A Last Minute Stay on the Gold Coast with Hotwire

I’ve noticed that the more I travel, the less I worry about planning ahead. These days, I usually leave it until the last minute to book my accommodation, and often enough I just show up at my destination and look for a place to stay. One very handy travel tip that I have picked up from this, is that booking a hotel at the last minute can actually work in your favour and save you a lot of money. If a hotel has rooms available, they will often put them up at great discounted rates at the last minute to try and get them booked.

There are a few hotel search engines that can help you find these deals, but Hotwire can offer something even better. Like most sites, they give you the option to search for hotels at great last minute rates, however what really makes Hotwire different is their “Secret Hot Rates”. This takes the last minute booking rate even further by allowing you to book unsold rooms at a secret hotel in your selected location, saving you a lot of money. Basically, what this means is that the hotel name and photos will be hidden from you until after your booking. The area, hotel rating etc are all available for viewing. This is what allows the hotel room to be sold so cheap.

I used Hotwire.com to book a hotel for the following day at the Gold Coast, Australia. The search was simple, having to just enter my destination, travel dates, number of rooms and people. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of hotels available.

As you can see from this screenshot, their “secret rates” show that they have 5 Star hotels on the Gold Coast from only $161 per night!

I chose a 4 and half star hotel, and the booking process was as simple as entering my details and clicking the booking button. I received my hotel voucher in my email instantly, and I was set for a night away on the Gold Coast.

We stayed at Q1 in beautiful Surfer’s Paradise, and I knew that this hotel was going to be great before I even walked in the building. When I opened the door to our apartment, I was blown away.

The apartment was immaculate, opening up into the kitchen/dining area which flows through into the living area. The kitchen has everything that you need including a full size fridge, stove, oven, microwave and dishwasher, while the living area has two very comfortable couches and a big flat screen TV, DVD player and stereo.

The living room leads out onto the spacious balcony with a table and chairs to sit and enjoy the view. The separate bedroom has a very comfortable double bed and flat screen tv, that leads through a walk in robe to the ensuite bathroom, which is also accessible from the kitchen. The bathroom has a shower, basin, toilet and spa bath.

Overall the apartment was one of the best that I have stayed in. It was sparkly clean, quiet and spacious, but the best part of all was the spectacular view out over Surfer’s Paradise. We spent a lot of time out on the balcony just looking out over the world.

I was really pleased with my hotel room that I booked with Hotwire, and if you’re looking to save some money on your next trip, I highly recommend booking one of their secret hot rate hotels.

Thanks to Hotwire for providing my accommodation on the Gold Coast. All opinions are my own.