If you have a specific marathon race in mind that you want to attend, but not sure where to stay, the smartest option would be to use a search engine on a hotel comparison website which will help narrow down your choices:
Booking.com is one of the most popular websites to use when it comes to finding hotels for travelers around the world, as it has various filtering tools which allow you to see which hotels are the cheapest or closest to the race course. You can also narrow your search results by selecting how many rooms you want, how close you want to be to certain attractions and what types of facilities you’re looking for.
Hotels.com is another great option, as it sometimes offers discounts on rooms which could save you up to 50% on your total accommodation costs when attending a marathon abroad.
Booking advice
Since we have a passion for both running and travel, we give you some travel advice below:
- If you really want to save money on a hotel, you could always book a hotel in areas outside of the city centre where the event or marathon takes place. However you will need to factor in transportation costs, and the fact that it may take longer time to get to and from the hotel during the race day.
- Obviously booking a hotel room well in advance (at least three to six months before) is the best way to save money. Also try to avoid staying in a hotel during any sort of holiday like New Year’s Eve, etc.
- Also, try to avoid staying in a budget hotel over the weekend when it tends to be pricier, as some hotels tend to tailor to weekend guests. Business hotels on the other hand, offer bigger discounts on the weekends.
- Some lesser-known hotels with lower score ratings tend to drop down their prices in order to compete with each other. So if you truly want to save every penny possible, you may have to bite the bullet and stay at a hotel that doesn’t have the greatest ratings.
- If you’re booking for a large group and/or family, it tends to be cheaper if you book two hotel rooms rather than one large family room.