I research our destination to death I check the prices at various hotels, then bed and breakfasts (can normally find a nice one for same price as hotel or less), VRBO I've used several times.
I've actually never booked things on Expedia or those sites but I use it as a base to see what the hotel rates go on their site for. Then if you go directly to that hotel's website you will find that you can get it for the same rate and you don't have to pay the booking agent fee.