Finding the right hotel can make or break your travel or vacation. A place that is very pricy can drain your finances and leave you with very little money to enjoy other things in the area. Read the tips throughout this article to learn where you can find the best, most affordable rooms in any given area.
Prior to choosing and reserving a hotel room, check review sites online like TripAdvisor or Expedia. These provide you with first-hand information about people’s recent experiences at each hotel. What others say will help you make a wise decision.
If you want a nice meal at night with your special someone, and you are too comfortable in your room to go out, order some food through room service. While it may cost more, it is more convenient to remain in your room while satisfying your hunger.
Use your hotel room’s safe to keep your valuables secure. You can place your small, expensive items such as your iPad in the safe, so you can enjoy your day knowing they are safe and secure.
There are tons of online search tools that help customers find satisfactory rates they can’t find elsewhere. They allow you to quickly locate great discounts. In addition, these websites will provide a comparison of different hotel prices, which will allow you to find the best possible deals. They also can help with figuring out when the ideal time to go on vacation is and what you can do once you are there.
You want to look at a number of different things when booking a hotel stay. You must consider price of course, and you might want to be close to a specific location within the city you’re staying. What about free breakfast, local calls, wifi or swimming pool? Try locating a tip that checks off as much of your wish list as is realistic.
In order to get the best prices for hotel stays, you will want to plan your trip several weeks or months beforehand. Some hotels have great discounts when you book a couple of months in advance. You might even be able to save up to 50 percent off at some very exclusive hotels.
Always look for deals online when reserving a hotel room. A lot of the time, when you book a room with someone, they’ll tell you there aren’t any online discounts. This is why it’s up to you to search for these discounts. RueLaLaTravel, SniqueAway and Jetsetter are all good Internet sites to check with.
If you have a AAA membership, it may qualify you for a hotel discount. Your membership in this auto club has just such a discount available to you. You could save 5% or even 10% on some rooms. Those discounts add up to great savings, especially if you will be having an extended stay.
To benefit from the best prices at hotels, start planning your trips several weeks or even months in advance. Some hotels have a discount if you book your room a month or more ahead of time. You may save 50 percent or more.
If you are a runner, be sure to bring your running clothes and shoes. This makes it easy for you to wake in the morning and get in a run. Running down city streets or country roads can give you a fresh view of the place you are visiting.
To ensure that you and your special someone get the right couples massage during your stay, book your appointment as early ahead of time as you can. Many top masseuses book by name, so plan as early as possible.
If you tend to stay at the same hotel a lot, see about signing up for their frequent guest program. Just like frequent flyer mile programs, these hotel programs offer you points for your stay. You can exchange these points for discounts and freebies at the hotel and its restaurant. You may also be able to use them on local amenities.
Are you a member of the AAA? If so, find out about membership discounts at hotels. You might be surprised to learn that your membership to the auto club also includes discounts on hotels. You can save more than five percent on hotels all over the country. This can add up on a long trip.
Friendly Hotels
If you enjoy a morning run, try booking a hotel room that’s near the beach or an open park. For an early morning jog, get up and throw your gear on, and then head out the front door. Even if you have to run down roads or the streets in the city, you can learn a lot more about the city when you get finished.
You may wish to consider a “green” vacation if the environment is one of your concerns. There are a lot of eco-friendly hotels out there. Some of the newer hotels were built with green standards in mind. Eco-friendly strategies are also now commonly adopted by many older hotels. Ask your travel agent to help you identify environmentally friendly hotels.
Vacation “green” if you are worried about the environment. There are a lot of eco-friendly hotels out there. Newer hotels are often certified green and designed and built using green standards. Older hotels can go green by making environmentally friendly choices in energy use. Talk to a travel agent if you want to find hotels that are eco-friendly.
How much your hotel room will cost depends largely on the time you book. Rooms prices are based on their availability. If it’s possible, your room should be booked around a day in advance or more. This is the best way to get the best prices. Hotels don’t earn money on empty rooms, so they are often willing to reduce the price.
Being a member of AAA can save you money on hotels. Members of AAA will get additional hotel discounts up to five percent, but you’ll also get discounts on rental cars as well. If you have young kids, find out if they have a free car seat service.
Find out about hotel transfer costs prior to booking a room to avoid hefty fees. If you are getting a very low price on the room, it is especially important that you ask about any hidden fees that might be tacked onto your bill. Asking about this ahead of time helps you maximize your savings.
Make sure to ask up front if the hotel allows smoking or does not. If you’re not a smoker, you might want to skip a smoking hotel. Although certain hotels that allow smoking will provide guests with non-smoking rooms, smoke will still be in the air. Sometimes, smokers book rooms that are non-smoking and smoke anyway. To avoid the experience of breathing in smoke during your stay, try to stay in a hotel that doesn’t allow smoking.
Become a AAA member if you want to make arranging hotel accommodations a bit simpler. The AAA membership fee is well worth the discounts offered by many chains, and renting a car will also be easier. Those who have small children will be pleased to find car seats available for free.
You should know that you generally aren’t going to be able to do an early check-in at a hotel. Plan your time accordingly unless you want to wait in the lobby for hours. Hotels use these in between hours to make sure rooms are cleaned and ready for the next occupant. If you can’t avoid being early, ask the front desk to make an exception, but be prepared if they can’t accommodate you.
The bathroom is the first place to go when checking for bed bugs in your hotel room. You probably won’t find any in there. That is what makes it the best place to start. You can store your luggage there and search the rest of your room for those bedbugs. It is usually a convenient place for young children to sit for a moment too.
If needed, always ask about the availability of a crib or roll-away at the time you reserve the room. Many hotels have a limited number of these, so it is important to mention this at booking. In addition, there is sometimes an extra charge for these items. Talk about what you need when booking your room so you are not unpleasantly surprised.
Smoking Hotel
Make sure you know your rights if any hotel ever tries to “walk” you. This is when a hotel is overbooked and they have no accommodations for you. The hotel will attempt to foist you off on another hotel. Getting there early can usually prevent this, but if you do get “walked,” make sure your accommodations are not being downgraded in any way.
Inquire if the hotel is a non-smoking hotel. If you are a non-smoker, you might want to stay at a non-smoking hotel. The smoke flows through the hotel and can stick to you. Sometimes, smokers book rooms that are non-smoking and smoke anyway. Think about staying at a hotel that is totally nonsmoking if you don’t want to stink when you check out.
Save money by booking your flight and hotel together. A lot of travel websites provide significant savings for people who reserve a hotel and a rental car or flight from them. To make sure you are getting the best price through this service, compare the rates of different airlines and hotels.
You should always be aware whether or not the hotel allows pets. If you are allergic to pets, avoid pet friendly hotels. Also, pet friendly hotels may have lingering odors that have been absorbed by carpeting or linens. Some hotels charge a nominal fee for pets, while others charge substantially more. Depending on what hotel you choose, the fee charged might or might not cover any extra cleaning required.
You will be able to get a decent room rate if you book during the off season. This is the highest time for rates. Try booking a room when it’s harder for hotels to fill rooms, like during the off-season. You can get a better rate during this time.
Staying the wrong hotel room can wind up costing you a lot of money that could have been better spent on your vacation. Put these tips to use in order to find an affordable, but comfortable hotel. Refer back to this information when you are working on your travel plans.
You can actually get a room upgrade without paying a dime. One savvy way to possibly get an upgrade is to show up at the check-in time you booked exactly on the minute. Often the room isn’t quite ready at the exact time and the hotel will offer you an upgraded room instead.