A hotel room might be for business or for pleasure, but either way, you want to be comfortable and satisfied with your stay. Choosing the wrong hotel can be costly and regrettable, not to mention uncomfortable. Luckily, the tips below are here to help you avoid the nightmare of an overpriced horror of a hotel.
To keep your family active and engaged when you are in a hotel far from home, talk to the concierge when you check in to get a list of nearby attractions. At the end of each day, sit down and map out a plan for the next morning. This gives you more vacation time and less time sitting in front of a television waiting to decide what to do.
Try using price comparison sites online to find a hotel when you’re on a budget. Websites like Priceline, Travelocity, Expedia, and the like can help you see all kinds of hotels in different locations. You can narrow down your searches to specific price ranges and compare them to each other.
If you’ve left amenities at home, ask the front desk. Often you won’t need to go out to buy things like toothpaste and toothbrushes. The front desk typically has the staples available to customers at no cost whatsoever. Sure it’s only a few dollars saved, but every dollar counts.
Take advantage of the safe you have in your room, especially if you have electronics with you. You can stash your expensive electronics and jewelry in the safe and go about your day without worry.
Verify the check-in time at the hotel. Some people fail to check when they will be able to access their rooms. They arrive at the hotel but find that their room isn’t ready yet. If you might arrive prior to check-in time, try calling the hotel and seeing if the room is available.
It can be hard to know how to select good hotels. Joining a travel club can be a very smart choice if you do a lot of traveling. Your travel club will provide you with hotel guide materials. Representatives can answer your questions, help you choose hotels and even help you plan and book your reservations.
If you plan on bringing your family to a hotel, you should look for family-friendly policies and special deals online. Try using family vacation review sites. You can find many family hotels and resort reviews. Searching through these sites should help you also locate deals to make your trip more enjoyable and affordable.
When traveling with small children, try to choose a hotel that caters to them. Most hotels offer cribs. Some have playgrounds and/or pools to help keep your kids entertained. Some even offer or children’s programs during the day or babysitters at night. Many hotels do not charge extra for children under a certain age to stay in the same room with their parents.
To enjoy a tropical destination a bit more quietly, stay away from the large, all-inclusive resorts that bring in quantity but also feature nonstop partying. Instead, choose a smaller resort that also offers shuttles to the major local attractions. You’ll have a stay that is more on your terms, especially when it’s time to sit out on your patio in the quiet of the night.
Figure out what comes with your hotel. Find out if the hotel offers better noise control and views on one side. Ask them about nearby public transportation, restaurants, and if they are near any entertainment or business areas. You should also find out the type of neighborhood they’re in and what their environmental policies are.
If you are bringing your kids along for the trip, then it’s a good idea to call a hotel in advance and make sure they have working pools. It can be extremely frustrating if you arrive at your hotel only to find out the pool is shut down for maintenance.
Before booking a hotel room, ask the hotel about their return policy. You never know what could happen and you may end up having to cancel your reservation. If there is no return policy, you could be basically throwing your money down the drain. Don’t book with a hotel until you know this information.
Talk to a travel agent about potential hotel deals. You may think you’ll be paying more by going through a travel agent, but more often than not the opposite is true. Travel agents typically have access to unpublished deals not only for the hotel, but also for airfare and vacation activities.
Whether your stay is for business or pleasure, you want to have a pleasant stay. You also want the satisfaction of knowing that you got a good deal. So keep the hints listed above in your bag of tricks as you book your next stay. You will find that it pays off in saving and in satisfaction.