Over the last few months I have spoken to many people who have told me they felt they could not afford to go away this year. When I asked them if they had considered a weekend break they told me they felt that hotels are very expensive, even if you used the likes of Laterooms.com.

I have reviewed deals for quite a while now and have often told people to look on Travelzoo, as I had seen some really good offers. I was then asked have you tried them. And the answer was no!  The time had come to put that right; also I do not put reviews on my site without trying the place myself. I viewed the Travelzoo website, looking at the top twenty deals; I had set my budget for £80 for the night, hoping to get dinner, bed and breakfast with that. I found my deal; it looked too good to be true, 4star hotel offering 3course dinner, bed and breakfast, along with wine in your room on arrival for £69 for two people. I read the small print as sometimes you can only take deals like this on a Sunday evening, but on this there were no restrictions other than when the offer ended. I clicked buy and printed off my voucher, which advised me to ring the hotel immediately to get the room booked, I did, the receptionist informed me the only date left for a Saturday evening in August was the 18th, which was fine with me so she took my booking details, telling me not to loose the voucher as this was our proof of payment.

My next job was to check out reviews for the hotel, which were excellent, so I then began to look forward to my trip to Hatfield for a cheap weekend away.

The Hotel is Beales in Hatfield, it is family owned and ran, along with a sister hotel about 20minutes from this one. The hotel sells itself as contemporary which it is, it is also classy and unpretentious, modern to look at in the most attractive way. The service is friendly yet very professional, I felt very comfortable from the moment we walked in. Our room was a restful haven after a days shopping, well designed, excellent fixtures and fittings with lots of nice touches, such as free mineral water and free internet access, along with free wifi throughout the hotel.

The restaurant at this hotel holds two AA rosettes so I felt sure the food would be good. Our evening meal surpassed good, it was excellent as was the breakfast next morning.

The question people have asked is how can they afford to do this and why. I believe that most people on that deal will make a point of going back to use this hotel, although they may not get the same deal. I for one will recommend this hotel to anyone needing to stay in that area. The management do actively practise relationship marketing, building relationships with customers through twitter, facebook and trip advisor making your trip feel very special. So did Travelzoo work for me? Oh yes it really did, I have spent more on a night out at a good restaurant than I did for that weekend and yes I will be going back to Beales Hatfield. If you would like to read the full review of this hotel with pics please checkout my website. www.susiehunter.co.uk.   Travelzoo worked for me.