How to book a Mystery Hotel Deal and get luxury for less

Wondering how to book a Mystery Hotel deal? I’m going to tell you how you can get a few nights in a luxury hotel for half the price.

So, you’re on an around the world backpacking trip and are sick to death of hostel dorms and fancy a bit of luxury for a few nights but you’re a backpacker so your funds are low. Or you’re just a regular 9-5er and want to treat your partner to a weekend away in a fancy hotel but don’t have much dosh in the bank. We all want a little luxury sometimes but we can’t always afford it.

Or can we? Have you heard of a Mystery Hotel deal? Well, get excited because I’m going to tell you all about how to get those few nights in a luxury hotel for half the price of what it would normally cost you.

Following our recent 5 day vacation in San Francisco we realized that not many people know about the money-saving gem that is a Mystery Hotel deal. When we managed to get a room at the most coveted hotel in downtown San Francisco for less than a hostel we thought it was time to let you all in on our little secret. So, here we lay our secrets bare on how to book a Mystery Hotel deal.

WHY NOT READ NEXT | how we spent the best 24 hours in Alicante, Spain

Here’s the 4 best websites to get a Mystery Hotel Deal:

1. Priceline
2. Hotwire
3. Expedia
4. Lastminute

What is a Mystery Hotel Deal?

Even the best hotels can’t fill all their rooms all the time, so they sell the empty rooms at a massive discount. Every hotel wants to be able to say it’s fully booked, right? Most of the other guests have paid full price and so the hotel has more than met it’s sales target, hence, they can afford to sell off their remaining rooms to the likes of Expedia & Priceline for a significantly lower rate.

But if everybody knows about the price cuts, their reputation might suffer and their other guests probably won’t be very happy. So even though these rooms are sold on certain booking sites, the hotel names are not publicized. Now, are you ready to be shown how to book a Mystery Hotel deal?

Why You Should Book a Mystery Hotel Deal

Simple – because it’s a bargain and it’s highly highly unlikely you’ll find a better deal anywhere else.

That 4 star hotel you by-passed because you couldn’t afford the price displayed, well it turns out by using the tips we’ll give you in this post you WILL be able to afford it.

Why you shouldn’t book a Mystery Hotel deal

Obviously, there is some risk, because the rate you’re getting is so-damn-good it’s non-refundable. Yep, once you’ve booked that’s it there’s no getting out of it! Maybe you don’t like surprises, then obviously a Mystery Hotel deal isn’t for you because remember you don’t find out the name of the hotel until you’ve booked and paid.  

YOU CAN guess the hotel you’re going to get, but you need to spend time doing the research (further on we’ll show you how to find out the name of your hotel before you book). Basically, if you’re not too fussy and don’t NEED a swimming pool, a hair straightener in your room or a hot tub on your balcony then you should take a chance on a Mystery Hotel deal.

Okay, is this all making sense so far? Great, now if you’re ready we’ll show you how to book a mystery hotel deal!

How to Book Your Mystery Hotel Deal

Let’s start with a hotel search on Hotwire (we find this the most user-friendly website to book your Mystery Hotel). Enter your dates and destination in the search engine.

Once you click on one particular Mystery deal, you will see more information. The description usually looks something like this –

Here’s some things you should make note of, some will be more important to you than others. The location is always a big one for us as we don’t want to be getting buses/ trains etc. if we are only in a city for a few nights.

• The location.

• The star rating.

• The standard price of the room.

• The TripAdvisor rating and number of reviews.

• Scan the description for a distinctive feature like a rooftop pool or spa.

How to find out the name of the mystery hotel

First thing, look at the list of amenities the Mystery Hotel is saying it has. Also, remember the star rating. Now, open TripAdvisor in a new tab (we use TripAdvisor because to us – it has one of the best filters). Use TripAdvisor’s filters to select the location the Mystery Hotel says it’s in (in this case, “Downtown – Coal Harbour, Stanley Park”), select the star-rating of the Mystery Hotel (in this case 4 star).

Next, tick off all the amenities the Mystery Hotel is saying it has (in this case swimming pool, business center, fitness center, pet friendly, self service laundry). Make sure to tick as many of the amenities as possibly for your best chance at guessing the correct Mystery Hotel.

Here is a screen-shot of what you need to remember about your Mystery Hotel for the TripAdvisor search (list of amenities, its traveler rating and its location):

Now, you’ve probably narrowed it down to two or three hotels.

If you’ve got a keen eye for detail or really really want to know exactly what hotel you’re going to get – click on the Map option on your Mystery Hotel, click enlarge and now you can zoom into the area your hotel is in even down to the street name. Cross-reference that location again the two or three you’ve narrowed it down to so far.

As you will see it’s not super easy to guess exactly what Mystery Hotel you’re going to get, but if you’re saving that much money they ain’t gonna make it easy for you – are they?!

Pay attention to the TripAdvisor rating

Now, that you’ve guessed the name of your hotel (well done you!), type that hotel into TripAdvisor to see how well it’s rated by other travellers.

Here are the 4 things you should be looking for:

• A rating above 75%.

• A Certificate of Excellence. This is basically an award from TripAdvisor for being a fantastic place to stay.

• Do the photos on here look as good as the professional photos on the hotels website?

• Is the most recent review a good one or a bad one?

Is it Really Worth it to Book a Mystery Hotel Deal?

For us, yes, it has always been worth it to book a Mystery Hotel we’ve stayed at some pretty fantastic hotels for some pretty fantastic prices. Also, I like surprises – it’s a thrill not being 100% sure what hotel you’re going to get until after you’ve paid.

And most importantly, I highly highly doubt you’ll get a cheaper deal anywhere else.

What hotels did we get when we booked a mystery hotel deal:

• SYDNEY | the 5 star Sofitel Sydney Wentworth

• SAN FRANCISCO | the 4.5 star Westin St Francis on Union Square

• BARCELONA | the 4 star Confortel Almirante

• FLORENCE | the 4 star NH Anglo American

• VANCOUVER | the 4 star Westin Bayshores on Coal Harbour

Some additional tips to remember about mystery hotel deals

• The Priceline app only shows the prices in USD, but their website will let you change the currency.

• At the moment, the Mystery Hotel Deal is non-refundable, but supposedly, Priceline may be changing that soon.

*TELL ME: what did you think of our advice on how to book a Mystery Hotel deal? Have you ever booked a Mystery Hotel deal? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below.

Some other blog posts you may enjoy from us are listed below –

Cheap travel destinations for everyone

10 cute towns you need to explore near San Francisco

15 Best Things to do in San Francisco with Kids

How to Spend 3 Days in Seattle

Like this post? Please PIN IT for later!

Last Updated on April 17, 2024 by snaphappytravel