[checker659]

I look up hotels on booking.com and TripAdvisor and then head to the hotel’s own website to make the booking.

[te_chris]

Same here. Also, often if you call the hotel they'll offer you a better deal as they don't have to pay the big booking agencies.

[chippy]

Every time I've called a hotel they have offered me a more expensive rate, so now I don't.

[llampx]

I've had good experiences with calling, but I upvoted anyway because I do believe there are hotels that are stuck in their ways and have no flexibility to offer a better rate to someone who is trying to price-match booking.com.

[rosege]

I've found this hit and miss. Which I'm surprises by since they save 30% if I book direct

[Eridrus]

People who call might be less likely to shop around, since calling is a pain.

[smueller1234]

More like 12-18% with booking.com.

[telesilla]

I've been using HotelTonight a lot as it lets me pick a date I might want to go somewhere and it sends me updates on decent hotels as the price goes down. But I use TripAdvisor to check first if it's a good spot to stay.

[dazc]

I do the same except for a short diversion via Google maps reviews (because I find these are the closest to reality you can ever find).