Hotel Bookings: Upgrades and Good Deals

What are your strategies on getting the best hotel room for the best price? I'm going to Kuala Lumpur for a few nights in October with the family. I noticed that Hilton, the Hyatt and a few other big chains often do free status upgrades but they only last for 60 days or so which means the current Accenture promo would be of little value to me. Also, do you guys typically wait for a 15-20% off promo from one of the big affiliate networks or do you book direct with the hotel when they've got a promo on?