Discussions

Unless Expedia has changed you pay them and they pay the hotel. And your receipt will be from Expedia with the amount you paid them which is rarely tr price they pay the hotel. They basically buy a block of rooms at hotels for a cheaper price and then you buy from them at their price. Sometimes it's cheaper to go right to the hotel.

I'd say pretty much every hotel I book involves at least searching through Expedia because it's such a good platform to see everything in one spot. Maybe half of my bookings are actually done through them with generally good experiences.  
 
For me it all comes down to:  
- Using an Expedia search to first narrow the field to a few hotels that I can get a good deal on that also offer free cancellation (I like to keep my options open in case a better deal comes up or plans change). I'm fine with paying right away as long as cancellation is free. Some hotels either do not offer free cancellation, or they want you to pay an excessive premium for the privilege. To make sure its apples-to-apples just remember when comparing that you want to get to what the bottom-line cost to stay in the hotel is. The taxes, resort fees, parking fees arent always apparent when first searching, sometimes you have to pay those fees separately to the hotel later.   
 
- reading TripAdvisor reviews like a madman to make sure there are no red flags about the properties I'm considering.  
 
- once I've identified a few places I'd want to stay, comparing Expedia's rate with what's shown on the hotel chain's website as well as other booking services like Booking.com. Pretty much all of them have a "best price guarantee" and if you dig well enough you can very often find a price inconsistency that gets you a better deal. Eg. if Expedia's rate wasnt the lowest, they match it and give you $50 toward a future booking. Or if the rate on Expedia (or Booking.com or elsewhere) is cheaper than what’s on the hotel chain’s website, the hotel usually has a price guarantee to make it worth your while by matching and beating the price. Recently lucked into a free night at a popular Winnipeg hotel by doing this.  
 
If your trip involves a flight you'll also want to check to make sure there isn't a can't-miss flight+hotel deal. I once got to stay in a hotel that would normally be way too rich for my blood just because there was a huge deal if you were also buying your flight through Expedia at the same time.  
 
Recently I’ve started to find that you can sometimes find a real good deal through Groupon that you wouldn’t get elsewhere. Worth a search when you’re comparing your options. Just make sure again that you’re verifying what you’re getting into as far as an extra money you’d have to pay… be it taxes, resort or parking fees.  
 
Feel free to post more about the type of search you’re looking at doing and maybe a few folks can offer a few more suggestions.  
 
Good luck!