Everyone wants to know what the best hotel booking website is for finding cheap hotel rooms. Most of the major booking websites have their pros and cons, and I’ve yet to find one that does everything perfectly. Finding a cheap hotel room heavily depends on the region you’re planning to travel to and the budget you’ve set aside for accommodation.
One website that works very well for mid-range to luxury hotels is Club 1 Hotels.
What is Club 1 Hotels?
Club 1 Hotels is a hotel booking platform that offers cheap rates and special hotel deals for hotel rooms across the globe (as long as you book at least seven days in advance).
Club 1 Hotels also offers a best price guarantee, beating rates found elsewhere by $20 to $50 dollars depending on the hotel’s star rating. If Club 1 Hotels does not offer the cheapest price for a hotel but features the hotel on their platform, they’ll beat competitor prices by $20 if it’s a 3-star hotel, $40 for 4-star hotels, and $50 for 5-star hotels.
Plus, you’ll get credits for bookings $250 and up. You can then use these credits on the next booking — making it a top choice loyalty program for regular travelers. Since there are over one million hotels on the platform, you’re really spoiled for choice.
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Club 1 Hotels mostly features 3 to 5 star hotels and has special partnerships with many chains. Sometimes, you can find luxury hotels for the same price as an average budget hotel!
Club 1 Hotels vs. Booking Direct
While writing my guidebook to Bali and Lombok, I checked into tens of hotels over the course of a few months. In nearly 70% of cases where I tried to get a price match for booking directly with the hotel, I ran into problems. I’d get stuck at the check-in counter while receptionists phoned upper management — and many times, the hotels did not honor competitor prices. After a few weeks, I decided to go back to using booking platforms to lock in my hotel stays.
It makes me disappointed to write this as I’d love to support more hotels (especially boutique ones) directly, but unfortunately I can no longer afford to spend hours in a check in lobby or negotiating over email only to be told that the hotel won’t price match.
Booking platforms like Club 1 also offer an extra form of protection should problems happen at the hotel. Let’s say the hotel lost your reservation or is providing terrible service. Club 1 customer service can communicate with the hotel directly on your behalf. Since hotels want to maintain good relationships with the websites directing customers there, they have more incentive to solve the problem.
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Club 1 Hotels vs. Other Booking Websites
It’s hard to argue with the “best rate guarantee” offered by Club 1 Hotels. I use a lot of different booking websites depending on the destination, length of stay, and quality of hotel that I’m looking for. Club 1 Hotels is my go-to website for any hotel over 3 stars. I’ll first check if the hotel is featured on Club 1 before moving onto alternatives.
Downsides of Club 1 Hotels
Since Club 1 Hotels mostly features hotels rated 3 stars and up, it’s not the best booking platform if you’re looking for hostels and homestays. And while it features over one million hotels, some regions are a little skint on listings (Fiji for example has less than 10 featured hotels).
Get your first year free!
If you want to try out Club 1 Hotels for yourself, you can get free access to the platform for one full year (normally $99 per year). Club 1 Hotels does not take your credit card information or set your account up to auto-bill or renew. So if you’re unsure, you can always sign up for free, see if Club 1 Hotels is useful, and cancel your account if not.
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Club 1 Hotels sponsored this post. All opinions are my own. While I say no to 99% of the partnership requests that enter my inbox, I liked Club 1’s no-strings-attached free membership, best rate guarantee, and customer service aspect — making it a great choice for readers.