Because of language barriers a lot of people have trouble finding the really great hotel deals that are out there.  If you find that you’re the type of person that goes for whatever is easiest you might be paying too much.  First, some good advice is to broaden your scope, in Spanish a hotel is ‘hotel’ but an Inn is a ‘posada’, accommodations is ‘hospedaje’ and a hostel is ‘hostal’ or ‘residencia’.  By including these terms in your search for affordable fares your search results are going to triple.

Secondly, in most places in South America they are open to bargaining, especially in the off season.  Possibly less so in the big name hotels, but this is when you can make a big splash in savings.  Call up some posadas, residencias or even hostals that have caught your eye and give them a number that you’re willing to pay.  As long as it’s not too far in advance and they’ve got the availability, 9 times out of 10 they’ll reserve it for you.  Ask and you shall receive is a useful mantra to live by.

Next, if you think that there’s no possible way you’d ever stay in a hostel you might want to reconsider your position.  There are a lot of hostels out there and the smart ones are setting themselves apart from the crowd by offering more privacy and stylish rooms.  A private, ensuite bedroom in a hostel will typically cost you about $15-20 per night, and if you do your research (on any of the websites mentioned above) you can find accommodations better than you expected.  The other benefits of staying in a hostel is the fact that you’ll be able to ask other travelers like yourself about good places to stay, eat, see, do, etc.; learn from their mistakes and take advantage of their triumphs.

So there you have it, some easy ways to cast your net wider and hopefully come up with some great hotel finds for low, low prices.  The rest is up to you and bon voyage!

The Offer: The Cent-sational Promotion’s rate of 25 cents per room per night honors a newly minted quarter featuring the USVI but you must book your hotel along with air with Bookit.com.

We called to book the deal and checked dates in November for a resort with retail room rates of $175 night for the same dates. The price quoted was $788.40 per person for three nights included hotel and air from Newark as well as a $25 per person dining credit and a $25 per person activities credit bringing the price for 3 nights to $1476.40 assuming you will use the credits in full.

We tested the deal on the listed resorts website and the rooms during this time period ranged from $130 -$350, with only two resorts priced over $200 a night.

3 nights including all taxes and fees comes to $567 including taxes.

Roundtrip airfare from Newark to St Thomas is $420 per person including taxes (as of Oct 9)

Booking this trip independently will cost $1407 on average  for two people vs $1476.40 making this deal NO DEAL.