How To Find The Best Hotel In Europe

How to Get the Best Deals on Lodging in Europe

Use The Official Tourist Bureau in Each City

One of the vastly underused resources for seekers of good or special lodging are the Tourist Offices found in larger European cities. Choose your language and take a look at the Hotel list at the Bruges, Belgium Office of Tourism. It's pretty complete. And tourist offices keep close watch on non-hotel lodging as well. Looking for a guesthouse? A villa for 15 of your friends? Why not contact the tourist office?
How do you find Tourist offices? You can look on this site. Just search for a city or drill down from the country list you'll find in the left column of this page. For example, our Bruges category lists the tourist office. Otherwise, use Google and search for "(city) office tourism." That usually works.

 

Hotel Websites

If a guidebook’s write-up of a particular hotel appeals to you, visit the hotel website to glean additional information, check prices, and view photos of the rooms. Some hotels (especially chain or business hotels) offer discounts only if you book on their website.
Some tips for getting the best deal online: Midweek prices are generally higher than weekend rates, and Sunday nights can be surprisingly cheap. The rates for a particular room for a specific date can change from day to day or week to week (like airline tickets), making it difficult to know when to book. On the hotel’s online reservation form, punch in the dates you’re considering to see what the going rate is. Look for special offers. For the best deals, book at least three weeks in advance, prepay in full, and hope you don’t have to change your plans (since promotional rates are often nonrefundable).

Hotel-Booking Websites

Big hotel-booking sites can provide a wealth of information about the types of hotels available and the range of prices. But what you won’t easily find on these sites are links to individual hotels — that’s because the big guys want you to book through them (or their partners) for a fee. Using a booking service costs the hotel about 20 percent and logically closes the door on special deals. Instead, once you’ve identified a promising option, do a Google search to find the hotel’s own website. You’ll get more complete information, and you may save money by booking direct.