Room rates are set to fall across Europe as hard-hit hoteliers fight for a share of dwindling business in the Continent’s capitals, but if you’re looking for a bargain this winter, don’t go to a tour operator.

Figures released last week show that Paris has been worst affected by the sagging short-breaks market, with profits in the city’s hotels down by nearly a third in recent months. Vienna and Amsterdam have also been badly hit by falling visitor numbers, with Berlin, Budapest, London and Prague also posting losses.

Hotels have responded by cutting prices - average room rates fell by almost 10% in Paris last month - but research by The Sunday Times shows that travel retailers are failing to pass on the discounts to travellers and keeping the savings to themselves.

“On the experience of previous “Savvy leisure travellers are likely to find real bargains this winter in Prague and Budapest, and to a lesser extent in Amsterdam and Paris,” said Langston, but the key, it seems, is to avoid the Bargains, however, can still be found.We called Le Méridien Etoile, a four-star property close to the Champs Elysées. The cost of three nights here in a double room, B&B, booked with BA Holidays, was £510. Via the hotel website, the cost dropped to £439, but a call to the reservations desk dragged it down to £402 - a saving of £108.

Similar savings were on offer in Amsterdam. That long weekend in November, staying in the luxury Hotel Pulitzer, would cost £612 with Lastminute.com. The same deal booked on the Pulitzer website was £500, and by calling the reservations desk at the hotel, we obtained a further £19 off - total saving, £131.

The biggest savings were found in Prague, where Expedia had quoted £877 for three nights in a deluxe room at the luxury Hotel President. Astonishingly, exactly the same deal booked directly through the hotel’s reservations desk was just £521 - a saving of a staggering £356. downturns, most chain hoteliers have learnt of the perils of making deep rate cuts from which recovery can be very long indeed,” says Jonathan Langston, of TRI Hospitality Consulting.

“Hoteliers today are much more skilled in the arts of marketing and promotion and will offer added-value packages, including dinner or a spa treatment, operators and book direct. rather than heavily discounted room rates.”

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