Hotels can be expensive, especially if you want to stay at a luxury hotel. Not everyone can afford luxury hotels, or so they think. There are many ways to have all the benefits and more from a stay in a luxury hotel without breaking the bank.
Here are 9 of my tips and tricks to find the best deals and make the most out of your stay, all while being on a budget.
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Book in advance
One rule that almost always goes for finding cheap tickets to anything, is booking as early as possible. As soon as you decided what hotel you want, do it. You most likely won’t find a better deal later on. The more rooms are booked, the more the hotel is possibly going to charge for the other rooms. Supply and demand, baby.
Add breakfast when booking
Most hotels offer breakfast and for me this is honestly a reason to go to a hotel alone. If you love hotel breakfasts just as much as I do, check for hotels with free breakfast included, or for offers with discounted breakfast while booking the room.
Depending on how long you’re staying, this could add up quite quickly.
Check for free or discounted add-ons
Hotels often offer free or discounted add-ons before your arrival. For example, you can get a free snack with your first drink, discounted parking, discounted care packages, etc. If you were planning on using such things anyway, make sure to get them. Usually you have to get them before the day of arrival, but always check to make sure.
Don’t let yourself get tempted by other discounts you weren’t planning on using though!
Bring your own meals and snacks
One of the biggest expenses of a trip, besides accommodation, is food. While going to a restaurant is definitely fun, if you’re staying in a luxury hotel, the prices won’t be very low.
Check for a studio room with a kitchen and bring a few easy meals, like soup and toast or a spaghetti. The room is most likely cozy enough to give you just a little extra vibe you wouldn’t have at home.
Keep in mind the room might smell like your food for a while, so be careful with highly scented meals. A nice salad would be a great alternative.
Go to a cheaper restaurant nearby if you really want to go out.
Minifridge hack
Most hotel rooms (especially luxury ones) have a mini fridge. Sometimes they come stocked, so you can take whatever you want and pay for it later on.
Be careful, because the prices can be quite insane.
A little hack: if you really wanted something from the fridge, get the same item from the store later to replace it. Make sure it’s the exact same item though, so take a picture before you throw out the packaging.
This way you will have the convenience of having the item when you wanted, but for a cheaper price!
Take advantage of a reward system
Some hotel chains have reward systems or a member/VIP program. If you plan on going to this hotel chain more often, it’s possibly to take a look at what the hotel has to offer.
You usually collect points by staying in the hotel and sometimes by doing other things, like leaving a review, not having room service clean your room during your stay, or using certain credit cards.
Tip: some hotels offer a welcome offer, where you will get points when you sign up.
Bring a ‘spa package’
To get in a full luxury, relaxed mood it could be a great idea to bring your own ‘spa package’. When I was staying at a luxury hotel I saw the hotel offered one in the hotel’s shop. I wish I thought of this myself when packing. The packages at the hotel are most likely more expensive than when you buy it in store, it might not have all the products you want and you can not choose your own scents.
Some suggestions to put in your package:
- Face mask
- Bath bomb
- Bath salts
- Body lotion
- A relaxing, scented candle or a diffuser with your favorite scent
- A loofah
There are no limits to how pampered you want to feel, so feel free to bring anything that puts you in your ultimate relaxed mood. Don’t let your budget get in the way of having a luxurious experience.
Book a hotel nearby
Something that you can save immensely on if you book a luxury hotel for the experience, is transport. You really don’t have to take a plane to another country or drive five hours to get the luxury experience of your dreams.
While doing this adds a more ‘vacation feel’, you won’t notice a thing if you plan on staying in your hotel room all day.
Booking nearby will also reduce temptation to go outside, instead of enjoying the room, since you most likely know the surroundings anyway.
Negotiate with the hotel
Something worth trying is negotiating with the hotel. Check the prices for a certain room on both the hotel’s website as hotel comparing websites, such as booking.com. Sometimes a hotel will agree on matching the price you find on comparing websites, if not lower, since they don’t have to pay the website a commission when you book through them directly.
When booking a hotel, the comparing websites are really useful to compare and find the hotel you want, but it’s always a good idea to check the hotel’s website itself after you’ve decided.
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Luxury hotels don’t have to drain your bank account. These tips and tricks will help you limit your expenses when staying at a nice hotel.
If you want to know what things you could expect at your stay at a luxury hotel, check out this post.
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