Cheapest way to book airport hotel room

Poochie05

We are travelling through Gatwick Airport in a few weeks and have to travel over the night before. We are arriving in late enough, around 10pm so I'm wondering what would be the cheapest way to get a hotel room.

I remember years ago not having anything booked and then rocking up to an accommodation desk at Heathrow airport at a late hour, where they found me a top notch airport hotel for a heavily discounted price as they were unlikely to sell it at that stage.

Do airports still have these desks or have they all gone with the advent of online booking?

OH doesn't want to take the chance and wants to book now, but I'd rather pay less for one of the nicer hotels closer to the airport.

I did a check on Laterooms and Lastminute.com as if I was looking for a room tonight but the prices are still as high as the regular prices (or maybe not as cheap as I hoped!)

Has anyone done this recently or got any suggestions?

Yamanoto

I'll often pick up an airport hotel after disembarking a flight.

In the great majority of cases, you're much better off doing so online rather than via airport info desks or rocking up to reception at the hotel itself. Seeing as you've a bit of time to play with, may be worth pricing budget chains such as the Premier Inn in the first instance.

I use Priceline's 'Express Deals' quite a bit & also their 'Name your own price' bidding facility, which can yield great hotels at a serious discount compared to the published rate. I've also heard good things about the 'Hotel Tonight' app, but have yet to use it myself.

If there's a Holiday Inn at LGW, check out the last link below.

http://www.priceline.com/

http://www.hoteltonight.com/

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=87733835

kupus

booking.com is one i use a lot of. always good deals.

athtrasna

Hotwire is the best I've found for airport hotel rates. Choose a star rating and facilities, the actual name isn't revealed until you pay but once you select a star rating you're happy with it's a win/win.

keithclancy

Poochie05 wrote: »

We are travelling through Gatwick Airport in a few weeks and have to travel over the night before. We are arriving in late enough, around 10pm so I'm wondering what would be the cheapest way to get a hotel room.

I remember years ago not having anything booked and then rocking up to an accommodation desk at Heathrow airport at a late hour, where they found me a top notch airport hotel for a heavily discounted price as they were unlikely to sell it at that stage.

Do airports still have these desks or have they all gone with the advent of online booking?

OH doesn't want to take the chance and wants to book now, but I'd rather pay less for one of the nicer hotels closer to the airport.

I did a check on Laterooms and Lastminute.com as if I was looking for a room tonight but the prices are still as high as the regular prices (or maybe not as cheap as I hoped!)

Has anyone done this recently or got any suggestions?

You could stay in the Terminal:

http://www.yotel.com/hotels/london-heathrow

Poochie05

Yamanoto wrote: »

I'll often pick up an airport hotel after disembarking a flight.

In the great majority of cases, you're much better off doing so online rather than via airport info desks or rocking up to reception at the hotel itself. Seeing as you've a bit of time to play with, may be worth pricing budget chains such as the Premier Inn in the first instance.

I use Priceline's 'Express Deals' quite a bit & also their 'Name your own price' bidding facility, which can yield great hotels at a serious discount compared to the published rate. I've also heard good things about the 'Hotel Tonight' app, but have yet to use it myself.

If there's a Holiday Inn at LGW, check out the last link below.

http://www.priceline.com/

http://www.hoteltonight.com/

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=87733835

Thanks for this, very useful. That's really what I was wondering if I was better playing around and monitoring different websites or just using an info desk at the airport, so that's first dilemma solved!

There are a couple of Premier Inns and Holiday Express, but they all involve getting shuttle. I suppose what I'm hoping for is a budget hotel price for one of the hotels right beside the terminal! Maybe I'm being a bit optimistic.

As you say, there is a bit of time yet so I'll keep an eye on the links you've suggested and make a call a bit closer to the time.

Poochie05

keithclancy wrote: »

You could stay in the Terminal:

http://www.yotel.com/hotels/london-heathrow

Stayed in a Yotel before and loved the little compact rooms, but OH has ruled that out!

Poochie05

athtrasna wrote: »

Hotwire is the best I've found for airport hotel rates. Choose a star rating and facilities, the actual name isn't revealed until you pay but once you select a star rating you're happy with it's a win/win.

Thanks.
I checked out some of the secret hotel sites last night and that seems to be a way to go. As you say, once you have the star rating and distance from airport you want, it doesn't really matter what chain you end up in

Poochie05

kupus wrote: »

booking.com is one i use a lot of. always good deals.

Do you use it specifically for last minute airport hotel deals? I use it a lot for normal bookings but never tried it for 'on the day' bookings before.