Christmas is a distant memory and many folks start thinking about booking a holiday or mini break at this time of year. So I thought I would give you a few places to check out online… before you check-in at the front desk or airport! Finding deals online is becoming easier and easier, however you still need to hunt out the best prices by comparing across a number of websites. Here are a few of the best:

If you are a risk-taker then visit  www.hotwire.com. Here you can book a mystery hotel at a heavily discounted rate, up to 50% in some cases. There motto is 4-star rooms at 2-star prices. You choose your town or city (London, New York, Manchester etc) and they will give you the location of the hotel down to about half a mile square, but not the hotel name. You can still specify amenities though. The site works best for last minute bookings, but you can book months in advance.

Probably the most popular and well know website for reviews is www.tripadvisor.co.uk. Here you can read reviews of hotels, restaurants and attractions as well as leave your own comments. It is great for seeing other travellers’ photos and offers an insight that a polished hotel company website might miss out. For example the sumptuousness  of the beds, noise levels  through walls and friendliness of the staff. Just bear in mind that often extremely good or poor reviews may be exaggerated.

www.trivago.co.uk is another site that draws in a number of other leading discount hotel websites so you can view them all on one page. It isn’t the cheapest site, but it is certainly worth looking at if you want to get an idea for prices or hotels.

Happy ‘Putering!