The hotel haggle

The best way to approach your bazaar experience with a hotel is to set your terms before you arrive. Don't wait until you've been landed with a gigantic final bill before arguing tearfully and belatedly for your discount. As a rule of thumb, ask for a quote no more than six weeks in advance and insist the information is handed over there and then on the phone. E-mails will often contain a simple attachment of the rates listed on the website, when in fact, prices may change from day to day, depending on how full the hotel is.

Some hotels in the northern hemisphere are extending their low season, freezing base rates until the end of April. Check the websites - while listed prices are almost certainly out of date, they give a good benchmark for bartering. If a website announces a ten per cent discount for the low season, assume you'll be able to get at least another five per cent off the price. Leave the webpage up while you call reservations, detailing the different rooms and prices.

Be flexible about what you ask for, whether it is some extra nights for free, breakfasts on the house or dinner or a spa treatment thrown in. Always ask for an upgrade. You are unlikely to jump from a rabbit hutch to the penthouse suite but the desk might bump you up from 'superior' to 'suite' status to guarantee your business. Finally, inquire about the view. You can sometimes sacrifice a sweeping panorama to make a saving. Or get a room with a view for the price of one overlooking a rubbish tip.

One thing's certain, luxury hotels put up a good fight. In New York, after a ten-minute negotiation we were offered a three-night Park Avenue break at The Carlyle, a stone's throw from The Met, at about a third off. We took a superior double, normally $855 (£573) a night, for $550 (£369) and a deluxe room, normally $975 (£654), for $650 (£436).

Equally as punchy was the historic Gritti Palace in Venice. After the carnival ends on 24 February, it would slash its prices for a room overlooking St Mark's Square instead of the canal. So instead of €1,360 (£1,207) we got a double room down to €565 (£502) per day in March. But we also got breakfasts thrown in (€38) and one lunch in the Club del Doge restaurant.

There is no paradise island hotel like Soneva Fushi in the Maldives. The resort offered us a week in a standard 'rehendi' room between February and April, for $820 (£550) instead of $1,027 (£689). But after a minute of hardball, it knocked down a villa from $1,529 (£1,025) to $1,223 (£820). Prices should drop again in summer when the rains set in.

Hotels use seasonal pricing in different ways. Moscow hardly jumps to mind as a summer destination but with temperatures hovering around the mid-20s it was worth a shot for a bargain summer break. We asked for a weekend in July and got more for our roubles than if we'd gone in March or April. A room at the Ritz Carlton was only 16,000 roubles-329) per night including breakfast - less than half the price of the standard 34,000 roubles (£700). When calling Moscow, always ask for a weekend rate, as they are a lot cheaper than the weekly business rates.

Some hotels are clearly feeling the pinch more than others and The Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong was happy to sort us out a discount city break cum spa retreat. We talked them into reducing three nights from HK$5,200 (£449) to HK$3,100 (£268), although they wouldn't move on the 10 per cent service charge.

If a hotel you've set your heart on won't budge, go through a tour company that can use its muscle to negotiate on your behalf. In Marrakech, Les Jardins de la Medina, an oasis of tranquility with a hammam and palm-fringed swimming pool, was not hugely accommodating when we asked for a reduction from the listed website prices, so we tried travel agent Abercrombie & Kent and got a week's stay for £882 per person, instead of £1,078, or four nights at £685 instead of £783 per person, including breakfast, flights and private transfers.

If it's wildlife you want, head to South Africa where you can make a killing at Richard Branson's Ulusaba Private Game Reserve in Sabi Sands, on the western border of the Kruger National Park. It offered a free night for every four or five booked and two free, based on a seven-night stay. At ZAR 4,600 per person per night, that's a saving of £308 per night at today's exchange rate. They even caved in and said young children could go free.

Closer to home, the Sheen Falls Lodge, a 300-acre fairy-tale woodland in County Kerry, chopped down its prices on a two-night stay in a deluxe room to €320 (£284) per person, from €530 (£470). After 30 seconds they added two breakfasts and one dinner to the deal. But for the ultimate romantic break we tried the Crillon Hotel in Paris, on the Place de la Concorde. We asked to sample some champagnes in the Taittinger cellar on Valentine's Day and got €537 (£477) per room per night down from €770 (£683), based on a minimum two-night stay in a superior double room, with an American or Continental breakfast thrown in. We then upped the ante, insisting on a suite and got the price down to €1,302 (£1,156) per night instead of €1,620 (£1,438).

With the boutiques of Avenue Montaigne only moments away, those extra euros could come in handy. Happy holiday hunting.