Authored by Sam Johnson from Book a Suite 

If you’re traveling with a group on a budget, it may not occur to you to look at multiple bedroom hotel suites for your stay – after all, the suites at any given hotel are the biggest and best rooms available, so it’s no surprise that you’ll often pay a premium rate for these premium rooms.

What may surprise you is that even though they may be more expensive than the other rooms at the hotel, a suite might actually end up saving you money while making your stay more enjoyable.

Bigger is Better! How to Obtain a “Suite” Accommodation Deal!

Hotel suites have names almost as diverse as the hotels naming them. Villa, apartment, condo, family room, cottage … the list goes on and on. As a result, they can be tricky to find; that’s why we created Book a Suite – to finally make finding and booking suites easy and accessible for everyone.

Suites typically have the most luxurious décor, the best amenities, and the most beautiful views (often on the higher floors) – but above all, they offer more living and sleeping space than any standard room.

Because suites are larger, they can sleep more guests than a standard room – at some hotels, up to 8 guests in one suite – and by booking a suite instead of standard rooms, you can get an upgraded room while saving up to 75% on your stay.

Let’s Do the Math

Let’s do the math and look at a couple real-world examples for two common, but very different types of large group stays – a family get-together and a bachelor/bachelorette party.

For family get-together’s and reunions, many families look for the cheapest accommodations available, with plenty of room to spread out (without driving each other crazy!), and a variety of activities to keep the kids busy.

Family Get Together

Let’s say a family of 15 is looking for a hotel in the Denver area that fits that description. In their quest for the ideal family-friendly hotel, they may well come across the Staybridge Suites Denver – Cherry Creek – not a terribly fancy hotel, but it is spacious and homey, well-located, and has a swimming pool, outdoor basketball court, and barbecues for grilling (in season).

They could choose to book 5 of the standard, cheaper “Studio One Queen Bed” rooms which sleep up to 3 guests, or 2 of the “Suite Three Queen Beds Non-Smoking” rooms with sofa bed which sleep up to 8. Booking the cheaper studio rooms, their overnight stay would cost $971.35 total, or $64.75 per guest – not a bad price for the area.

But if they were to consider booking the slightly more expensive suites, they total cost would be $436.82, or only $29.12 per guest – a 55% savings! Grandma and Grandpa are sure to get a smile out of that.

Bachelorette

For a memorable bachelor(ette) party, Las Vegas is a favorite destination among travelers. If you have a group of 8 guys or girls looking for the best value close to the Strip, Marriott’s Grand Chateau is a great option.

You could book 4 of the cheapest Deluxe Suites – nice rooms, but they sleep a max of just 2 adults – for a total of $671.72 per night, or $95.96 per guest (dividing by 7 – surely the bride/groom to be doesn’t have to chip in!).

However, you’d be wiser to book just 1 beautiful Three Bedroom Villa for $415.87, or $59.41 per guest – giving you a savings of nearly 40%!

Not only would you get the benefit of an immense 2,095 ft2 room suite with plenty of living/hangout space, but what better way to throw an epic Vegas party than with all of your friends together in one suite?

Things to Keep in Mind

This method can yield some big savings, but be watchful of a couple things. First of all, not all hotels have multiple bedroom suites – in fact, the majority don’t.

So while it’s always a good idea to check out all the options available, you could drastically limit your search by looking only for rooms that sleep a large number of guests.

Try starting at 4 adults per room and moving up from there to compare the different rooms and rates. The other thing to keep an eye out for is extra person charges – some hotels will hide the extra person charges in the taxes and fees, so the initial price you see doesn’t always reflect what you’ll pay when you book.

Always go the booking page to verify the total price, including taxes and any fees, to make sure you’re getting a really “suite deal”.

Written by Sam Johnson

Have you ever saved money on booking a bigger room to accommodate more people?  Share your experience in the comments!!