You know how EVERY travel app claims to have the best deals? We got tired of taking their word for it, so we actually tested one.

If you're a hardcore frugal beast who's perfectly happy in a dorm bed every night when you're travelling, you can probably skip this email.

But if you're the kind of traveller who occasionally enjoys a proper room (sometimes you just want a door that locks), you're gonna wanna know about HotelTonight.

​​HotelTonight​ is a platform offering last-minute deals on hotel rooms.

The concept is simple: hotels hate empty rooms, so they often sell these at a discount, and same-day bookings are where the best deals live.

We ran over 100 price comparisons across six cities (New York, Tokyo, Barcelona, Bangkok, Mexico City, Buenos Aires). Same hotel, same night, head-to-head against ​Booking.com​.

And here's what we found...

• On sticker price alone, HotelTonight was cheaper 55% of the time
• If you're a US or UK-based Airbnb user, every booking earns you 10% back in Airbnb credit, which pushed its win rate to 82%
• When it won, the average saving was 22%. When ​Booking.com​ won, the advantage was just 8%

So HotelTonight doesn't always win. But when it does, it wins properly. And when it doesn't, you've only wasted 30 seconds checking.

It's not going to replace Hostelworld for your daily dorm bed. It's not even going to replace Booking for planning ahead. But as a quick extra check before you book a hotel? It's earned a spot on my phone.

We wrote up the full breakdown with all the data, city-by-city results, and a real booking walkthrough if you want the details.

or...

Travel far. Spend less. Live more.​​
- The Broke Backpacker