Overheard a hostel worker say something about booking sites that made me rethink everything

I was staying at a cheap hostel in Barcelona last week and overheard the guy at the front desk telling a guest that the booking sites often hold back the cheapest rooms to sell direct. He said they keep about 15% of their budget beds off sites like Hostelworld so people who walk in or call get better deals. I tried it the next morning, asked at the front desk directly, and got a private room for what the site was charging for a dorm bunk. Has anyone else gotten a cheaper rate by just showing up and asking?

2 comments

2 Comments

nora108d ago

Oh yeah! I just did that in Rome and got half off the listed price.

nathan_foster608d ago

Wait, @nora10, did you just walk in and ask for a discount straight up, or did you have some sort of trick to it? I feel like half off is crazy good for Rome, those vendors are usually pretty stubborn lol. I'm curious how you pulled that off without them just laughing at you.