It's best to sort by price or set any maximum rates per night you are willing to pay, only after you have seen all the results. Many big cities are just a lot more expensive than we'd ideally want to pay. First get to know the going rates, then start to limit choices by price, star rating, and distance from your point.

Unfortunately, there are no standards in hotel star ratings. Our prices come from various sources in order to shop the market on your behalf - some suppliers rate the same hotel differently. Be careful applying too high a standard - when you say "4 star or better", you may have eliminated the same hotel by another supplier with a lower price that rates it 3.5. If you are looking for budget hotels, 2 or better is fine, moderate 3 or better, and superior 4 or better. If you are looking for truly world class hotels, 5 or better is fine, but just double check that.

Start typing a landmark that you are interested in staying near. Example "Latin Quarter" will return options as you are typing, and you can select Latin Quarter in Paris, France. Enter a small distance radius for big cities - less than 5 km for places like New York, London, and Paris. Otherwise enter the maximum distance you'd be prepared to walk or drive. If you keep your distance radius very large in a big city, you'll end up with cheap rates in the middle of nowhere! Example: If you search New York City with 20 km radius, you will find yourself in hotels not even in Manhattan, but across the river in New Jersey!

Set the distance as something far (20-30km) to make sure you get all the results. Apply star rating filters after you have seen the results. Make sure you see all your options first, before eliminating bad ones.

Sorting by prices, or entering maximum prices is only useful once you have your ideal distance and star rating - it's best to sort by price or set maximum prices after all the results are visible.

Our prices are average per room per night, TAXES INCLUDED in Canadian Dollars.

You can enter the hotel name itself in the search box - sometimes it will auto complete "Royal York Toronto" - this will set the search point right where you want to stay. Leave all filters and choose "sort by distance". When the results are shown, the desired hotel should be near the top of the list. If you start entering "RO" you will begin to see only hotels containing an R and then only ones containing RO. Typically within 4 letters you will have your hotel. Remember that various suppliers are sending us the same hotel spelled differently. One may call it "Royal York", another "Fairmont Royal York", and another "The Royal York" - all the same hotel. By typing ROYA you will see them all, as well as any other hotels with "roya" in the name.

Remember that one supplier may have the same hotel rated differently, so it is best to show ALL star ratings when choosing a hotel. Suppliers may have given us different latitude and longitude points for the same hotel as an approximate - this is why the distance may vary slightly.

It's best to use the map once you've narrowed down your criteria carefully. Example: If you want to stay in New York, within 2 kms of Times Square, and after having looked at the options, you decide for 3 star or better and maximum $300 per night, then it might be useful to map all the results. Click Map View on the results page, and each pin will represent a hotel. You can zoom in and out, choose a different reference point, and if you hover/click on the pin, you will see the hotel name and price.

Each hotel and supplier contract may have different terms for children staying free in the parents' room. Some room bedding configurations do not allow children in a room (small European hotels). If you have trouble pricing the child rates, price 2 adults, and call us for help. In most cases, unless the hotel is all inclusive, children stay free with parents, so long as bedding accommodates. In some cases an extra charge can apply for a rollaway cot.

We will show you the tax included average rate per night in Canadian - please remember this when comparing us to other websites.

On our booking screens, we will break out the taxes and show the total charge.

Hotels have negotiated with our many suppliers different terms in exchange for great pricing. In many cases, the you will get amazing prices but in order to do so, will need to agree that the booking is non refundable (just like package holidays and flights). In some cases there can be lower cancellation penalties (one or more nights etc). Specific cancellation and change penalties will be disclosed prior to booking. Travel insurance is strongly advised to protect non refundable purchases, and of course, medical coverage while outside your Province of residence.

Just like other free and competitive markets, prices can be volatile and ever changing. There is no magic to whether or not to book early, or last minute. Generally speaking, hotel operators look at their room occupancies all the time, and will launch sales well in advance. Typically, they want last minute walk up business to be higher yield, especially if the hotel services a business clientele as well. Seasonality, economic conditions, group bookings, conventions, renovations & construction, business/leisure mix, day of week and length of stay, can all affect hotel pricing. Booking early enough ensures the best choice, and often the best price. Intentionally leaving it to the last minute is seldom a good idea unless it is very low season occupancy time.

Since rates are subject to market forces and not controlled by tripcentral.ca, the prices at the time of booking are firm and subject to the cancellation penalties - if rates go up they will not ask more of you, but if rates drop, the hotel is under no obligation to honour the lower rate unless its customer service policy is to do so.