Review: Top Hotel Booking Sites with Discounts

Booking a hotel is one of the most common travel expenses. Whether you're planning a vacation, business trip, or weekend getaway, finding the best hotel deal is key to saving money and getting the most value for your stay. While it's always worth checking hotel websites directly for their latest offers, booking sites often have partnerships in place that enable discounts and deals not available elsewhere.

This CouponXoo review examines some of the top hotel booking sites and compares their features, availability, and ongoing discounts to help you decide which site is best for your next hotel reservation. Let's take a closer look.

Booking.com

One of the largest and most popular booking sites, Booking.com has options for hotels in over 227 countries and territories worldwide. With thousands of properties on its site, from budget to luxury, you're almost certain to find options wherever your travels take you.

Booking.com regularly offers discounts of 10-40% off when booking directly through their site. They also have an ongoing "Price Guarantee" - if you book on their site and find the same room for less elsewhere within 24 hours, they'll refund you the difference. Additional perks like flexible pricing and cancellation policies make them a safe bet.

Expedia

Another booking giant, Expedia has a similarly vast network of partner hotels. What sets them apart is the ability to book everything travel-related in one place - flights, hotels, rental cars, vacation packages, and more. This one-stop-shop approach is very convenient for planning multi-component trips.

Expedia Rewards members enjoy extra perks like 5% of points back on every booking. They also offer "Best Price Guarantees" and periodic sales where you save extra on room rates. On the downside, their interface can be more cluttered than competitors - you may need to dig to compare all your options. Still, it's a great all-in-one platform.

Hotels.com

As the hotel booking arm of Expedia Group, Hotels.com has amassed a huge global inventory like its sister sites. You'll find surprisingly good last-minute deals here, especially in more touristy destinations. They also run targeted promotions throughout the year for extra 15-30% discounts on select hotels or regions.

Customers like their transparency - all taxes and fees are included upfront rather than unexpected at checkout. You also earn 10 nights for every 10 nights booked through their rewards program. For spontaneous travelers looking for a good last-minute bargain, Hotels.com is a reliable choice.

Agoda

While lesser known in North America, Asian-based Agoda is a major player internationally with a huge Asia Pacific footprint. They have great prices on hotels throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, and the Middle East thanks to strong regional partnerships.

Agoda consistently offers "Secret Prices" that undercut other sites, plus additional discounts for repeat customers and members of their Agoda Rewards program. Many properties also have flexible cancellation options. It's worth browsing if traveling within their coverage areas.

Trip.com

Formerly known as Ctrip, Trip.com is a Chinese travel giant expanding globally. They have all the standard booking site features plus a focus on Asia. In addition to excellent prices, they curate experience-based hotel packages with activities, tours, and dining included at set prices - a great way to save time planning.

Existing discounts give first-time users 15% off flights and 10% off hotels. Rewards members earn points per booking redeemable for statement credits. Customer service is top-notch across multiple languages if issues arise abroad. While the interface is in Chinese by default, translating works well.

Orbitz

Owned by Expedia Group, Orbitz has a similar collection of properties to other major booking sites. They stand out by bundling hotels with flights and cars on one itinerary called "Trips" for easy trip planning. Promotional codes surface 20-40% off select hotels and destinations regularly too.

New users get $15 off a $100 hotel booking, and rewards members earn 5% back in points on all bookings. Orbitz also partners with credit cards to offer room upgrades and perks when booking with points. A user-friendly app makes last-minute planning on the go very smooth too.

Priceline

Known for "Name Your Own Price" and "Express Deals" bidding on anonymous unbranded hotels, Priceline exposes great last-minute deals in many markets when flexibility allows unknown standards. Express Deals surfaces steep last-minute discounts better than regular prices.

Bid success relies on realistic offers that property managers approve so willingness to accept uncertainty plays a role, unlike most transparent OTAs. New bidders receive 20-30% off welcome codes for flexible travel.

While riskier than viewing amenities first, Priceline bidding uncovers big bargains with patience. Their business model simply passes consumer offers directly to suppliers. Factor this into consideration if strict requirements exist.

Hotwire

Owned by Expedia, Hotwire provides semi-transparent hotel bidding showing class, rating, location and amenities rather than hotel name like Priceline. Other opaque sellers only provide details after booking non-refundable rates.

Savvy travelers profit from Hotwire's "Hot Rates" that regularly undercut major OTA prices, especially in destination gateway cities. Earn rewards through their program and consider bundling with Hotwire car rentals if available.

Flexible cancellation policies and 24/7 customer service support make opaque purchases less risky. Experiment with their deals when open to surprise property assignments aligning rates to your standards. Continual new offerings keep savings opportunities fresh.

Trivago

Rather than selling direct, Trivago is a meta-search site comparing rates from over 230 providers on a single results page. Advanced filters help narrow availability matching your criteria of location, price, amenities and more. Overlaying prices simplifies quick comparison shopping.

Showing multiple listings next-to-each-other streamlines evaluation of total post-tax costs, cancellation terms, room features and sometimes loyalty perks or credits included. Users save an average 13% by cross-checking rates.

Signing up provides access to unpublished "secret deals." Their unbiased approach factors into booking decisions by surfacing all advertised prices in one place. Trivago leverages the collective rates of major OTAs into handy rate match alerts.

The best booking site depends on where you're traveling, when, and what deals are running during your dates. By checking these top players regularly on CouponXoo, you'll find the combination of availability, pricing, and ongoing discounts that maximize your savings for upcoming hotel stays anywhere in the world. Happy travels!