The classic lodging option—generally reliable and familiar, but not always the best bargain

The classic lodging option—How British hotels work and how to book the best hotels at the lowest rates

From hotel savings to better booking engines, alternative accommodations to lodging rip-offs, here is the best lodging advice around

A quick guide to British hotels and what to expect from them

How far in advance do you need to reserve a hotel room?

How British hotels differ from American ones

Don't use the most famous booking engines; use the ones with the largest selection and lowest rates

Comparison-shop dozens of booking engines at once

All about how I select lodgings for this site

A dozen ways to lower your hotel costs

Opaque rates can save you up to 60% if you book a bit blindly

Get a hotel in the suburbs or next town over to save money

User review sites are handy, but take their advice with a grain (make that a shaker) of salt

A few notes on bathrooms in British hotels

Hotel sites often feature special sales and promotions you won't find on the booking engines and aggregators

A room with "external facilities" (shared bath down the hall) always costs less for this minor inconvenience

A Full English breakfast is lovely and worthwhile; a dull, continental-style one isn't worth the added expense

Crowd the clan into one room rather than renting two

Shop around, ask lots of questions, even haggle, and you can often get a room for much less

Offer pounds rather than Visa, and sometimes you can get a slight discount

Hotels' official star ratings have nothing to do with how clean, central, comfortable, or charming a hotel is—just how many (often pointless) amenities it offers

All the steps you can take to find the lowest price on the perfect place to stay

Scams and rip-offs at the hotel—many of them perfectly legal. Avoid the minibar, phone, laundry service, and parking garage