Weekday or weekend: when are hotels cheaper?

There is no night of the week that is cheapest everywhere. Hotel prices follow demand, and demand depends on who usually stays at the hotel. Once you know that, you can often save by moving a trip by a night or two.

Business destinations

Hotels in financial districts, near convention centers and in cities with many business travelers are usually busiest from Monday to Thursday. When those guests go home for the weekend, prices often fall. A Friday-to-Sunday break can be good value in this kind of city, as long as there is no big event on.

Leisure destinations

Beach resorts, ski areas and countryside hotels often work the other way round. They are busiest on Friday and Saturday nights and quieter from Sunday to Thursday. If you can travel midweek, you may pay less and find fewer crowds.

Cities with both

Many large cities, such as Paris, London or Barcelona, have strong leisure and business demand at the same time. Weekends fill with visitors and weekdays with work travel, so the pattern is less clear. In these cities, the only reliable way to know is to check.

How to check your dates

Search the same area with a few date combinations: arrive Thursday or Friday, leave Sunday or Monday. Keep the number of guests and the room type the same, and compare the total for the whole stay rather than the nightly rate.

City pages such as hotels in Paris, hotels in London or hotels in Prague show live prices once you pick dates, so you can try a few combinations in a minute.

Adding a Sunday night to a weekend trip can lower the average nightly price in some business cities, because Sunday is often quiet there. It is not a rule, so check it for your destination.

Events change everything

A conference, a marathon, a concert or a public holiday can turn a normally quiet Tuesday into the most expensive night of the month. If prices for your dates look unusually high, check the city's events calendar. If you are not going to the event, moving your dates can save a lot.

Number of nights

Some hotels price longer stays differently, and some set a minimum stay on busy weekends. Compare two, three and four nights before you decide. For short city breaks, our long weekend hotel checklist covers the rest of the planning.

Keep it flexible while you compare

If you find a good price but are still deciding on dates, book a rate with free cancellation and keep looking. If a better combination turns up, book it and cancel the first booking before the deadline.