This Browser Plug-in Can Get You Huge Discounts on Hotel Rooms

Searching for deals on hotel rooms just got easier. Web browser plug-in Honey has launched a website that offers exclusive rates of up to 55 percent off hotel stays.

Any of the 5 million people who have already installed the Honey extension for their browser know the savings it can bring.

The tool, which is optimized for shopping on Amazon and other retail websites, scours the internet for discount codes, which can be applied for additional savings when you shop online. It also shows recent price history and lets you create DropList alerts to inform you when prices fall on the items want to buy.

The new Honey Travel website aims to add that level of savvy shopping to hotel bookings, with inventory powered by HotelStorm.

To get started, you'll need to download and install the Honey browser extension and create an account. Then, start shopping online to find HoneyKeys at checkout. While you don't need any keys to view the deals on the Honey Travel website, you will need them to make a booking. New users automatically receive one HoneyKey when they install the extension.

We tested the tool by searching for rooms in luxury hotels in notoriously expensive destinations, and were surprised to see some great prices. (We also found many outstanding deals for 3- and 4-star hotels.)

A search for a hotel room in New York City for the upcoming Labor Day weekend, for example, returned rates of $594 per night at The Peninsula New York. The rates found on Orbitz, Expedia, and Hotwire were $874 per night.

We also found a rate of $394 per night for The Carlyle, a Rosewood Hotel, which was priced at $560 per night on the other travel sites. The Hudson Central Park was priced at $173 on Honey Travel, while the competitors had it for $245.

In all three examples, the Honey Travel rate was 30 percent less than the other online travel agencies. The company claims that on average, Honey Travel rates are $30 cheaper per night than the next-lowest rate that can be found online.

The discounts on Honey Travel are not always high, but they do offer significant savings.

As another example, a recent search for a hotel room in San Francisco for the end of July offered the St. Regis San Francisco for $517 per night, which was 10 percent less than available rates on other sites like Booking.com, Expedia, and Hotels.com. We also found the W San Francisco for $254 per night, a 5 percent savings.

In all, the selection of hotel rooms for San Francisco was limited, with only seven options in the actual city and many more in the outlying metropolitan region.

We also searched for hotel rooms in London for mid-August and found plenty of great deals — but if Honey Travel doesn't offer the best price on a hotel, it will tell you where you can get the lowest available rate. It showed us $272 per night at the St. Martins Lane, but also pointed out where it could be booked for $242 per night on four other sites.

Since Honey is only available on desktop computers, you won't be able to use it on your phone, but don't let that deter you. Aside from incredible savings, the second best thing about Honey is the price: it's absolutely free.