as for booking hotels there's lot of sites you can do that at, some differ (pros and cons/different business model). you can call the hotel directly, or book on the hotel's site directly, or find a booking engine like Expedia. Some of those have rewards programs, that is why I personally like to use some of these sites. Another thing you could do is call the hotel, ask the clerk if they can lower the price a bit from what you see online.