European Hotel Rates Down 12%

What was additionally interesting was the link to trivago.com. Never heard of it before, but spot-checked it to a couple of minor cities and it does a terrific job.

I suspect that hotel prices are even softer than that, if you push. I was in Italy, Poland, Holland, and Belgium within the last year or so and booked my hotels in advance. As I realized that hotel prices were softening, I found alternative hotels that were cheaper. When I contacted my originally reserved hotels to cancel, explaining that I had found less expensive accommodations, in almost every instance my original hotel met or beat my "new" price. So, if you push a bit, you may do even better than the advertised prices. At least it is worth a try.