by Deirdre Gould

Created on: July 09, 2009

If you are traveling for pleasure, be it seldom or frequently, there are probably a lot of tips and secrets to obtaining accommodation deals that you've never had a chance to learn. Lots of leisure travelers stick with internet bargains at an unknown hotel when they could be dealing with their favorite hotel directly and get a better price. Many seasoned business travelers, performers on tour and hospitality industry workers know the secrets to getting a fantastic deal at any hotel, whether they are taking a last minute trip or have planned a trip for months in advance. Don't settle for a measly five percent discount for AAA or senior citizens any more! Use these methods to obtain a comfortable hotel room (even at a five star accommodation) at a truly reasonable price.

Booking in advance:

1.) If at all possible, try to call the actual hotel (or what is called the in-house reservation line) rather than a national or corporate number. Many popular hotel chains offer these national reservation lines in order to make the reservation process more uniform and streamlined. While this may be more convenient as they run 24 hours a day and you need know only one number, there are many things these national reservation lines cannot do for you. The first is to tell you about the hotel you will be staying at. Only an in-house reservation clerk can tell you how big the pool is, request a specific room, or give you an idea of their restaurant's menu and local attractions. The second thing national lines can't tell you is why a hotel may be full. What you will never find out from the national line is that there is a huge college graduation in town and on your particular weekend every hotel for miles is booked solid. An in-house reservation clerk can tell you if the hotel is holding a block of rooms for a particular function, whether rooms are likely to open up, and if worse comes to worse, where the nearest decent hotel with rooms is located. The last thing a national reservation line cannot tell you is anything but the rack rate of the hotel. An in-house reservation agent can tell you which deals are available (provided you ask for them) and which weeks there are likely to be special rates. For all these reasons, it's worth taking ten minutes to locate the local hotel number in the phone book or online to reach the in-house reservation clerk.

2.) Make sure you let a clerk know the reason you are coming to the area. Many reservation agents are now trained

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