How to get the cheapest possible hotel room

Looking for a cheap hotel room when you travel? Marriott and Ikea are teaming up to expand a new hotel concept from Europe to the United States.

Small hotel rooms save you money

The joint venture is a fashion forward discount hotel chain called Moxy. It started out in several European cities, but now New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle, and New York will get Moxy locations, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The hotel rooms will be 180 square feet instead of the typical 300 sq. ft. we’re accustomed to. All rooms will have free wifi, a big flat screen TV, and all the other accommodations you’re used to.

We already know smaller hotel rooms can work. One U.S. chain, Microtel, is already doing compact rooms that check in at 250 sq. ft. So I’ll be keeping my eye on the developments with Moxy for you.

I once stayed in a new hotel that was a deal in New York. It had a queen bed and you had to turn sideways to walk along the bed to get in! There were shelves up high to put stuff on. But there was no place for my suitcase. And the bathroom offered no privacy at all because you couldn’t even close the door. Needless to say, I never stayed there again.

The idea of microhotels are great, but you’ll usually save more money using Priceline or Hotwire, sticking with a 4-star booking, and taking your chances with what hotel you’re going to get.

The worst I ever had was in Kyoto, Japan. My hotel room was 70 square feet. That is a 7 x 10 foot space. It had a TV, a safe, a full-sized bed, shower, sink and toilet all in 70 sq ft. If you wanted to find out whether or not you had claustrophobia, that was the place to do it!