For most travel planning, the best overall strategy is to compare prices from multiple sources including the hotel’s own website, as it will sometimes offer deals not shared with third-party sites, or offer the same Online Hotel Booking rates as third-party sites minus pesky booking fees. Hotels sites will also offer package deals—bundled amenity inclusions and the like—that aren’t shared with third-party sites.
Bottom line: Whether you search with a hotel site on this list or a preferred hotel search engine of your own, always check the hotel’s actual website as well, or call its reservations line, to make sure you really are getting the best hotel deal. Don’t forget to check the cancellation policy as the best hotel booking site is one that has a flexible policy in case your plans change.
If you’re trying to figure out how best to search for cheap hotels: First, scan this quick list of the best hotel search sites, in no particular order. Then, scroll down to read in-depth summaries of each or click to jump to a particular site.
No list of the best hotel booking sites is exhaustive, but these 15 represent a combination of great crowd favorites mixed with some newer, similarly performing hotel search options that you might not know about.
All of them fared well in tests: Prices for the same dates and destinations were fairly consistent from site to site, but the volatility of results may vary based on your destination, how far in advance you’re looking for the best hotel deals, and the time of year you visit (i.e., high season vs. low).
With that in mind, here are the best hotel booking sites to compare prices with for your next trip, plus the best feature of each one.
Hotel booking sites make it easy for travelers to find accommodations around the world no matter their budget or timing—whether booking months or mere days before arrival. To compile our list of best hotel booking sites, we rounded up our top picks based on the many ways travelers choose a hotel room. Whether you’re pinching pennies, looking to socialize, seeking an upscale boutique property, or want something that helps you earn loyalty rewards, check out the best hotel booking sites for 2022.
Expedia owns many different online hotel booking services including Hotels.com, Trivago, and Hotwire.com, but we're fans of the actual original of Expedia.com. It offers similar results to Hotels.com which makes sense but its interface is a little brighter and cleaner. Crucially, you're only ever one click away from adding a flight or car to your Online Hotel Booking stay with the site also keen to suggest popular locations relating to what you're searching for.
Like Hotels.com, Expedia encourages you to sign up for exclusive prices, but you also get discounts for merely using the service although you'll have to dig around to work out what that's compared to. As a side bonus, you can even use Expedia to arrange cruises or set up multiple places to stay if you're planning on a more long-term vacation.
A lot is going on at Priceline which can initially feel a little overwhelming. Stick with it though and you'll soon appreciate how much it can save you. At its simplest, you can merely search for a location and pick out the hotel for you (after filtering down the options), but you can also opt for a Pricebreaker offer. This has Priceline group together three hotels under one price. All you do is click Choose and the site checks you out with one of them. The trick here is that you don't know which one you'll get. The discounts are substantial so it's worth trying if you're able to be flexible. Other offers include Express Deals which are an exclusive collection of low prices, albeit of the non-refundable variety. Also, again, you don't know what you've got until you've booked.
Besides the almost gambling-esque nature of Priceline (although the results are generally pretty good), it also offers bundle deals of hotels, flights, and cars, or a combination of those plus flexible bookings. It has all the basics there at heart, but we appreciate the ability to get an even better deal with a bit of daring.