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Fancy free membership to a club that offers hotel rooms at wholesale rates (and normally costs $129 per year to join)? Of course you do! All you have to do to gain access to cheaper rates is sign up to Club 1 Hotels here before 31st January 2018.

What’s the deal?

Club 1 Hotels sell hotel rooms at wholesale rates, without making any money on them. While most hotel booking sites (Expedia etc) take a commission on the rate that you pay for your stay, Club 1 Hotels offers you the direct price.

Instead, they make their cut with their annual membership fee.

As a result, Club 1 Hotels can be one of the very cheapest ways to book  3, 4 and 5-star hotels. Let’s look at a quick example (genuinely random, I simply searched the first destination that came to mind and clicked on the first hotel I liked the look of).

Blow the cobwebs away with a luxury 3 night post-NY break to NYC, staying at the 5* Rosewood Carlyle:

Club 1 Hotels total (inc taxes and fees): $1,070.48

Direct with Rosewood (inc taxes and fees): $1,721 – though rate does include breakfast

Booking.com: $1,903.88

Now, clearly Club 1 isn’t always going to manage to save you that sort of money, and sometimes it may not be cheaper at all. Think of it as an additional tool for saving money on your travels rather than the only site you need to check. Also bear in mind that you are very unlikely to receive status benefits or earn loyalty points / status credits when booking through Club 1 Hotels.

What if the rates aren’t cheaper?

Club 1 offers an interesting looking Best Rate Guarantee. I’ve not had chance to try it out myself yet, but this is what they say:

“We guarantee our members the best rates every time! While we work hard to ensure we provide the best rates, there will be instances when better rates are offered elsewhere. If you do find a better rate, refundable or non-refundable, for the same hotel and room type, we want to beat that rate by:

• $10 per night guaranteed savings at 3-star hotels up to $100.00
• $20 per night guaranteed savings at 4-star hotels up to $100.00
• $25 per night guaranteed savings at 5-star hotels up to $100.00

Simply email the link to [email protected] and we will confirm your booking the same day!
*Reservations within 10 days of arrival are excluded from our Best Rate Guarantee Policy”

Win $250 booking credit today!

In addition to the free Club 1 Hotels membership for everyone, two lucky winners also have the opportunity to win a $250 Club 1 booking credit each in our Advent Calendar today. Good luck, and Merry Christmas!