Discounts at European hotels?
 

Has anyone ever obtained a discount at European hotels? If so, how? I have never seen even a AAA discount available even at the American chain hotels.
Thanks to anyone who can help!

Choice hotels used to give various discounts in their European properties--AAA/AARP/age 50+, etc. Don't know if they still do, but worth checking.

I think with all the discount websites-expedia,hotels.com,lastminute.com,laterooms.com, eurocheapo.com,ebookers.com-- discounts are far deeper than the 5-10% that is offered with AAA etc. I don't think it's just Europe either. I recently checked prices in a NYC hotel & their senior rate was more than the rate Expedia was offering.

People here have reported getting better deals from an 800# from some chain hotels than are posted on the web.

I agree with the above poster. We have found much better deals calling the 800# than anything on web.

I've gotten discounts on Paris hotels, but it wasn't by belonging to a special group, it was a discount to anyone due to low season (July-August). These are listed a lot on www.parishotels.com, www.123france.com and www.pariserve.tm.fr

I have also gotten discounts through www.londontown.com for London. At least they sure were good rates compared to their normal ones, which I checked.

Expedia probably carries some of the typical discounts from certain chain hotels, like Choice or maybe the French chains Jardins de Paris. Some of their rooms (most maybe) are not particularly discounted, but I have seen some decent rates on there.

I do remember someone posted on here not too long ago about some web sites for discounted Paris hotels which I had never heard of before and the rates were rather good. If you are interested in Paris, maybe a search on paris and discount would find it.

I think www.hotels.com may have some, also

Thank you all for your information!
I am staying at the Hilton in Paris but I am interested in other areas of France where we will be traveling too as well as Italy.
How do you book your most of your European hotels through travel agencies of the hotel's web site? (In small hotels they do not have an 800#)
I am looking at staying in a couple of Chateaux in the French countryside.

We've gone directly to hotels/pensions by phone/fax/website, and used other web sites as well, like www.hrs.com among others.

We generally use the web and book directly with small inns and B & Bs (mostly 2 and 3*locations). Sometimes they are also connected with an agency but have found the direct route less expensive since the agencies usually charge a booking fee. We do use travel guides to help with 2nd opinions. Our criteria is usually 1) location, 2) clean, 3) WC and shower and 4) reasonably priced.

2nd opinions are usually from this forum, Fodors hotel board, frommers, Rick Steves, and Karen Brown guides.

Most booking done by web site/email a few by phone and fax. With our Sam's club calling card, international calls are less than 10 cents a minute.

Email is nice because you can ask so many other questions like driving directions, parking, laundry services near by, or dinner reservation assistance.
Have fun!

And don't forget Priceline. Recently stayed in the posh section of Mayfair in London in a 4* hotel for $65 per night. Other cities aren't as widely covered as London but you can check out bidding for travel to see what other cities are covered.

I also recently got a phenomenal rate in Warsaw on Travelocity, it just took a little perseverance and checking back every couple of weeks.

I've also found that emailing the hotels directly finds lower rates in some cases than the booking sites like Expedia.

And finally you might try Routards's French Hotels and Restaurants or these two websites for France (recommended by Frommer's Budget Travel)

http://www.logis-de-france.fr/uk/

http://www.gites-de-france.fr/eng/

I would definitely not leave out sites such as discounthotel.com if for nothing else than cross-checking rates. Rates on hotel websites are not always the cheapest available nor will you necessarily get a cheaper rate by calling a property directly. I would ALWAYS crosscheck rates on discounter sites prior to booking.

Thank you so much for all your helpful information! My previous trips I have also tried to find hotel's web sites and book through them. I am glad to know that others do this. Just didn't know if there was something I was missing.
In all of our trips whether Europe or other places out of the US this travel forum has been a wealth of information!
I have placed the mentioned web sites that you have all given me into my favorites and will check them out also. Previously I have checked several web sites and have found with their booking fee that they have been more.
We do not have a Sam's Club here but I will check to see if Costco has a phone card for international calls.

I usually have the best luck by narrowing down my hotel choices and then just typing the hotel name and the word discount in google. Then, I sort through the (sometimes PAGES) of hits and search for a good deal.

(Re: The above post on London - I found a much better deal on 2 hotels on Londonnights than was offered on Londontown - not sure if that's true across the board, but worth checking out.)

The phone cards (Sam's/Costco) are not just for international. They are regular calling cards generally around 3 cents a minute. What happens is that for Europe most calls take 3 minutes making the calls cost 9 to 10 cents a minute.

Great idea Andrea! I will have to try it out.
MGB: Again I appreciate your help. It appears we are interested in the same information!
I have read postings in this forum about ATT cellphone was a good value in Europe. I must check that out.
Enjoy your trip!
Kay

There is also a program called Sidestep that you can download for free that will search sites for lowest fares/room rates. It doesn't always get ALL the best rates, but it usually comes darn close! :D