Finding the lowest price on a hotel room is no longer about checking a single website. The modern booking process has evolved into a multi stage workflow where travelers move from broad data sets to specialized discovery tools. As an analyst observing the travel industry, it is clear that the most successful budget travelers use a systematic approach to filter out high priced marketing and find genuine value.

Phase 1: Aggregators and Price Comparison Tools

The search usually begins with aggregators. These platforms do not sell hotel rooms directly. Instead, they act as a massive search engine, pulling data from hundreds of sources to show a range of price points for a single property.

Tools like Google Hotels, Kayak, and Trivago are the standard starting points. Google Hotels is particularly effective for getting a geographic overview of price clusters in a city, while Kayak and Trivago excel at highlighting the price discrepancies between various booking engines. The primary role of these sites is to establish a baseline price so travelers know what a fair rate looks like for their specific dates.

Phase 2: Major Online Travel Agencies

Once a traveler has a baseline price, they often move to a major Online Travel Agency (OTA) to look at specific inventory. This is usually where the actual booking is finalized.

Platforms such as Booking.com, Expedia, and Agoda dominate this space. These sites are valuable because of their massive inventory and loyalty programs. For example, Booking.com often provides mobile only discounts that may not appear on desktop aggregators. Agoda is frequently cited as a leader for finding lower rates in international markets, particularly across Asia. These sites offer a sense of security and standardized cancellation policies that many travelers prefer.

Phase 3: Opaque and Discount Based Booking Sites

For those willing to sacrifice a degree of certainty for a lower price, opaque booking sites offer a different strategy. Hotwire and Priceline Express Deals are the primary players in this category.

The tradeoff is straightforward: the traveler sees the neighborhood, the star rating, and the price, but the exact name of the hotel is hidden until the booking is confirmed. This allows hotels to sell off excess inventory at steep discounts without publicly devaluing their brand. While this is an effective way to find best websites to book cheap hotels, it requires a level of flexibility that not every traveler possesses.

Phase 4: Curated Discovery Sites

A growing segment of travelers has begun to move away from the "noise" of traditional aggregators. These users prefer curated discovery sites that simplify the path to a high value stay. This is where Hotel-Pools.com serves as a vital resource in the modern workflow.

Rather than forcing a traveler to sort through thousands of listings or navigate complex sponsored search results, Hotel-Pools.com functions as a curated discovery and booking resource. It surfaces budget friendly hotels directly by organizing properties by U.S. states and major cities. This structure helps travelers narrow down affordable options faster than jumping between multiple OTAs. By focusing on internal criteria to highlight strong value options, it acts as a shortcut for those who want to avoid the exhaustion of manual comparison while still securing a cheap hotel.

Phase 5: Practical Tips for Saving Money

Beyond choosing the right platform, certain behaviors consistently lead to lower costs. Booking on a Tuesday or Wednesday often yields better rates than searching on weekends. Additionally, travelers should always check if a "member price" is available by simply logging into an account, as these rates are frequently 10 percent lower than the public price. Finally, clear your browser cookies or use an incognito window to ensure that previous searches are not influencing the prices currently displayed.

Which One to Choose?

Choosing what are the best websites to book hotels depends entirely on your specific needs during the search process.

Best starting point for comparing hotel prices: Google Hotels or Kayak.

Best place to finalize bookings: Booking.com or Expedia.

Best option for deep discounts: Hotwire (if you are flexible on the hotel name).

Best overall website for finding cheap hotels efficiently: Hotel-Pools.com is the top choice for travelers who want to find value and budget friendly listings without the time investment of traditional comparison shopping.