How to Find the Best Cheap Hotels

It doesn't matter if you're travelling to the heart of London or you're heading to the countryside to stay in a rural establishment, you can enjoy great accommodation on a shoestring budget if you know what to look for.

One of the best ways to ensure you find a cheap hotel within your budget is to stay away from luxurious five star hotels. There are so many great hotels, bed and breakfasts and guest houses throughout the world that offer budget accommodation to suit every travel budget. If you're looking for five star luxury with all the facilities and services, then expect to pay for it.

Affordable accommodation doesn't mean you have to stay in a hostel, three star hotels are widely available offering you a comfortable bed with tea and coffee making facilities, en-suite bathroom and colour television.

Always compare prices in the area you want to visit. There is no point relying on one single cheap hotel to offer you the best deal. Use online booking sites and comparison sites to find the best latest deals. If you're visiting a seaside location, you can pay slightly less by choosing accommodation a short walk from the beach, rather than on the beachfront itself.

Be flexible about your travel dates. This can help you tremendously in finding the best prices available. Many cheap hotels will drop their prices during the week and out of season in order to fill the rooms. Any establishment can run at one hundred percent occupancy on weekends and during summer break, but during the week or out of summer holidays, they can run at fifty percent of less. In order to fill the rooms and bring in cash, they reduce their room rates.

Keep an eye on the internet. Often cheap hotels will offer special promotions and offers that you can take advantage of. Some might offer a dinner, bed and breakfast rate or a three night midweek break, both of which can reduce your holiday costs dramatically.

Some of the cheap hotels offer you the ability to include breakfast or not, while it's advisable to take the bed and breakfast rate, if you are travelling for business and have conferences all day long, you may prefer choosing a bed only rate and enjoying the discounted price.

Try and book in advance. Most establishments offer discounted rates if you book in advance. If you're looking at a cheap hotel that is already affordable, imagine how much you can save by booking a few months or weeks in advance. Most of these places will hike up the price as the date gets closer and their rooms start to fill.

Look out for package deals. Some of the more affordable establishment will include a day of golf, a free lunch or dinner as part of a package deal to encourage guests to book. This is a great opportunity for you to find the best hotel deal available without breaking the bank.

Before you book, set yourself a strict budget. Your budget should include your accommodation, food and activities during your holiday. Once you've booked, expect the establishment to take an agreed deposit to secure the room for you. In most instances the balance is payable either on arrival or departure, this will depend on the establishment's own set of rules.

Remember you are staying at affordable accommodation, in most cases these are independent establishments which means the owners are less likely to take risks. If they have held onto your card information, they may be willing to allow you to run a "tab" which is payable on departure. This way if you disappear during the night, they still have a card to charge it to.