Best Website to Book Hotels in Hong Kong

Booking budget and luxury Hong Kong hotels from local and reliable hotel reservation websites is the smart way to get the best discount hotel rates. But finding very cheap hotel prices in Hong Kong may cause some to laugh since the city is well known for pricey hotels with tiny cramped rooms.

Whether you want to find a clean budget hotel in the districts of Mongkok, Jordan, Tsim Tsa Tsui, Wan Chai or anywhere else in Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island, you are better off checking with some of the best online hotel booking agencies on the Internet for the lowest hotel rates available.

Hong Kong's hotels can be quite expensive without a doubt. But you should not let the price tags discourage you from visiting one of the most colorful cities in China. Affordable hotels and even last minute discounted rates in Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island can be found if you know where to look for it.

I always preach that the best places to find the lowest hotel rates are through local and regional hotel reservation agencies. Not the big well advertised online travel agencies that we watch on television with the clever commercials all the time.

After working in the travel industry for so many years I find the best rates through local online hotel booking agencies about 97% of the time. The other times I get better rates while booking through the hotel directly. But in order to get better rates through a hotel directly I have to haggle a little. And even then I only get a small discount. So now I just prefer to deal with online agencies instead to avoid extra work.

Here are two reliable online booking agencies I rely on for finding hotels with discounted rates in Hong Kong:

• China Travel Service
• Agoda

Both agencies are reputable companies that offer rates better than their competitors and especially compared to booking through the hotels in Hong Kong directly. Both are also based in Asia, which is essentially the key reason why they are able to offer travelers the best hotel rates in Hong Kong.

China Travel Service has been in business for a long time and is one of the first travel agencies opened in Hong Kong. Today they have offices not only in China but worldwide. So you can find branch offices in Canada, Germany and the USA. However, I've noticed that I've gotten better rates by booking directly in China Travel Service's website. They have an office in Bangkok's Chinatown. Once I went there just to compare prices with their website. In the branch office I was quoted a price that was 450 baht higher for BP International Hotel, a hotel that I frequently stay in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The staff there even spoke Cantonese, a dialect I am comfortable speaking.

Needless to say I said a quick thank you and left then proceeded to make the hotel reservation on their website. As someone working in the travel industry the reason why it cost more to book in a branch office is because there is rent to pay for a physical location and along with the additional overhead of operating a physical business.

Now I'm not sure if that's the same with the rest of the China Travel Service branch offices but I prefer to book hotels online these days anyway. But it never hurts to compare rates so if there is a local office really close to you then go ahead and visit and compare rates.

Agoda.com is my choice internet hotel reservation agency. Not only do they offer last minute discounted hotel rates in Hong Kong but I also earn rewards points. Through the years I have been using them I have accumulated a lot of points which I redeem for extra discounts that sometimes means I get free hotel nights.

Though Agoda is headquartered in Singapore they do not have an actual office in Hong Kong. But they do have a lot of leverage in the Asian hotel market since they are one of the most experienced and well known online hotel agencies in Asia. Do a search on most Asian hotels and Agoda's name will pop up in organic search results

I use Agoda to book rooms at the Prudential Hotel Kowloon. It has the biggest rooms in Hong Kong with affordable room rates. Agoda provides really good rates for Prudential's rooms.

Another popular online hotel reservation agency with deep discounts for hotels in Hong Kong is CheapOstay.com. Though they do not specialize in the Asian hotel market they are however showing an increase of discount hotel rates all over Southeast Asia. It might be due to the fact that Asia is quickly becoming one of the prime destinations for travelers so they are providing more services in the region.

I like the fact that they consistently offer extra discount coupons so depending on the special you'll save $10 to $15 USD on top of the already reduced rates for almost all types of hotels in Hong Kong, whether they be budget or expensive luxury accommodations.

It's also worthy to mention that CheapOstay.com is also highly recommended by Travel & Leisure Magazine too for being true to its name.

When is it the best time to visit Hong Kong for cheaper hotel rates is the question that is most often asked. Personally to me I'd avoid the really hot and humid months which is from June to September. Not surprisingly so that's the time when hotel rates throughout Hong Kong and the Kowloon Peninsula are a bit more manageable.

Around October (a major convention month) and through the Western New and Chinese New Years is when hotel rates are higher about 30% to 50% more than the low season. And the weather is beautiful around those months. So does this mean you should quit planning to visit Hong Kong during the expensive hotel season?

Of course not. The hotel reservation agencies listed here are linked with hotel directly so that they can find the best or even last minute discounted in Hong Kong. With so many hotels throughout the city it's a tough business and each and every hotel obviously wants the most guests to fill their rooms.

And the companies listed here are specialized in helping travelers interested in visiting Hong Kong and providing them reasonably priced hotel rates that they can enjoy and most importantly afford.