Trivago Hotels: How to Find Good Deals - NerdWallet (2024)

Finding a hotel can sometimes cause sensory overload — the sheer number of online travel agencies and hotel websites to check is enough to put anyone in freeze mode. If only there was a single site to help you navigate an infinite maze of hotel rooms.

Enter Trivago, a metasearch engine that compares lodging options to help you find the right hotel for your stay and save money in the process. Perhaps it also can help you calm your senses while vacation planning. Here's the scoop on Trivago.

Trivago is not a booking site, but instead, it is a price comparison site that is available in more than 50 countries. It shows hotel prices for more than 5 million properties — from multiple booking platforms, including online travel agencies (OTAs), hotel chains and independent hotels — in one place.

Trivago’s search engine is capable of pulling up prices for the same hotel from hundreds of websites, including Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Trip.com and Priceline. Once you find a deal you like, Trivago transfers you to the booking site offering that rate to complete the booking process.

Keep in mind that Trivago searches hotel prices only and can’t search for other trip components, such as flights or rental cars.

The Trivago hotel rates you see are updated often so that you see the current prices, minus taxes and fees. However, in some rare cases, the offer you find on Trivago might be higher on the corresponding booking site itself.

You can start your Trivago hotel search on Trivago.com by entering a city, a landmark or a specific property you have in mind. Specify your travel dates, the number of rooms and guests, and click “Search.”

Because you’re going to see a plethora of properties, it’s best to apply filters to narrow your search.

First of all, you can set a price range per night or for the total number of nights.

Then, you can apply more filters, such as a hotel’s star rating, and check the boxes with the amenities that are important to you, including free cancellation, a gym, breakfast included, a pool, parking and pet-friendly, to name several possibilities.

Guest ratings are important — you don’t want to stay at a property with bad reviews. The next filter lets you eliminate accommodations with poor ratings.

Say you don’t want to go lower than an 8 out of 10. Then check a box with a “Very good” guest rating. Won’t settle for anything lower than an 8.5? Then click “Excellent,” and Trivago will filter out properties with subpar reviews.

Next up is property type. Whether you prefer staying at a hotel, guesthouse, bed and breakfast, hostel or apartment, you can select the property type you’re looking for and eliminate the ones that don’t interest you.

Location is an important factor affecting your hotel search. If you’re looking for a place in a certain neighborhood or even near a specific address, you can select or enter it as well.

Finally, sort the search results by the following priorities:

You also can sort by multiple priorities, such as “Price and recommended” or “Rating and recommended.”

Trivago’s recommendations feature is based on an algorithm that takes into account “the offer’s price, its general attractiveness and the accuracy of the rates provided to us by the booking sites.”

Keep in mind that unless you’re looking at Trivago Book & Go, the booking process goes through whatever booking platform you choose, whether it’s an OTA or directly with a hotel.

With Trivago Book & Go service, you can make a hotel reservation with the accommodation provider. In this case, the platform acts as a facilitator, connecting you with a partnering travel agency. This allows you to book Trivago hotel deals directly with the partner.

Of course, Trivago charges the partner site a fee for the reservations you make through the Book & Go page.

Apply filters

Trivago’s ability to search hundreds of websites is a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Having access to that many options can be overwhelming to sift through.

Trivago has several filters that can help you find the best hotel deal possible. Examples include price, accommodation type and ratings. The more filters you apply to your search, the more tailored your results will be.

Having said that, if you’re finding too few hotels once the filters are applied, especially if you’re searching in an area with fewer accommodation options, consider expanding your search by opening up some of the search criteria.

Use the interactive map

If you click on “View map” in your Trivago search results, you can find hotels based primarily on their physical location. The map shows each property’s location and nightly price, and you can zoom in and out to focus on one specific area or expand your search to multiple neighborhoods in either direction of your preferred location.

When you hover your cursor over a price, more information about a hotel will appear, including its guest rating, the number of reviews and the website with the best deal.

Check for promo codes or other discounts

Once you find a hotel on Trivago, we recommend checking how you could lower the price you see even further. Some accommodation providers offer AAA, AARP and military rates to members.

Additionally, you might be able to find a promo code for select websites, such as Orbitz or Hotels.com. Finally, ask around to see if anyone you know works for a hotel chain and can get you a friends and family discount.

If searching for a place to stay is giving your brain more information than it can process, give online resource Trivago a try.

The metasearch engine helps you filter out the noise and find hotel deals in one place. Use the map feature to zone in on a preferred location and scroll until you find the best lodging option for you and your travel companions.