight budget, or if you simply want the gap year experience, then you might want to consider a hostel.

Put the image of a grubby dorm with a shared bathroom - if you do your research and read reviews before you book you'll be able to get a clean, functional room, without breaking the bank.

Many hostels offer alternatives to the traditional dorm, and you can book single, twin and double rooms as well as pay a little extra for your own bathroom.

You can also try camping, which can be fun as well as cheap, or even house swapping or “couch surfing” where you sleep on someone’s sofa in return for taking other couch surfers into your home - though obviously you need to take safety precautions.

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