So, your next family vacation is coming up and you don’t have a place to stay yet. Wouldn’t love to find an amazing hotel for your trip? Of course you would, but it’s not always that simple (or in the budget).
This is where HotelsCombined can help! This hotel aggregator site can search up to 30 different online travel agencies (OTAs) and hotel sites simultaneously, and their accuracy is top-notch.
In fact, Frommer’s named HotelsCombined as their top hotel search engine for 2021. They even beat out some very popular sites like Expedia and Travelocity!
Look, we know the drill – spring break will be here before you know it, and you don’t have anything booked yet. While you’d love to find a resort in a destination that will amaze the whole family, you know that finding one at a price you can afford will be a time-consuming pain…
Wouldn’t it be great if there was an easy way to book your accommodations knowing you got a great deal?
HotelsCombined to the rescue!
We use them to find great deals, and here’s how you can also.
Disclosure: Please note that we’re an affiliate partner with HotelsCombined and this post contains affiliate links, meaning we earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. There is no additional cost to you, and it helps to support this site. Thanks!
Be a Hero: Find an Amazing Hotel With HotelsCombined!
If you’ve spent any time looking around our site, you may have noticed that we like and recommend HotelsCombined to help you with hotel bookings.
What you may not know is that you don’t actually book hotels with HotelsCombined at all. What is does do is find you a great place for the best price!
HotelsCombined compares prices across dozens of booking engines like Expedia.com, Hotels.com, and Booking.com to find you the best price for the dates you’re looking for.
Here’s the full list of partners.
The process is quick and easy, and you know you’re always getting the best deal. They even guarantee it.
We recently used it to book our lodging at the Vintage Hotel in Winter Park, CO, and I documented the process. Let’s dig in and see how booking with HotelsCombined works and how it can save your family money on your next vacation.
Booking with HotelsCombined – How It Works
HotelsCombined couldn’t be easier to use. You’ll find it similar to other popular sites around the web. On the homepage, just start typing your city and it will populate the rest for you with suggestions.
Once I have a destination, I like to check the box that says ‘I don’t have specific dates’. This is helpful if you’re just researching a city or area, but aren’t quite ready to check specific prices yet. Think of it as the window shopping button…
Otherwise, if you have firm dates, go ahead an plug them in and get the best price!
Picking a Winner
Now that you have a list of hotels in the city you’re interested in, it’s time to sort them. HotelsCombined has clickable columns right across the top that make it easy.
Once you find a property that you want to know more about, click the link and you’ll be taken to a page with pictures, short descriptions of the property, amenities, and general features of the hotel. Click on the ‘Guest Reviews’ link to be take to a chart that shows ratings of different aspects of the hotel.
Now you can see at a glance if this hotel might be a good fit. Switch the drop-down to Families to see how other families generally rated this hotel.
From our experience, I’d say the information was pretty accurate. I’m sure there will be some variation to this, but I have been pleasantly surprised to find the descriptions, pictures, and ratings to be in line with the real thing.
Book With Confidence and Win at Vacation!
If you’ve plugged in some dates, you’ll have a list of hotels in your results window along with the prices. When you click on a specific hotel, you’ll see the best prices found along with the booking engine that they came from. You’ll also see several room types to compare so you can book exactly what you need.
Like I mentioned before, you don’t book directly with HotelsCombined. It’s really just a hotel search engine that finds you the best deal. When you’re ready to book, you’ll be redirected to the individual booking engine you clicked on to book and make your payment.
While I can’t vouch for every program and booking partner, I can say that many of the popular ones are usually close on price, so use whichever you are most comfortable with.
Once I found the best price for the hotel and room I wanted, I ended up booking with Hotels.com and everything went smoothly.
Review of HotelsCombined – Is it Right For You?
What We Like About It
- Searches many different websites to find the best price
- Set price alerts and save favorites to help with your research
- Easy to use interface
- Results are easy to sort, with a great ‘Families’ option
- Since you book with a 3rd party, you can still use loyalty programs like those with Hotels.com or Expedia
- Even if you don’t have specific dates, it’s easy to use for research, pictures, etc.
What Could Be Better
- It would be nice to be able to read reviews from individual guests. For this, you’ll have to use a site like TripAdvisor (which is excellent for this).
- Some of the partners are not familiar, which can create some apprehension. Make sure you know whom you’re booking with if you’re not familiar with them.
We had a very positive experience searching with HotelsCombined. If you want to be a vacation hero, give it a shot!
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