Hi there
I was just online making a book for a hotel for some naughty fun and frollics (you know who you are!!!). Usually I use the likes of the travel search engines - etc.
This morning because I had abit of time I decided to compare the search engine sites with the hotel site - fecking huge difference. The hotel site was way cheaper.
Now I'm pretty sure that's not always the case but it is well worth keeping an eye out for.
This top tip was brought to you by the Foreverhard Tourist Information Centre
You will generally find if you get the best rate from the internet and pick up the phone and ring the hotel they will at least match it and will often beat it or throw in a free breakfast or do a deal of some sort.
you just got to talk nice to the person answers the phone
I travel daily around Europe and always book using use the Hotel's own sites.
You also get far better upgrades and friendlier service when you book directly!
One other thing to be careful of is that what looks like the hotel's official site is actually their real site. There are quite a few "copy cat" sites out there which are disguised to look like or are passing themselves off as the real hotel's website.
These are even more expensive than the Cheap deal sites!
TC