|
12/30/2019 11 Comments How To Score An Affordable Hotel Room The only wrong way to book a hotel room is to be uninformed. When it comes to lodging options on your vacation, you have choices galore. Booking the best cheap hotel room? That depends on your definition of cheap. I am a big fan of using the word “value” for your vacation dollar spend. In other words, are you GETTING what you’re paying for? Which brings me to a few ideas/questions to consider before you book any hotel room for your next vacation. My only assumption is you (the person/people) can’t afford to get it wrong. In my opinion, lodging should enhance or be commensurate with the rest of your other vacation elements. The same can be said for your car rental, airline trip and itinerary, etc. When you begin your hotel search, I am assuming you already know what state, city or region you’re visiting. The first question is to consider, Vacation rental, Hotel, Motel, Campground, Air B&B or home swap. VRBO or HomeAway house thousands of vacation renal options throughout the world. Air B&B.com showcases their options. But if you’re leaning towards a hotel or motel, then check the travel aggregators such as Kayak.com or OTA’s such as Hotels.com, Priceline.com or Expedia.com.
Once you have your list of potential hotel/motel options, then consider the following: Price Of course, price is a major factor for most of us. Price is pretty good barometer for the type of hotel/motel you’ll be staying in. Location Is the hotel/motel close to the activities you’re interested in? Is the neighborhood safe? Is the city centre with a reasonable walking distance? Is it on the beach or across the street (or in some cases across a busy highway)? Whats the view like? Amenities, Services & Facilities How much time will you be sending on the property should be relative to the amenities and services you’ll require. Is the property under construction? Is it new? Has it been recently renovated? All good questions to consider? As you continue to refine your target list, it’s time to get an opinion or two. Fist, check with your friends and family network. This is something you may have already done, if not, then now's the time. Second, check a few hotel review sites such as TripAdvisor. And when you do, look for trends in the reviews and eliminate the “glowing” reviews and a-typical negative ones. Look for the median from reviewers who have actually stayed there. Once you refine you list even further, check with a qualified, independent travel agent, call the official tourism bureau, check with the chamber of commerce and/or the better business bureau. When I get particularly excited about my options, I call the property directly and ask a few questions. I always inquire about the cancellation options and refund policy. So there you go! As always, if you have tips or suggestions, please leave them in the comments below. Happy travels! Erik About The Author Erik Hastings, a.k.a. Erik the Travel Guy is an EMMY award-winning television personality who is rapidly emerging as “America’s Travel Expert”. He is the host and managing editor of the internationally syndicated television series "Beyond Your Backyard" for public broadcasting stations (PBS) and other networks/VOD platforms. Erik leads an incredibly talented team of industry pros as the driving force of his platform. Erik understands and believes travel makes the world a better place and the industry directly supports millions of families all over the world. He wants his viewers to experience the potentially life-changing positive power of travel. Read Erik's Full Bio TV Series: Beyond Your Backyard
11 Comments
12/26/2021 06:30:39 pm
Thank you for giving me tips on refining my list of hotel stays, and that it is important to check it with an independent travel agent, official tourism bureau, the chamber of commerce, or the better business bureau. I'm going on a vacation this holiday, and your tips are very helpful. I will take note of them so I can book a suitable hotel stay of my preference. 1/11/2022 06:51:40 pm
You make a great point about refining your list so you aren't bogged down with hundreds of hotels. I need to get a place to stay in Italy for a business trip. I'll have to make sure that they have Wi-Fi. 1/11/2022 09:36:22 pm
It’s good to know that hhen you begin your hotel search, I am assuming you already know what state, city or region you’re visiting. My mom mentioned to me that she wants a gateway outing to ease stress. I will share this post for her to choose suitable hotel rooms to book for her vacation. 2/5/2022 12:27:48 am
I never knew that the quality of your hotel should complement or be comparable to the rest of your holiday. I never thought that it would be like this, I'll share this with my aunt. Thank you for the information about lodging. 4/14/2022 04:54:03 am
It's great that this article talked about that a good barometer for the type of hotel you’ll be staying in is the price. I remember when my sister mentioned to me that she was planning to have a family vacation during the holidays, and she asked if I had any idea what would be the best choice for the best hotel for us. Thanks to this instructive article, I'll be sure to tell her that we can try to consult a well-known hotel. 5/21/2022 03:44:55 am
It is an interesting article. I read many blogs which contain many features related to the quality of hotels. No one mentioned the price of the hotel. This article is very useful for choosing the best hotel at a cheaper cost. Thank you for sharing. I totally agree when you said that the price of the hotel would be the best factor to consider on where you will be staying. In our case, we are looking for affordable motor inn accommodation facilities for our trip this coming August. We have to stick to our budget to enjoy the trip, especially when it is for my birthday. 6/6/2022 09:26:22 am
I want to make sure that I get the right hotel for me. It makes sense that I would want to keep my budget together. That seems like a good way to ensure that I can afford my hotel. 6/13/2022 03:31:40 pm
It really helped when you described the importance of checking a hotel's location before booking a room on it. In a few months, my wife and I want to go on vacation, so we're interested in booking a hotel room for our trip, and we think your tips will help us. Thanks for the information on checking a hotel's surroundings and its safety when choosing one. Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI am on a mission to get you traveling more often. As the host of the Emmy award- winning, nationally syndicated television television for PBS and the Create channel, "Beyond Your Backyard," I travel (on average) 25 weeks per year. I am very grateful for the opportunity to meet cool people, experience new places, eat delicious food and work with the best production crew in the world. Hopefully, through this blog, you will join me on my travels and be reminded just how exciting it is to be alive! CategoriesAll Airlines Car Rental Roadtrips Cooking & Recipes Cruises Family Travel Inspiring Lodging Places - Caribbean Places Europe Places Mexico Places US Planning Ways To Die Archives
April 2022
|
RSS Feed
MEET ERIK THE TRAVEL GUY
FROM ERIK |
ABOUT |
CONNECT |
