American hotel booking

Lisbon · 26 Sep 17, 04:33 PM

Hi
On our next trip we are thinking of going to crystal river for a couple of days, is it cheaper to book our hotel from the UK or wait until we get to Florida
Regards
Rob

loldis · 26 Sep 17, 04:37 PM

Never wait until you're there to book a hotel. Particularly somewhere like Crystal River - it's been a while since I was in that part of the state but from memory, it doesn't have thousands of hotel rooms going spare. Lovely town though.

You might get lucky with a hotel looking to fill rooms, but more than likely you'll end up paying rack (full) rate. If you think you might get a good last-minute deal, I'd book a rate you're happy to pay but that can be cancelled up until a few days before, or even morning of. Then you're free to rebook if something cheaper comes along.

loobylou44 · 27 Sep 17, 01:21 PM

We always book our hotels through hotels.com, booking.com or similar site, we usually book the 'free cancellation' rate and keep an eye to see if the rate changes, if the price does drop we book again and then cancel our original booking

ianc · 27 Sep 17, 02:51 PM

I have booked lots of US road trips over the years. I look on Google maps (search on 'hotel') to identify what hotels are there and if they are in a good location. I book online in advance - usually direct on the hotel's own web site, but keep an eye on sites such as those already mentioned, just to see if the price is better. I have found that many places have promotional rates, e.g. for advance booking, for seniors, for paying in advance, etc.

26 Sep 17, 04:33 PM	#1
	26 Sep 17, 04:33 PM Lisbon Imagineer
Lisbon Imagineer Join Date: Jul 10 theDIBB Guidebook Pages Created: 1	American hotel booking Hi On our next trip we are thinking of going to crystal river for a couple of days, is it cheaper to book our hotel from the UK or wait until we get to Florida Regards Rob

26 Sep 17, 04:37 PM	#2
	26 Sep 17, 04:37 PM loldis Imagineer
loldis Imagineer Join Date: May 17 Location: Sussex	Never wait until you're there to book a hotel. Particularly somewhere like Crystal River - it's been a while since I was in that part of the state but from memory, it doesn't have thousands of hotel rooms going spare. Lovely town though. You might get lucky with a hotel looking to fill rooms, but more than likely you'll end up paying rack (full) rate. If you think you might get a good last-minute deal, I'd book a rate you're happy to pay but that can be cancelled up until a few days before, or even morning of. Then you're free to rebook if something cheaper comes along. Edited at 04:40 PM.

27 Sep 17, 02:51 PM	#4
	27 Sep 17, 02:51 PM ianc Apprentice Imagineer
ianc Apprentice Imagineer Join Date: Jun 10	I have booked lots of US road trips over the years. I look on Google maps (search on 'hotel') to identify what hotels are there and if they are in a good location. I book online in advance - usually direct on the hotel's own web site, but keep an eye on sites such as those already mentioned, just to see if the price is better. I have found that many places have promotional rates, e.g. for advance booking, for seniors, for paying in advance, etc.