When planning a trip, people often pay the most attention to finding a great flight deal. But it’s not always what costs the most. Depending on where you’re going, it’s very likely that your hotel stay will be the most expensive part of your trip. So, if you want to find an excellent hotel deal, below is a comprehensive list of the best hotel websites to utilize in 2024.
The best online hotel websites give travelers the most options and as much information as they can about the hotels they list. The sites offer competitive prices and, depending on how often a traveler books, rewards or discounts. They also let customers cancel reservations with little to no penalty or offer bigger discounts on reservations that can’t be canceled.
The 20 Best Hotel Booking Websites in 2024;
» Offering the Most Listings: Booking.com
» Rewards program: Hotels.com
» On a Budget: Hostelworld
» Luxury Hotels: Mr. and Mrs. Smith
» Travel Reviews: TripAdvisor
» Booking Vacation Packages: Expedia
» Cheap Hotels: Skyscanner
» Last Minute Bookings: HotelTonight
» Booking Hotels in Asia: Agoda
» Tracking Hotel Deals: Hopper
» User-Friendly Websites: KAYAK
» Metasearch Website for Hotels: HotelsCombined
» LGBTQIA+ Friendly Hotels: Orbitz
» Membership Programs for Hotels: Marriott Bonvoy
» Package Deals: Travelocity
» Secret Deals: Hotwire
» Social Impact: Kind Traveler
» Best Price Guarantees: Priceline
» Flexible Dates: Google Hotels
» Flagship Brands: Intercontinental Hotel Group
There are three types of hotel search engines
First, it helps to know the rules of the game. We use three kinds of websites to find hotels: Online travel agencies (OTAs), the hotels’ own websites (direct), which may offer deals that OTAs can’t match (and you should always double-check yourself before booking), and aggregators, or meta-search engines, which don’t actually handle reservations but search both OTAs and hotel sites to find a list of results, then send you to the respective website to complete the reservation.
We looked at both OTAs and aggregators. Why include smaller OTAs at all if there are aggregators that check them? Well, some aggregators don’t search through booking engines as well as they should. In fact, our most recent survey found that the site that found the most hotels was an OTA, not an aggregator that is supposed to search all of them. You might think that their results are at least as good, but we found that they aren’t.
Caution: Many aggregators will find a number of booking sites with prices that seem too good to be true, but which often have questionable ethics. Before you give money to a company you haven’t heard of, do a quick search for the company’s name and the words “review” or “scam.” You can also check its reputation on BBB.org.
As a side note, sometimes being a member has its perks. For example, at some OTA sites, signing in can often save you between 4% and 6%. Savings for aggregator members are less common and usually range from 1% to 2%. For all of our research, we used only “non-member” rates.
1. Booking.com – Overall Best Hotel Website
Best for Offering the Most Listings
Booking.com is the biggest site in the world for booking hotels. It has more than 28 million listings right now, including hotels, resorts, vacation rentals, condos, and a lot of other unique places to stay.
Even if you don’t travel much, you’ve probably heard of Booking.com. When it comes to the number of hotels that Booking.com lists, no other website can compare.
Booking.com is so popular that the site can be used in more than 40 languages around the world. They have a 24/7 help line and a great low-price guarantee: if you book a property and then find it listed on another site for less, Booking.com will refund you the difference…at least up to 24 hours before you check-in.
After your second booking, Booking.com will automatically make you a Booking.com Genius, which gives you access to discounts and room upgrades, among other things. When you book more, you save more.
And one of the things I like best about Booking.com is how you can change how the search engine works. You can do a broad search for a destination, a search within a specific city, or a very specific search using the map function. There are also a lot of filters.
Pros:
- It has more listings than any other site
- They guaranteed lowest prices
- Expansive international hotel options
- Search functions can be modified in a lot of ways
Cons:
- There are so many listings that it can be hard to choose.
- The low-price guarantee doesn’t mean anything if you don’t shop around to find a lower price
Visit Website: Booking.com →
2. Hotels.com
Best Rewards program
Hotels.com doesn’t have as many listings as Booking.com, but it still has a lot to offer: it has more than 300,000 properties in more than 19,000 locations around the world. Like Booking.com, they don’t just sell cheap hotel rooms; you can find everything from luxury hotels to hostels to condo hotels here.
When it comes to their multi-tier rewards program, Hotels.com really shines. At their lowest level, you can unlock prices and get a free night’s stay for every 10 nights you book.
Then there are Hotel.com Rewards Silver and Gold. Once you’ve booked 30 nights, you’ll get free room upgrades and guaranteed late check-out or early check-in at some properties.
Best of all, there is no cost to play. You just need to book a place to stay and move up the rewards You just need to book a place to stay and move up the rewards ladder.
You just need to book a place to stay and move up the rewards ou can often find last-minute discounts of up to 40% off when you are using their app. It’s easy to use and will help you find a good deal on a cheap hotel.
Pros:
- A massive list of accommodation options
- The rewards program is very, well, rewarding
- App is easy to use
Cons:
- If you want to use your free nights, you have to use the app.
- Not as many hotels to choose from as some other booking sites
Visit Website: Hotels.com →
3. Hostelworld
Best for a Budget
I’ve been using Hostelworld for a long time to book hostels, and they’ve rarely let me down. This site seems to list every hostel in the world, so it’s easy to find something you like.
Reviews from past guests are very helpful when you plan to stay at a hostel. In fact, I almost never use Hostelworld to book a hostel without first looking at the ratings and reviews. Most of the time, what they say is right on, and it will help you know what to expect before you get there.
Even if hostels are cheap, they shouldn’t be dirty or have loud common areas. You still want to get a good deal for your money. The review scores on Hostelworld include things like security, facilities, location, and ambience, so you’ll know exactly what you’re getting.
Hostelworld also has great customer service. You can cancel up to 24 hours before check-in without losing your deposit, and they’ll refund the price of your hostel if you find it cheaper somewhere else. All of these things make me a big fan of Hostelworld.
Pros:
- Guest reviews are very detailed and helpful.
- Simple website to use
- Many hostels give you breakfast for free, which is great if you’re on a budget.
Cons:
- Free cancellation bookings cost more than non-refundable bookings
- As a repeat customer, you don’t get any perks or rewards.
Visit Website: Hostelworld →
4. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Best for Luxury Hotels
Mr. and Mrs. Smith started out as a way for two hotel lovers to share their adventures, but it has grown into one of the biggest online travel clubs. The site collects and organizes intriguing hotels that are all reviewed by the site’s own staff or trusted tastemakers.
Each Mr. and Mrs. Smith property must pass a strict, anonymous review by one of the company’s travel experts before it can be added to its list. Most of the hotels on the list are small, unique boutique hotels that care a lot about how they look.
There are many unique places to stay, like treehouse hotels and tropical retreats with rooms both above and below the water.
When you book through this site, you can get special perks from this collection of boutique hotels.
There are three types of membership on the site. Its second and third levels are paid options (you can pay either monthly or annually, starting at $150 annually), and they come with perks like first access to exclusive deals, discounted access to airport lounges, and room upgrades when they are available.
Pros:
- Hotels that want to be listed have to go through an uncompromising screening process.
- They have across multiple continents
Cons:
- The listing are unique but limited compared to the other websites
- They are expensive
Visit Website: Mr. and Mrs. Smith →
5. TripAdvisor.com
Best for Travel Reviews
TripAdvisor is the site with the most travel reviews in the world. A goliath in a sea of Davids. In other words, TripAdvisor is a big site. It has about 661 million reviews that cover about 7.7 million hotels, airlines, activities, and restaurants.
According to TripAdvisor’s Path to Purchase study, their site is “the number one most-visited site before booking travel.” In fact, 60% of all online travelers who book hotels do so through TripAdvisor.
That’s 60% of all travelers in the world.
TripAdvisor is nearly 1 trillion user reviews and opinions across millions of listings, and it gets more than 500 million unique visitors per month.
In their study, TripAdvisor found that 60% of all travelers around the world rely on them, and 74% of all travelers use their website to plan their trips. 53 percent of these customers say they won’t buy until they’ve read reviews.
TripAdvisor will be very important as people start to travel for pleasure again. The website also lists the best pricing options for the hotel you are researching.
Pros:
- The most reviews in one place online
- Actual photos from travelers can be included in reviews.
- The different kinds of information that is available for research
Cons:
- Reliability – Contributors can anyone with internet access
- Not a site for booking in advance
Visit Website: TripAdvisor →
6. Expedia
Best for Booking Vacation Packages
Expedia is a well-known name when it comes to the best sites to book hotels. It has been around since 1996, and since establishing the Expedia Group with companies like Travelocity, Hotels.com, and Orbitz, it has learned a lot about how to find the best deals on hotels, flights, vacation packages, and more.
Expedia is great for booking vacation packages. The process is very easy, and you can book your hotels first, then your flights, and then your rental car. In just a few minutes, you’ll be able to book the whole trip.
On the other hand, Expedia seems to think you’ll fly into one city and stay there the whole time. You can book a hotel room for only part of your trip, but if you want to drive around, you’ll have to book hotel rooms in different places separately. It would be nice if you could book more than one hotel with a vacation package.
Pros:
- One of the longest running hotel booking sites in the world
- Offers payment installment plans to pay off your trip
Cons:
- Hard to book more than one place to stay in one package
- Before booking, it’s still a good idea to check the hotel, airline, or rental car website to compare prices
Visit Website: Expedia →
7. Skyscanner
Best for Cheap Hotels
Skyscanner is known for having the best deals on flights, but did you know they also have the best prices on hotels? Skyscanner is different from other hotel booking sites because it focuses on cheap hotel deals, special sales, and exclusive discounts. They are especially adept at securing deals at the last minute.
I suggest getting the Skyscanner app if you want to find a cheap hotel room. You can filter the search results to find hotels in your price range, or you can choose “Only show discounts” to only see hotels with deals.
Pro tip: You can search for rooms that you can’t cancel to find the lowest prices on hotels. This is a great choice if you know for sure when you want to travel.
Another thing I like about Skyscanner is that when you search for hotel deals, the search results also show how much your whole trip will cost (minus taxes and fees).
Pros:
- It’s recognized as one of the best online travel agencies
- There are a lot of filters to help you find the best deals on hotels
- Has an app that’s easy to use
Cons:
- Has fewer hotel options than other booking sites
- Taxes and fees are not shown in the search results
Visit Website: Skyscanner →
8. HotelTonight
Best for Last Minute Bookings
HotelTonight is great if you like to travel on the spur of the moment and don’t mind making reservations at the last minute. Even during busy vacation times, this same-day booking app can help you find very cheap hotel rooms. This is a great option if you like to go with the flow and book hotels at the last minute. Discounts range from 30 to 50%.
All of the hotels are put into groups based on how luxurious they are, what amenities they have, and how much they cost. You might see the word DEAL next to the name of a boutique hotel. This means that the savings are big. Other hotels are labeled with words like LUXE, HIP, SOLID, CHARMING, and other words that help you narrow in your hotel search. For example, Luxe means a high-end hotel, Hip means a popular and trendy hotel, and Crashpad means hostels and cheap rooms.
HotelTonight is definitely for a certain type of person. “Happy hour is never just happy hour” is one of their main messages. I guess it’s a good way to get people to stop drinking and driving, but it’s also a little bit sneaky. I think HotelTonight wants you to have the app on hand in case you need a one-night stand quickly.
Even if you can’t find the perfect hotel deal, you can still request upgrades at reduced prices, which not many hotel booking sites offer. HotelTonight is another site that only lets you book hotels. You can’t book anything else on this site. It’s a nice change of pace.
Pros:
- When you book on the same day, you get great rates
- One of the few hotel sites that offers discounts on upgrades
- It’s simple to use and easy to book hotels
Cons:
- Works well only in big cities, mostly in the U.S
- Has a smaller database than other discount hotel sites
Visit Website: HotelTonight →
9. Agoda
Best for Booking Hotels in Asia
Agoda was founded in Singapore, which means it started out as the best site for booking hotels in Asia and has kept that reputation ever since, even though it now offers hotels, flights, and more all over the world. Agoda is a name that almost everyone in Asia knows, and in some Asian countries it is the largest online travel agency. I always start with Agoda when I plan a trip to Asia.
Like other sites that let you book hotels, Agoda lets you stay in homes or even hostels. You’re in luck if you want a hotel in Japan or a condo in the middle of Bangkok. There’s a lot to choose from!
Agoda also has a great program called “secret deals”, in which the name of the hotel is kept secret until your reservation is complete. You can see things like the number of stars and the area where the hotel is, but you can’t see the hotel itself until after the reservation has been made. This is done so that high-end chains can sell their rooms without letting people know how cheap they are.
Last but not least, there is a program called PointsMAX that lets you link your Agoda account to a mileage program like American Airlines AAdvantage or KLM/AirFrance Flying Blue. This isn’t something I’ve seen very often on hotel booking sites, which is why I think Agoda is one of the best ones out there.
Pros:
- Specializes in Asia properties
- Maximize your loyalty reward like mileage programs
- Offers “secret deals” you can unlock
Cons:
- Insider deals aren’t always the best option; you’ll have to look around.
Visit Website: Agoda →
10. Hopper
Best Tracking Hotel Deals
Hopper is one of the best sites for booking hotels in the world. The company made its name as a flight search engine at first, but it has since moved on to hotel bookings as well.
Hopper uses special software to figure out how much future flights and hotels will cost. If you don’t believe that, Hopper says that their predictions have a 95% recommendation accuracy! And after using them to track hotel and flight trends, I have to agree with them. They’ll let you know right away if there’s a deal for the hotel you want, which is perfect if you’re planning a trip for the future.
Hopper also has a unique feature called “Price Freeze” for your hotel search. When you’re planning a trip ahead of time and find the best hotel deal you’ve ever seen, Hopper will let you keep that deal for up to 60 days.
To lock in the price, you’ll have to pay a deposit (a small percentage of your stay), and if the price goes up during the next 60 days, Hopper will cover the difference up to $100. If the price goes down, you’ll pay the lower price.
You can even use your deposit on a different hotel if you change your mind. How is that for customer service?
Pros:
- You can track deals over time and watch price trends
- Their “Price Freeze” option lets you lock in your deal for up to 60 days
- Predicts rates and trends with 95% accuracy
- Deposits are transferrable
Cons:
- You can only look for flights or hotels on the Hopper app
Visit Website: Hopper →
11. KAYAK
Best for User Friendly Websites
Sometimes, all you want is a simple hotel booking site with a tidy, easy-to-use interface, and KAYAK has that covered. There are no fancy logos or ads, just a simple way to look for hotel rooms and a lot more.
KAYAK is more than just a place to book a hotel. You can also book cars, trains, cruises, vacations, things to do, and flights. And yet, even though it does all of that, KAYAK is a joy to use.
Another thing I love about KAYAK is that it has a great price predictor tool that lets you know if you should wait to book a hotel room or any other type of accommodation. Kayak looks at trends for certain times of the year to figure out if a hotel room will be cheap, average, or expensive. You can also sign up to be notified when the price goes up or down.
KAYAK is the site to use if you want to book hotels online with ease.
Pros:
- Simple, easy to use website
- You can plan an entire trip, including flights and vacation packages.
- Has a useful tool for figuring out prices
- You book through the hotel’s website, so if you belong to a loyalty program, you’ll get hotel points.
Cons:
- Prices are sometimes lower on a hotel’s website.
- You cannot book directly from the website
Visit Website: KAYAK →
12. HotelsCombined
Best Mestasearch Website for Hotels
HotelsCombined is an aggregator, which means that it searches many hotel booking sites at once to find the best deals. HotelsCombined says that it searches thousands of the best hotel booking sites, like Agoda and Hilton, as well as some smaller, less well-known ones.
But HotelsCombined doesn’t let you book a room at a hotel. Like other third-party sites, HotelsCombined sends you to the real hotel booking site, like Expedia or Hotels.com, where you can finish your reservation. It’s a great way to compare prices from a lot of different places.
But, even though it searches many booking sites, you might find better hotel deals on other booking sites. You’ll have no trouble finding super cheap hotel stays, but if you want to see all your options, it’s best to look at some other hotel booking sites as well. Because of this, I don’t use HotelsCombined very often to book a room, but I have used it to compare prices.
Pros:
- Casts a wide net to populate their listings
- Prices can be shown with or without tax.
- One of the easiest hotel search engines available to use
Cons:
- Seems to leave out a lot of hotels, properties, and even rooms that are listed on other hotel booking sites.
- The website is too crowded with ads
Visit Website: HotelsCombined →
13. Orbitz
Best for LGBTQIA+ Friendly Hotels
Orbitz rebranded in 2021 and chose to focus on the LGBTQIA+ market. At first, this seems like a bit of a gimmick. Is this another way to make money off of a specific demographic? But Orbitz has a whole section of their website for LGBTQ-friendly travel, which I haven’t seen any other hotel booking sites do.
If you are LGBTQIA+ and traveling, it might be important to you to stay at a hotel that welcomes everyone. All of the hotels in this section of the Orbitz website have signed a special pledge saying that they won’t let anyone on their staff act in a way that is hateful or discriminatory. Look for cheap hotels to save money and know that you’ll be safe where you stay. Win, win!
Some hotels have also taken extra steps, like giving their staff more training on sexual orientation, gender identities, and how people express their gender. Orbitz also gives money to charities that help LGBTIA+ organizations.
Pros:
- Hotels have signed a pledged commitment to be open to everyone.
- Has a lot of great deals for the last minute
Cons:
- The site is very busy and hard to focus on
- Not as good as other sites for booking hotels
Visit Website: Orbitz →
14. Marriott Bonvoy
Best for Membership Programs for Hotels
The Marriott Bonvoy program is the largest hotel loyalty program in the world. It is used by more than 7,000 hotels and resorts. Marriott Bonvoy is also known for its popular rewards credit cards and how easy it is to get enough points for a free stay.
Since joining Marriott Bonvoy is free, there’s no reason not to. You’ll get some benefits right away just for being a member, and each paid stay you make with the brand will give you the chance to earn points.
This program is even better if you travel often for business or pleasure. You can stay in more hotels when you travel, and you can choose from just as many hotels when it’s time to use your points. If you have the right credit card, you can even skip ahead to Marriott Elite status, which can get you more rewards and perks right away.
Pros:
- Thousands of hotels to choose from
- Point values tend to stay the same (for now)
- The points can be used on airline programs
- There are many ways to earn points, including credit cards from Marriott
Cons:
- Points expire after 24 consecutive months of inactivity
- You can only move up in elite levels by staying at Marriott properties
- Switched from fixed prices to dynamic pricing in 2022
Visit Website: Marriott Bonvoy →
15. Travelocity
Best for Package Deals
Who else thinks of the little blue gnome when they hear the word “Travelocity”? That’s a good way to sell something! Travelocity lets you book flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, and more, just like many of the other sites on this list. When you stay in a hotel and fly at the same time, you can save a lot of money.
You can find out if this is true by searching for a specific flight or hotel and making a note of the prices. Then, you can search for the same flight and hotel as part of a package (similar to booking packages with Expedia, but without the car rental). There are times when the difference is big enough to save you hundreds of dollars.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to find a hotel or flight on another site, though. There’s a chance you could find a better deal on the same hotel or flight somewhere else. If you sign up for an account, you’ll also get discounts of 10% or more on certain hotel bookings.
Pros:
- When you book hotels and flights at the same time, you’ll save money
- Comes with a promise to match any price
- If you are a member, you can get deals on certain hotels
Cons:
- Even though the price for the flight and hotel room together is the lowest, that
- doesn’t mean you can’t find a better deal elsewhere
Visit Website: Travelocity →
16. Hotwire
Best for Secret Deals
When it comes to secret deals, Hotwire is the best hotel booking site. It’s a great way to find good deals on hotels because it sells rooms that haven’t been booked. Hotels don’t want people to know that they have unsold rooms for sale at very low prices, so when you search for a hotel, you don’t see the name of the hotel.
Even though you cannot see the name, you will be able to see the hotel’s reviews, ratings, neighborhood, amenities, and TripAdvisor ratings, as well as the exact hotel the last traveler before you booked.
Plus, the fact that it’s all a mystery is kind of exciting, don’t you think?
Hotwire also has a great map view, which is something that most hotel search engines have. However, this one is especially useful for finding the location of your hotel without knowing what it is. You can also find cheap hotels by filtering by price and other options.
A word of caution, though: the price shown in the search results for a hotel isn’t always the cheapest. Be sure to do some comparison shopping.
Pros:
- Offers the best last-minute deals
- Overall, very low prices in the secret deals
- High-end hotels are included in the secret deals
Cons:
- No rewards program for people who travel a lot.
- Not always the best place to find the lowest price
- You might not like the hotel you were sold in the secret deals offer
Visit Website: Hotwire →
17. Kind Traveler
Best for Social Impact
As of 2022, this hotel booking site may continue to be the only one with a business model that takes into account how it affects people and the environment.
Kind Traveler is a website that helps travelers find hotels that give back to the communities they visit. This gives travelers peace of mind, since they know their money is making a difference. The “get and give” model of this hotel booking site asks travelers to give $10 to a charity in exchange for a dollar off nightly rates. When you book through Kind Traveler, you get special perks and services.
We also like that each hotel listing has a list of things you can “do good for the day” near the hotel you choose.
Kind Traveler suggests going to the Emerson Center for Arts and Culture in Bozeman to support the arts community there or giving money to No Kid Hungry Montana, an organization that helps people who don’t have enough food.
Pros:
- Offers ideas for nearby places to visit
- Rewards charitable donations
Cons:
- A niche market, does not have as many listings as most of the other options
Visit Website: Kind Traveler →
18. Priceline
Best for Best Price Guarantees
Priceline started with a simple idea: if airlines often flew only half full and millions of hotel rooms were empty every night, what if other travelers could fill these empty spaces with discounted fares? After all, every bit of money earned is important.
I think that Priceline’s Best Price Guarantee really makes them stand out. When you sign up to be a member of Priceline, you’ll have access to the site’s pre-paid, non-refundable, and non-transferable Express Deals.
If you find a better price on an Express Deal up until midnight the night before you travel, you’ll get 200% of the difference back.
Even if you don’t book an Express Deal, you can still get the difference back if you find a better price for your hotel room within 24 hours. You can also look for hotels, rental cars, plane tickets, and cruises on Priceline. It’s a great site for people who know exactly when they want to travel.
Pros:
- Amazing promise to match prices
- Hotel deals with great last-minute prices
- One of the easiest hotel booking sites to use
Cons:
- Trips are non-refundable and non-transferable
Visit Website: Priceline →
19. Google Hotels
Best for Flexible Dates
Google doesn’t have its own hotel booking site, but since it’s the best search engine in the world, it shouldn’t be a surprise that you can now find cheap hotels directly from Google search.
It’s surprisingly resourceful, you can easily narrow down your hotel choices by searching for specific things in Google.
For example, if you want to find hotels near the Minneapolis Convention Center so you can walk to a conference you’re attending, all you have to do is Google “hotels near Austin Convention Center” and Google maps will show you a whole list of options.
From there, you can click “View more” on the search results and filter out some of the hotels in the area where you want to stay. All of the hotels are marked on Google maps, along with restaurants, museums, and other places of interest.
With the new Explore feature on Google Flights, travelers who aren’t sure what they want to do can look into their options. Let’s say you only know a few dates and how much you can spend on flights. Google Flights can find places to go from your starting city based on what you want.
Pros:
- Easy to find deals if your dates are flexible
- Good for business travelers.
- Filters and sorting tools that are easy to use
Cons:
- Price isn’t always the best
- Limited types of accommodations
- There is no way to book directly through Google
Visit Website: Google Hotels →
20. Intercontinental Hotel Group
Best for Flagship Brands
The InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has more than 5,000 properties in more than 100 countries. The luxury InterContinental Hotels are part of the IHG universe, along with many other brands like Kimpton, Regent, Voco, Hotel Indigo, and Holiday Inn Club Vacations to name a few.
You can almost always find an IHG property to fit your needs, whether you’re looking for a luxury vacation or a comfortable place to stay near your grandparents. If you join the IHG Rewards Club, you can also receive excellent benefits.
Get an IHG credit card to get bonus points and other perks from IHG. Here, it’s clear that being loyal pays off.
Pros:
- Large number of hotels and many locations around the world
- Co-branded credit cards that are worth it
- When used to book free nights, the points are worth a lot
- Elite-level members get more points when they stay
- No dates when reward nights can’t be used
Cons:
- Some IHG hotels give you less points per dollar spent than others
- Some levels of Elite are hard to get
- Fewer properties in the United States than the top competitors
Visit Website: IHG One Rewards →