I usually try priorityclub.com (Intercontinental Hotel Group) first, because I collect their points, have by far the highest loyalty status at PC/IHG and Staybr

I usually try priorityclub.com (Intercontinental Hotel Group) first, because I collect their points, have by far the highest loyalty status at PC/IHG and Staybridge Suites is my favourite hotel chain. If there is no acceptable hotel nearby, I search using roomkey.com which is a site that only searchs for hotels owned by larger hotel chains (IHG, Best Western, Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, Starwood...). I have stayed at so many bad indedependent hotels that I really try to avoid them know. It's just not worth the trouble. If roomkey.com does not help, I would probably use HRS or Expedia, but I did not have to since I started using Roomkey.