11 Best Tips For Finding Cheap Hotels in 2023

Saving Money On Hotels In 2023

The cost of hotel rooms has never been higher! A surge of post-pandemic travel, combined with inflation, and rising fuel costs, have skyrocketed the price of one night in a hotel. Luckily, you can still find great deals on hotels in 2023 if you use the right strategies and tricks. In the blog, I’m going to share the travel hacks I’ve developed over the years, to highlight the best ways you can find cheap hotels in 2023! To truly find the best deals on hotel rooms in 2023, you’ll need to use a combination of these resources to determine who truly can offer the lowest price, and help you save money on your next trip.

Using Booking Sites To Find Cheap Hotels in 2023

Just like shopping for fresh mangos at the farmers market, you’re going to want to compare the cost of as many hotels as possible, as quickly as possible. I’ve spent months analyzing specific hotels across all booking platforms to determine which truly have the best prices, and I’ve noticed that sites like Kayak, Expedia, Priceline, and Booking.com, all offer VERY similar prices. Booking seems to be the best for offering incentives like free breakfast, room upgrades, and it also has the added benefit of being able to offer long-time users further discounts on hotels. When it comes to booking cheap hotels in 2023, my advice would be to stay away from any booking platform that can afford to run a commercial during the Super Bowl. Expedia, Priceline, Hotels.com, Kayak, etc, should all be avoided, as I truly feel that they’re not aimed at budget travelers, and rarely offer the best price. These sites are also the hardest to get a refund from, in the event you need to cancel your hotel reservation. That said, you should still browse them when looking for a cheap hotel room, because you never know what you might find!

WNDR: The Best Way To Book Discounted Hotel Rooms in 2023

My preferred booking platform is WNDR. You’ve probably never heard of it, and that’s because it just launched about a year ago, but it’s really revolutionized the way I find cheap hotels in 2023. The WNDR platform is actually quite incredible because it’s somehow (magic?) able to offer hotel rooms to travelers at a rate that is usually reserved for wholesale guests. This means the cost of your room would be the cost of a room, if someone booked, like, 25 rooms. I recently saved HUNDREDS on a hotel in Dubai, that normally would have been way out of my travel budget. I’d love to hear your feedback on how the prices compare to some other sites, so if you decide to book through WNDR, kindly share how much money you saved on a hotel room, so I can share it to my IG stories, and show everyone how much money you can save on hotels in 2023. Please note, I do receive a small commission from each hotel booking made through WNDR, and it’s important that you know that I would never recommend a platform I don’t truly believe in. Send me a screenshot of your savings to my email so I can share your cheap hotel deals with others!

Joining Loyalty Programs To Save Money on Hotels in 2023

Hotels love to entice their frequent customers to return with limited time promotions, discounted-rates, and other deals on hotel rooms. Many hotel chains, like Marriot Bonvoy and Hyatt, offer free-sign up, which will usually subscribe you to a newsletter that notifies readers of hotel room discounts and specials. You’re going to see much better discounts the more “points” or stays you accrue with a specific chain, and it can take a lot of hotel rooms and dollars invested to see real savings.  I personally have never found these loyalty programs to offer much to new sign-ups, but it’s best to have every angle covered, if you want to find a cheap hotel room in 2023.

Contact The Hotel Directly To Save Money on Rooms

While it may seem old-fashioned, sometimes just picking up the phone and dialing a hotel can result in a discounted room rate that isn’t available online. This can be a rare situation, as in my experience, most hotels will actually quote a HIGHER price than you see online, because they can take advantage of someone who may not be “internet savvy” and offer a standard room rate. 

Check In Late Night To Get Discounted Rates On Hotel Rooms In 2023

File this suggestion under the “it’s worth a shot” category, as this strategy will really depend on the hotel, its occupancy, and its discount policies. Some hotels may offer a discounted room rate if the guest is arriving late at night and checking out early. I’ve learned that it’s best to always share my check-in and check-out times, to see if I can persuade the staff to give me a discounted hotel room rate. In the event you do arrive late at your hotel, ask the front desk if you can get a complimentary late check-out. Some hotels may charge for late-check out, so it never hurts to ask. 

Use A Money-Saving Coupon App To Save Money On Hotels In 2023 

If you’ve got an internet connection and a cell phone, you can pretty much access all the aforementioned resources to find cheap hotel rooms in 2023. But sometimes, you need a little bit of extra help to find help lower that hotel price just a little bit. That’s where “coupon” and “money-saving” apps like Rakuten and Honey come into play. Rakuten allows you to get ACTUAL CASH BACK on purchases you make, so hypothetically, you could receive $10 back if you have a 10% Rakutan savings coupon, on a $100 per night hotel room. I only recently started Rakuten, and I really wish I would have joined sooner, because the savings are really incredible. While Rakuten offers delayed-savings in the form of cash, Honey has the ability to offer discount and promo codes on websites that normal consumers would not be able to easily find. Honey has saved me hundreds of dollars on hotels and booking sites over the years, and when combined with Rakuten, it will change the way you find discounted hotel rooms in 2023.

Consider Staying In Alternative Areas To Save Money On Hotels in 2023

While it can be convenient to stay in the popular, easy-accessible areas of a city, this is also where you’re going to find the highest prices for hotel rooms. For example, the hotels nearest to the famous Colosseum in Rome are some of the most expensive in the city, but if you look several miles / kilometers away, you’ll find hotel rooms at a fraction of the more centrally-located hotels. I usually try to stay within a 30 minute walking distance of a popular location, because the money saved is usually quite significant, compared to time and cost of walking or taking public transportation to a popular area. Therefore, don’t stay next to Time Square during your next visit to NYC, instead, consider staying somewhere you can easily access public transportation, and use the money saved to treat yourself to a good meal! This strategy applies to virtually every city on earth, and it’s especially true in major tourist destinations. Don’t be afraid to walk a few extra steps to save a few hundred dollars on a hotel room!

Use Credit Card Rewards To Save Money On Hotel Rooms In 2023

Before I even begin to look at booking sites to find a cheap hotel room, I log onto my credit card rewards portal, to see if I can use my credit card points to procure a discount hotel rate. Figuring out credit card travel “hacks” and strategies can be a science unto itself, and I personally leave it to the experts like The Points Guy, to give you the best advice on cards. I’ve been a loyal Chase Sapphire Rewards customer, and I’ve been very satisfied with the discounted hotel rooms I’ve found. One trick that almost no one else will tell you is that if you use your credit cards rewards portal “chatbot” you can have a member of their team directly contact a hotel to see if an even better, unlisted discount on a hotel room is available. 

Book A Hotel Room In Advance, To Save The Most Money

As a full-time traveler, I often don’t know where I’ll be in a week, or a month from any-given day, so I usually find myself booking hotels last-minute. I would advise against booking last-minute hotel rooms, because 99% of the time, you’re going to pay a high price, especially if the hotel is near full occupancy. If you want the best price on a hotel room in 2023, I would recommend making your reservation as soon as you know your final dates. As the cost of everything across the world seems to be increasing, you never know when a hotel may raise their prices between now, and the day you decide to book. There’s always a RARE risk that the price could actually go down after you book your hotel room, but it’s much better to book early, and avoid the potential for your desired hotel to sell out.

Use AirBnB To Find Cheap Hotel Rooms in 2023

Since this article is about how to save money on hotel rooms, I’ll save my strategies for finding cheap AirBnB’s, hostels, and homestays for another day. However, AirBnB has started offering hotel rooms on their sites. In some countries, I’ve even seen hotels offer certain rooms at discounted rates on the AirBnB website–a concept that seemed a bit impossible a few years ago. Unfortunately, AirBnB’s generally come saddled with hefty booking and cleaning fees, so I don’t often employ this method, and I’ve never actually booked a hotel through AirBnb, despite booking apartments/homes through AirBnB dozens of times.  

Hire a Travel Agent To Find Cheap Hotel Rooms In 2023

While the idea of using a travel agent may seem like a relic of the past, I have heard many stories of people successfully using travel agents to find cheap hotel rooms in 2023. You’re usually going to find discounted hotels if you book packages through a travel agent. If flights, hotels, and even car rentals are combined, a travel agent can unlock discounted rates that are normally not available to the public.

With these money-saving tips, you’ll be sure to find yourself a great deal on a cheap hotel room in 2023! I’ll update this guide as I try out and recommend new and exciting methods to find discounted hotel rooms all over the world! Thanks for reading, and I really hope this guide helped you save money on your next trip.