If you are looking to cut the costs on hotels when you’re traveling, Hotwire.com is a great place to start. I use the hotel booking site frequently when I’m on the road and have received some great deals: InterContinental in Tampa, $99 over New Year’s Eve; Westin Jersey City, $129, at the end of January (neither price includes tax)

I like Hotwire better than Priceline because you don’t have to guess on what price to set. Even though the site is “opaque” – meaning that you commit to buying your room without knowing exactly what hotel it is – I find it easier to decipher what I’m getting with Hotwire. Plus you don’t have to go through the machinations of Priceline’s bidding process, which can take a while if your original offer is rejected.

If you want to use Hotwire for your next trip, here are a few tips:

1. Figure out what hotel you are getting before you buy. It’s easier to do this on Hotwire than Priceline, because Hotwire offers more clues. Here’s how to do it: Look at the hotel’s amentiy list. That’s a group of icons that appear under the hotel’s location. Then open up another browser window to BetterBidding.com. That’s a forum where frequenty Priceline and Hotwire users post recent buys and lists of what the different hotels offer.

For example, for my Tampa trip, I saw that the hotel I was considering had an airport shuttle icon on Hotwire. Of the four -star Tampa hotels listed on BetterBidding, only the InterContinental offered shuttle service. So I was 99% sure that I was going to end up there.

It may take a few extra minutes to do this, but if you are like me and you want to know where you are staying, it’s worth it.

2. Factor tax into your budget. Both Priceline and Hotwire show prices without tax, which can add $20-$30 to your per-night rate.

3. It’s great for car rentals too. I’ve found car rentals on Hotwire for as low as $15 a day. What I like about Hotwire’s car rental policy is that it’s more flexible than their hotel purchases and they don’t charge you until you pick up the car (hotel purchases are non-refundable and must be paid immediately).

4. Be realistic about the kind of hotel you’ll get. Hotwire and Priceline specialize in getting rid of unused inventory – the rooms that hotels haven’t sold. These hotels are usually the larger chains such as Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton that often appeal to business travelers (which is why weekend rates can be so low). If your goal is to stay at the hippest hotel in town, you will be unhappy with Hotwire. Five star properties such as the Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental are usually not listed either.

But if you are just looking for a good deal on a city hotel that has basic four-star amenities, give Hotwire a try.

Looking to find the best deals and travel tips? Visit travel writer Chris Gray Faust’s website Chris Around The World: A Travel Journalist’s Tips from the Road.