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HotelTonight Reveals Best Shoulder Season Deals in the US for Spring Travel

Tay Belgeri
Feb.13.2026
Vail, Colorado, USA - September 30, 2018: Residents and tourist walk and ride bikes on a beautiful Fall afternoon through the luxurious resorts, condominiums, chalets, shops and restaurants in the famous ski village of Vail, Colorado. (Getty)
  • Destinations
    • Tay Belgeri
    Feb.13.2026

    This week, I published an article outlining what HotelTonight is and how you can use it.

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    Here’s a quick rundown, if you missed it: HotelTonight lets you book hotel rooms around the world (from budget to lux) with heavy discounts. Hotels list their rooms that haven’t been booked at the last minute, letting you reserve them for cheaper rates. (You can even use the platform to book rooms weeks ahead of time.) It’s really that easy.

    If you’re a traveler who often books last-minute trips, you should have HotelTonight saved in your browser or downloaded onto your phone. With a few clicks and a little research, you can use it to plan last-minute escapes without overspending.

    Or, if you want to skip out on the research, HotelTonight just listed its top shoulder season deals for domestic travel across the United States. These are the best deals available now.

    Best shoulder season deals on HotelTonight

    Overall, the best month to book travel deals for the spring shoulder season is March. Compared to April and May, almost 100 cities around the country have lower average room rates in March. (To clarify, spring shoulder season runs from March through May.)

    HotelTonight’s GM, Ron Sandel, recommends checking out deals in Colorado. You can find affordable rates for some of the state’s top ski resorts—even if they’re normally out of range for your budget. Both Aspen and Vail have heavy discounts for the shoulder season, which we’ll dig into below.

    These discounts are shown as percentages, which are rate decreases from the peak winter season. In other words, you’ll see what you can save on room rates compared to December, January, and February.

    These are the most dramatic rate decreases for hotels on HotelTonight by destination:

    1. Tahoe, California: Down 29%
    2. Aspen, Colorado: Down 26%
    3. Vail, Colorado: Down 19%
    4. Big Island, Hawaii: Down 18%
    5. Oahu, Hawaii: Down 13%
    6. Miami, Florida: Down 12%
    7. Jackson Hole, Wyoming: Down 10%
    8. Tampa, Florida: Down 10%
    9. New Orleans, Louisiana: Down 8%
    10. Atlanta, Georgia: Down 8%

  • Destinations
    • Image of Tay Belgeri Tay Belgeri View Full Profile

      Tay Belgeri is a writer and traveler from the Heartland who now lives in the Mediterranean. She has almost two decades of international travel, learning, and immigration experience under her belt. She also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Global Studies—yes, it’s a thing. With Travel Awaits, Tay is demystifying the act of travel for fellow Americans by covering her favorite adventures, latest bucket-list experiences, and lessons she learned the hard way. She focuses on the little details that make trips easier to plan and more magical to experience. During her career, Tay has been published on AP News, Ranker, MSN, and other major publications. But don’t think of her as a travel writer—she’s a traveler and a writer. Travel is her nature; writing is her trade.