These Are the Cheapest Days to Book a Hotel Stay During the Holidays

Book a pre- or post-holiday trip to decompress.

Courtesy of Hotels.com
Courtesy of Hotels.com
Editor's Note: We know COVID-19 is continuing to impact your travel plans. Should you travel now, be sure to familiarize yourself with the CDC’s latest guidance on domestic and international travel as well as local requirements, protocols, and restrictions for both your destination upon your arrival and your home city upon your return. Be safe out there.

You're going to spend enough time with your family over the holidays. Do yourself (and honestly, them too) a favor by booking a hotel instead of cramming into your childhood twin bed. Or at least plan a post- or pre-holiday holiday getaway to decompress.

Here's some surprising, good news: Unlike how flight costs tend to go, hotels are cheap the weekend before Christmas and again after New Year's, with nightly rates expected to drop below $150 a night.

"In a typical year, travelers can find the best deals between Labor Day and Thanksgiving during fall shoulder season," Spokesperson for Hotels.com Melanie Fish said in a press release. "But travel demand hit an all-time high this summer and never really slowed down, meaning people searching for off-season deals had to do some extra digging to find those price drops. What’s great about this latest Hotels.com intel is that we’ve zeroed in on exactly when to travel for some of the best rates." 

Let's break down the specifics now, shall we? The best time to snag cheap hotel rooms this year is between December 15 and December 20, while the January 3 through January 8 period will also likely report low nightly rates.

Here are the cheapest places to travel to in December: 


Here are the cheapest places to stay in January: 


According to Hotels.com, the key to booking an affordable spot is to focus on "3-star superstars," search for amenities directly through the site's official app, enroll in a free rewards program, read the seasonal property reviews, and pay attention to those refund policies.

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Megan Schaltegger is a Staff Writer on the News team at Thrillist.