In the off season you can find some great rates just by walking up to the front desk and haggling. it just like showing up at a big sports event 20 minutes after the start and all the scalpers are starting to look at each other and realizing that the tickets that they were getting 100s of dollars for a few minutes ago arnt going to be worth anything unless they cut you a bargain. the table is then turned so that the consumer wins. Its probably a good idea to reserve a room at a proven hotel for the first couple days just so that your bargaining position is solid.