I got to the airport in Ottawa Sunday night and found out my flight was delayed at least 5 hours. Rather than sit around the airport all night, I decided to take a flight the next morning. I needed a hotel room, and after a few phone calls to mid-level hotels (Courtyard / Holiday Inn) I realized I’d be paying $160 per night for a normal hotel room.
Not liking the price, I spent $2 at an Internet kiosk in the airport and went to Hotwire.com. The way Hotwire works is that you see the quality of the hotel (star ratings), the location(downtown, midtown west etc.) and the amenities (restaurants, pool etc.) of the hotel - but you don’t see the name until after you buy. I found a 3 star hotel in the area of town I wanted for $90, put in my credit card info, clicked “buy” and found out that I had a room at the Crowne Plaza in Ottawa for about $70 cheaper than I would have paid if I called them up.
If you have a bit of time to do some research, there are websites that help you figure out what hotel you might be getting (ie, in some cities you can tell what hotel has certain amenities in a certain area).
If you don’t mind surprises and want to save some real money on a hotel room, try Hotwire.
