Last-minute hotels in San Francisco: An easy online find

How fast can you get a hotel room in San Francisco on the cheap? You'd be surprised at what online search engines can find for you in minutes.

By Troy Melhus, Star Tribune

Last update: November 15, 2006 - 9:56 AM

How fast can you get a hotel room in San Francisco on the cheap?

This wasn't just some academic exercise for me the other day. After my planned accommodations fell through for a recent layover in the Golden Gate city, I needed a hotel room -- and fast.

But I also had a problem: Finances. (Globetrotting isn't free, you know).

So with less than one day's notice, I focused my search: I needed something close to the airport, something inexpensive but not cheap, and a place with more than just the basics. I wanted internet access and a pool, if possible.

I've come to depend on the travel sites like Travelocity.com, and so, as is my custom, I plugged my requests into their respective search engines. (I generally have stopped going to Hotwire.com, came back with a consistent inexpensive find:Travelodge of SFO north.

(Hotwire's least expensive bid came back as a blind pick -- that is, a rate for $37 per night at a 2-star hotel yet to be named).

As for the rest of the sites, Travelocity's price came in at $45 plus tax, which added up to about $52. Expedia came in with a total of about $54.

As expected (based on my previous anecdotal experiences), Hotwire won the last-minute battle. With tax on the $37 offer, the final price same to $51. That was for a 2-star hotel-to-be-named, with a pool and complimentary internet access -- AND a 24-hour airport shuttle.

I put my money on Hotwire and waited for confirmation. Within three minutes I had it: Travelodge of SFO North.

Surprisingly, those with highly touted "low price guarantees" came in with some of the highest rates. tmelhus@startribune.com.