Finding the very best deals on cheap hotel rooms is often thwarted by the really big internet travel and hotel sites that inhabit the top search results; however with a few little tricks you can get to where the best deals are faster. These are the tricks that I use when getting ready to go to a new town that I haven't been to before.

Many hotels now are giving internet deals & online booking discounts if you can find their site; this is good as many times you can get the price lower than the big internet hotel sites. Another benefit of dealing direct with the hotel is that you can ask questions like does the room have a window, and can you see more than just an elevator shaft through it! You can also make sure that you get a no smoking room. You could also ask them if they have better rates if you book 3 or more nights. You can also confirm that they will hold the reservation if you are going to arrive after 6PM, or maybe you have some other request that normally will not be answered by the big sites.

Search the travel forums and blogs most of the big ones like the Thorn Tree have a lot of information, so you have to read a lot to get to the meat, but there is still some good info to be gleaned here as they are a good way to figure out what section of town that you want to stay, for instance in Bangkok the 3 biggest areas are Koh Sahn Rd, Suhkumvitt , which includes Soi Nana and Soi Cowboy, and Patpong, all 3 have lots of touristy things to do like night markets and for Suhkumvitt and Patpong a decidedly mature audiences only feel, where as Khao Sahn is geared to palace, river and the hard core backpackers Once you have that start typing in cheap hotels ,City name and then the neighborhood, either Suhkumvitt or Khao Sahn Rd or Patpong you will see that the results will change a lot and some of the smaller sites will start to appear.

Go to the big travel and hotel sites and look for hotels in the area that you want to be, many will separate by neighbor hood in the big cities like Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. You can also specify on many sites number of stars if you are looking for cheap hotels you would specify 1 and 2 star maybe 3 stars for China. Write down 2 or 3 hotels that look promising and then search there names directly using a search string of city name, neighborhood name, name of hotel this usually will pop the hotels website onto the top page. Once you have the hotel site check the rates and then make your decision. Have fun!

Fred Tittle has lived and worked in holiday vacation resorts his entire life, from Lake Geneva's Playboy Club, as a rock jock for KSPN FM in Aspen Colorado, he became a PADI Pro Scuba Diver in Hawaii, diving on Maui, Kauai, Kona on the big island, and Waikiki on Oahu. He founded EcoSea Dive in Sihanoukville Cambodia. he teaches SSI and PADI scuba diving courses and runs liveaboards in the gulf of Thailand and Asia adventure tours, http://www.ecosea.com

Fred's new project http://www.CheapCharliesHotels.com where he reviews cheap hotels , budget guesthouses, discount accommodations and cheap international flights, but is really an excuse to go scuba diving on vacation more, Fred is in Phnom Penh with Saigon and Nha Trang Vietnam up next then a short vacation in Sihanoukville.