In Reply to: Walk-up or Book posted by Ezz on Thursday, 25. January 2007 at 10:50 Bali Time:
A few days in a hotel or hotels where we know we'll be happy, included in the package deal. We make sure that we have our next accom secure before having to leave our last place. No good turning up somewhere with your luggage in the car, looking desperate to find something. Takes the edge off your negotiating technique.
Check out the website prices of places you may be interested in staying at and print out the best price you can find. Make sure that the price includes all taxes and charges etc, includes breakfast if that's what you want, and relates to the time of year of your holiday, ie high or low season etc. Keep this in reserve, you may get cheaper still, but you shouldn't need to pay any more than this.
I start off by saying that we are currently staying in [name the area, not the hotel, no point giving them some idea of your budget], but that we may be in this area in the next few days and, if so, we may be interested in staying here, so we'd like to have a look at the rooms. If the accom suits you, ask them how much and then start negotiating, just like you would for a teeshirt. Use the fact that you may be staying for [say] 3 days or 6 days etc to get a better price.
Despite what this may sound like, I never try to drive them into the ground, in fact I would be ashamed of myself if I thought I'd done that to them, just because they're scratching for business. In fact they probably have the last laugh, I think I've been smart, but they know I've paid more than I needed to. But that's OK, isn't it? "Good for you, good for me!"
We have found places this way that we probably would never have otherwise heard of. And it's a lot of fun.