One thing many travelers have in common is that they do not spend their entire stay at a location in their hotel room. Whether you are traveling for business or for a vacation, chances are you are going to be spending a majority of your stay doing activities that are not inside the hotel. No matter what your reason is for staying in a hotel, there is always one thing you want out of your hotel experience: not to pay an arm and a leg during your stay. There is no reason that the majority of your money used during a trip should be put into the place where you will be spending the least amount of time. The good news is, there are ways to avoid the high prices for a hotel stay. Following these steps can ensure that your money is put into the right places during your trips.

One way to save money on a hotel stay is to stay in a room together. Obviously, if you are on a business trip by yourself, you cannot room with another person, but if you are vacationing with friends and family, you can save a lot if you can fit everyone into a smaller amount of rooms. You can get rooms with two queen size beds that can easily sleep two people each. If you are comfortable sharing beds, this is the best way to avoid a large hotel bill because the more rooms you need, the more money you will spend. Since you will not be staying in the room for a long duration of time, the close living quarters will not be too bothersome when you leave to go about your day in the morning. You can even request a portable sleeper bed, and in some rooms there may even be a pull out couch to fit more people.

Another easy way to ensure that you are not paying high prices for a hotel is to compare prices online. Websites like Expedia.com, Kayak.com, Travelocity.com and others will usually compare their prices for a room versus another site right on their own page. If not, keep a few tabs open and compare rates for the hotel that you want to stay at, and choose the one that is the cheapest. Comparing prices on sites can take a bit of time, but a little extra time comparing can save you a lot of money on your hotel bill. Do be careful because some websites do not show any hidden fees, so be sure to call the hotel ahead of time to see if there are any hidden fees you will have to watch out for.

Being flexible with your travel dates can save you a great amount of money when searching for hotels. There are peak seasons when hotels see the most business and have higher prices, such as summer, holidays, and spring break. A large amount of people travel during the peak season and end up spending a lot of money on a room. By traveling on dates and days that do not see as much traffic, you will spend much less on a hotel room. If you are vacationing, the place you are visiting is probably going to be less crowded as well, during these non-peak dates, making it both cheaper and less hectic to stay in a hotel.

When traveling, consider staying at a less expensive hotel. Many of the hotels that charge less give you all the amenities that you would need, such as free breakfast, Internet and local calls. The more expensive chain hotels often charge for these amenities, as well as charge more for their room rates, making it much more expensive to stay there than at their less expensive counterpart. You will get more for your dollar at a cheaper hotel than at a more expensive one.