What is the best time to make a hotel reservation? [closed]

Am I correct in thinking that hotels give cheaper prices if you book last-minute so that they are not "stuck" with empty rooms (during periods they don't have to many guests and a lot of free rooms available)?

hotels bookings

Best Answer

The bigger online hotel booking sites (booking.com, agoda, hotels.com, etc) have a room block with each of their hotels, ie 4, 8, XX rooms held every night of the year. And when they accept your booking they assign one of those blocked rooms.

Depending on their contract with the hotel, they maybe required to pay for all those rooms even if they don't sell them. In these situations, they would discount the room at the last minute as some money is better than none.

But there is no guarantee there will be rooms available for this, so by waiting you risk having nothing.

Going direct to the hotel might find a last minute booking, but that is also not a sure thing. If the hotel has really low occupancy, they might try to discount and fill the rooms, but if they are moderately full they are not as motivated to sell at a loss.

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Do hotel prices go down the closer you get to the date?

Since hotels are always aiming to maximize their occupancy rate, many will decrease their rates if they aren't meeting their expected targets. That's why you'll often see hotels dropping their prices a few days before a check-in date or on the day of arrival.

How far out is the best time to book a hotel?

The ideal amount of time to book a hotel room is only 15 days before your trip, according to a 2021 NerdWallet study. Looking at more than 2,500 hotel room rates between 2019 and 2021, NerdWallet found rates were about 13% cheaper when booked 15 days before compared to four months before.

What is the best day to book a hotel room?

The best day of the week to book your hotel at the lowest rate is Saturday for domestic travel and Friday for international travel, according to travel aggregator Kayak, which analyzed hotel searches conducted between January 1 and September 8, 2021.

What time is too late to book a hotel?

It depends on the particular hotel but something between 10 PM and midnight is common. Any time you expect that your arrival will occur during or after those hours, simply call the hotel and let them know that you are coming and an approximate time.

Hotel reservation - Check in \u0026 out | English lesson

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