You’ve made plans and bought your plane tickets, but you’re going to need to find a place to stay. Hotels and accommodation is usually the most expensive part, sometimes even more expensive than the plane tickets! So how can you save money and find the cheapest places to stay? We’ve got a few ideas. Keep scrolling for our best tips on how to find cheap hotels!
1. Be flexible with your travel times and dates.
As with any kind of travel purchases, whether it’s flights, hotels, things to do or something else, traveling during off-season will save you a bunch of money. Traveling to cold-weather places in winter, planning your trips during spring and fall instead of summer and generally avoiding the times when most people travel will help. Not only will there be more availability, there’s better deals!
2. Stay during the week, instead of weekends.
Unfortunately, hotel prices are typically much more expensive on weekends, especially in peak season. If you have any flexibility with when you travel, staying in a hotel during the week will be a lot cheaper. Even if you can just move your trip a little bit, weekdays will generally have cheaper hotel prices (and flights) than weekends.
3. Know what kind of hotel you’re looking for.
If the only thing you’ll be doing in a hotel is sleeping, you might be able to save some money booking more basic accommodations. The key is to know what kind of experience you’re looking for! Do you want a fancy, all-inclusive resort or will a basic airport hotel serve you well enough for a quick stay? Once you decide, you can narrow down your search to find something best suited for your trip!
4. Stay outside of town (especially if there’s good public transportation.)
Staying right in the thick of things can be a good option when there’s no public transportation or if it’s a quick stay and you need to save time. However, if you can stay outside of the city center, you’ll be able to find cheap hotels and save a lot. Do your research and see if there’s a nearby suburb or urban area you can stay in and still easily get everywhere you need to. Sometimes staying outside of the city helps you discover some really fun hidden local gems too!
5. Get student discounts.
Student discounts aren’t just for food and flights! When you search for hotel rooms on StudentUniverse, you’ll get up to 30% off your stay. Why pay full price when you’re on a student budget? We have everything from high-end, five-star hotels to backpacker hostels, so check it out and see if you can score a discount and some cheap hotel stays.
6. Try different kinds of accommodations.
If you’re searching for a place to stay, there’s a lot more options than just fancy hotels! Have you ever tried staying in a hostel? They can save you a lot of money! Hostels typically cater to backpackers, budget travelers and youth. You’ll usually be sharing bunk beds in a dorm-style room with 4-8 people. There’s usually kitchens and common spaces and many hostels offer local activities like walking tours, pub crawls or other outings. At any rate, hostels are often a LOT cheaper than a hotel, so it’s a great way to save some serious cash!
7. Watch for a sale.
Same rule applies to hotels as pretty much anything else: making plans early and booking during a sale can save you a ton! Most hotel chains and online booking platforms run sales around major holidays and other sale times (i.e. Black Friday and Cyber Monday). If you make plans in advance, you can take advantage of these more easily!
Bonus Tip: Traveling with friends or family? Once you’ve found a cheap hotel room, split the cost of the room with your travel buddies to save even more. Most hotels will let you sleep up to four or more people in a room and sometimes larger suites can sleep more. It’s an easy way to cut your costs by a lot!
Ready to find a cheap hotel for your next trip? We’ve got student discounts on hotels for you!
