When trying to save money on travel, our default instinct is to look at a booking site and sort the results by price from low to high. We see a budget chain hotel outside the downtown or city centre area for half the price of a downtown location and think it’s a steal. You book the room feeling like you just scored a massive win for your wallet.
But if your whole reason for this trip is to see the downtown or city centre, that low-priced room may not be the deal you think.
Recently, we tried to save money on an overnight trip to Toronto by booking a cheaper hotel room. The cheapest chain hotels were out near the airport. We actually had one sitting in our cart, ready to book, but then decided to look at the actual math of the entire trip.
We knew what sites we wanted to visit and realized everything was in downtown Toronto. And we were arriving by Via Rail at Union Station at 9 am. So we changed our plans and stayed at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel across the street from Union Station.
The cost of the hotel was $464, and on paper, that sounds like a lot more than staying at the Best Western we were going to book by the airport. The Best Western was going to cost approximately half the amount.
But when we did some math, the Royal York was actually a better deal for us. Hear us out on this one.
The Hidden Hotel Fees of Staying Outside the Downtown Area
To make the less-expensive hotel work, we would have needed a car, but we had chosen to take the train to Toronto and not use a vehicle for this overnight trip.
| Expense Category | Best Western Premier (Airport) | Fairmont Royal York (Downtown) |
| Base Room Rate + Taxes | $231.74 | $464.00 |
| UP Express Train Fares (3 people, 1 return trip) | $74.10 | $0.00 |
| TTC Subway to the ROM (3 people, 1 return trip) | $20.10 | $20.10 |
| BagsAway Luggage Storage (Day 1 & Day 2) | $74.58 | $0.00 (Complimentary Bell Desk) |
| TOTAL OUT-OF-POCKET CASH | $390.52 | $484.10 |
The results show that we would have saved $93.58 by staying at the airport area hotel. And that looks good on paper. But things will change when you look at the other aspects of staying downtown instead of the airport.
There are hidden hotel fees to consider when booking a hotel, especially for a one-night stay.
The Early Check-in
When you look at our chart above, you may wonder why anyone would pay for luggage storage. When you’re travelling, even just an overnight trip, you don’t want to have to carry luggage around with you from place to place.
Many people think they can just go to the hotel, drop their stuff in their room, then head back out to see the sights.
But that is not always the case. You need an early check-in to do this, and that comes at a cost for many budget hotels.
Many of the hotels near the airport typically charge you for an early check-in. And that is if there is a clean vacant room available. When we called a few hotels on the budget list, they were quoting us $75 extra to check in early. Their actual check-in times are between 3 and 4 PM.
On top of that early check-in fee, we would have had to pay for transit to the hotel and back to the downtown area. We were three people, so that would add to our transit costs for the UP Express train there and back.
But by choosing a downtown hotel, like the Fairmont Royal York, we were able to get an early check-in at no cost.
If we had stayed at one of the airport hotels we had looked at, and paid the early check-in fee of $75 plus tax, our savings would have been less than $20, and we would be 30 kilometres away from the downtown area. Our time is worth more than $20 in savings.
Skip the Middleman: Booking Direct vs. Third-Party Sites
How you book your hotel also makes a difference.
When you are looking for a deal on a hotel room, it is tempting to only check the third-party sites, such as Hotels.com or Trivago. They promise large discounts, but booking through a middleman strips away some of your best deals and extras.
When booking this trip, we did compare the cost of the Royal York on both the Fairmont website and third-party sites like Hotels.com and Trivago. The difference? Both sites were offering the same room at The Royal York for the same price as Fairmont was offering!
With the All-Accor membership, you can save 5% on your rooms. And that was the same price as using the booking sites.
Being a member of the Fairmont Hotels also gives you perks, such as premium wi-fi connections. And we were offered an early check-in at no extra cost.
And if the hotel overbooks, which is rare, but we did travel around the time of the World Cup, you are less likely to be “walked” to another hotel. Guests who book through third-party sites are almost always the first to be bumped or moved to a different property.
Buying Back Your Time
This was the biggest reason we chose a hotel downtown. When stepping off the train from Ottawa, the clock is already ticking on a quick overnight getaway. We arrived in Toronto at 9 AM without a vehicle, with the plan of exploring only the downtown areas of the city.
Our time was valuable since we were only spending one night in Toronto. We were there from 9 AM on a Tuesday until 6:30 PM on Wednesday. We did not want to spend our time on a bus, train, or subway to get to and from a hotel.
If we had stayed at a cheaper hotel chain by the airport, we would have spent 3-4 hours on transit, possibly more depending on the wait times.
Of course, we could have taken an Uber or other ride share, but we checked those prices, and it costs approximately $25 to $30 one way to get from Union Station to the airport hotels. And it is still about 30 minutes travel time each way, providing that traffic is not too heavy.
Instead, we were able to use that time to explore the downtown area.
The Midday Reset
Exploring downtown Toronto on foot can be exhausting. And staying in a downtown hotel gave us the ability to go back to our room in the afternoon and refresh before dinner.
If we had stayed at a further hotel, that would have been out of the question. We know we would have returned to the hotel and not left for the rest of the night if it was a minimum 30-minute travel time just to get to the hotel.
Downtown Hotel Benefits
On top of saving time, there were other perks to staying downtown in a luxury hotel.
- Complimentary Luggage Storage. When we checked out at 11 AM, we were able to check our bags at the hotel until it was time to return to Union Station for our train ride home. This is a complimentary service offered by the hotel.
- Unbeatable Walkability.We were close to everything we wanted to see. We could walk to the aquarium, the St Lawrence Market, the CN Tower, and more. The Royal Ontario Museum was a quick 10-minute subway ride from Union Station.
- Flexibility.We could return to our hotel at any time during our trip to freshen up, rest, or take a quick swim in their pool.
- Premium Amenities.We had more towels than we could use. The coffee machine was a Nespresso, which we had never tried before. There were bathrobes, slippers, and Le Labo soaps, shampoo, conditioner, and lotions.
- Endless Dining Options. All sorts of dining options were available within walking distance of the downtown hotels. Our choices ranged from fast food in the Union Station Food Court to finer dining along Front Street.
- The View.Looking out our room window, we could see the CN Tower.
The Takeaway
A bargain hotel is only a good deal if it is in the area you plan to spend your time.
If you are taking an overnight trip and want to see as many sights in one area as you can fit in, then staying in that area is your best bet.
Once you add up all the extras of baggage fees, transit fares, and your time wasted on travelling, the premium hotel isn’t really an expensive luxury.
Next Stop: Montreal.
We will be putting this strategy to the test again in August when we travel to Montreal. By staying right near the attractions we want to visit, we are making sure our budget goes into experiences and building memories, not commuter fees.
What about you?Have you ever fallen for a budget hotel trap, or do you strictly stay where the attractions are? Let us know in the comments below.
This is such a great reminder that the cheapest option isn’t always the best value. I really like how you broke down the hidden costs because time and convenience are worth something too. Staying closer to the attractions can make the entire trip so much more enjoyable and stress free.
Excellent advice! Looking beyond the price tag and considering the overall experience can make such a difference when traveling.
Great post. This is such a great reminder that the cheapest option isn’t always the best value. I really like how you broke down the hidden costs because time and convenience are worth something too. Staying closer to the attractions can make the entire trip so much more enjoyable and stress free.
It’s sometimes tricky to understand the lay of the land and what transport services are available where and to foresee those hidden costs, but yes, you broke it down beautifully here. If you want to save money, you really need to do more research than just opting for whatever looks cheapest at first glance.
I always find that cheaper is not the better option. You get what you pay for. Great tips & reminders. Thank you 🙂