Multi-site hotel rate searches

[WillTravel]

Travelaxe compares rates from numerous different sites to give you the cheapest rates for various hotels in a city.

http://www.travelaxe.com

This may be useful information when thinking about Priceline bids or selecting a Hotwire option.

Of course, you should always double-check any info if you want to be sure you've gotten the best direct rate or to see if there are hidden fees.

Also pay attention to whether the rates include tax or not. Priceline.com bids do not include tax -- but many European hotel rates do include tax.

[WillTravel]

In my limited experience so far, TravelAxe seems to have trouble with the following, even when doing a Full Search:

Class level - could a hotel in London with shared facilities really be a Class 3 (even if Expedia also says it is)?

The number of people you selected and the number of beds - the rate that comes back doesn't always account for this.

Different currency values and foreign exchange

Not linking to the hotel web site - This is sort of understandable, because I guess it would harm their business, but still, it would be easiest. Just do a Google search to get the actual hotel web site to look at the real rates.

Hidden taxes and fees - double-check!

Still, it is really helpful to have a list you can sort in various ways and investigate line by line. Expedia makes things much more difficult.