Heads up: Our content is reader-supported. This page includes affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
As a traveling family, hotels are our home away from home. In fact, my kids are so used to staying in hotels that it sometimes feels odd to be home. Finding the best hotel deal can be a daunting process, especially with so many factors to consider such as budget, location and amenities.
As we get ready to head out on another extended trip, i needed all the help i could get for booking rooms along the way. So i was excited to try out hotelscombined for the first time.
Contents
What is hotelscombined?
Hotelscombined is a hotel metasearch engine that compares rates from top travel sites with one simple search initiated by the traveller. Although there many similar services out there, hotelscombined has some definite advantages. Not only does it search hundreds of sites, some of which i had never even heard of before, they also have a handy feature offering alternative dates for cheaper rates.
How does it work?
Through partnerships with numerous online travel agencies and hotel chains, hotelscombined allows users to search and compare hotel rates in one simple search. It also provides an aggregated summary of hotel reviews and ratings from external sites.
The HotelsCombined Process
Start the hotelscombined process with a search by typing in your destination or hotel of choice and choose your desired dates of stay. If you don’t know your exact dates of travel, you can click the indicated option box. Then select the number of travelling guests and number of rooms required.
Next, you are shown a list of hotels with the best per night options. Here, you can filter the options displayed by selecting star rating, distance from various areas or attractions, price, or guest ratings. There is also an optional separate pop-up window that opens to allow you to check the rates from other hotel booking sites, if you would like to further compare.
Once you made your selection you are redirected to the hotel booking site that provided the best offer to complete the transaction.
What’s the deal?
Although very similar to the process of other hotel bookings sites, hotelscombined is not a booking site at all and you don’t actually reserve a room on their site. Rather, it is a metasearch engine that scours the internet to bring you the best rates available.
Hotelscombined advantages
- It is an easy to use site. Everything is very straightforward. The most important information is laid out very clearly and search results can be viewed on a map (my favourite), or as a list that can be sorted by cost (taxes are included in the displayed room rate), so you make the most informed choice.
- Hotelscombined informs user if there is an upcoming event which is causing an increase in room rates and suggests alternate dates in order to receive the best deal possible.
- Offers deals from obscure booking sites that may not be on the radar of most travellers.
- Great for those searching for stays throughout europe as they have many travel partners in that part of the world.
Hotelscombined disadvantages
- You can’t filter by hotel brand, which is a disadvantage for those looking to use or earn hotel rewards.
- Because hotelscombined works with so many different travel partners (some more obscure than others), there will likely be differences in reputability. I would suggest a bit of independent research before relying on a new booking site if you have never heard of it.
My Experience
I used hotelcombined to research room rates for an upcoming road trip and i loved all the options compared from the numerous source booking sites. Low nightly rates, and ease of use were the two most critical aspects that didn’t fail to impress. The site definitely helps reduce the time required to research hotels by doing all the heavy lifting for you. I’m certain – i will be using hotelscombined again for planning my next trip.
